It was the final day the series deserved. It was the final day England deserved. It was the final day Stuart Broad deserved. A 49-run win in the fifth and final Test allowed England to come back from 0-2 down to level the 2023 Ashes at 2-2. Fittingly, it was Broad who took the final two wickets, moving the ball away and baiting two left-handers as he usually does.
The reason the series has been so close is that neither team was able to dominate. They both had their moments; they both would edge ahead but then would be unable to finish things off. In every match, we have seen the same story repeat. It kept us enthralled; it kept us entertained; it kept us glued to our seats.
Australia started Day 5 in the driver's seat and were cruising at 126/0 when Usman Khawaja copped a nasty blow to the helmet early in the 37th over. The umpires decided to change the ball, and with it England's fortune changed.
Australia lost 2/15 in 44 balls after the ball change and when Marnus Labuschagne was dismissed as well, England knew they were truly in this.
"It was absolutely wonderful, Woakes and Moeen set the tone unbelievably after the rain break," said Broad, who is retiring, after the win. "Once we got a couple we really began to believe. The crowd was so loud, we really jumped on the back of it."
{{/usCountry}}"It was absolutely wonderful, Woakes and Moeen set the tone unbelievably after the rain break," said Broad, who is retiring, after the win. "Once we got a couple we really began to believe. The crowd was so loud, we really jumped on the back of it."
{{/usCountry}}A 95-run Steve Smith-Travid Head partnership gave Australia hope but when Moeen Ali got one to spin from the rough to send back Travis Head (43 off 70 balls), the win started to become a reality.
Head was dismissed with Australia on 264 and the visitors then lost a flurry of wickets to slump to 294/8 with a positive result out of the equation. They didn't stop fighting though. A 35-run stand between Alex Carey and Todd Murphy made a few nervous bugs come alive once again but England showed they had the belief that makes champions.
Australia started the series better -- winning the important moments and showing heart in the face of adversity -- but it was England who ended it better. A 2-2 series result is probably a just result but there was no disguising the fact that England's tactics can work.
"Actually (feeling) really good," said Stokes after the game. "2-2, I think it a fair reflection of two teams going toe to toe. Australia, WTC champions, quality team. But going 2-0 down, I don't think many teams would have responded the way we did. Standing here pretty content with what we've achieved."
England's aggression had all those watching on the edge of their seat but it is also worth noting that the man to top the run-scoring charts was Khawaja, who made 496 runs at a strike-rate of 39.27.
However, by the end, it very much seemed like England had managed to overwhelm Australia with their intent. Everything the visitors did seemed to be driven by what Stokes and Co might do in return. Most teams will tell you that they usually choose only to focus on their own games but this was clearly a case of Australia doing otherwise.
The passive approach didn't suit them and only seemed to embolden England to go even harder at them. And no one did that better than Mark Wood and Chris Woakes. They played only three Tests each but ended up with 14 and 19 wickets respectively.
Wood brought the fire but it was sheer brilliance of Woakes, who finished with a vital 4/50 in the second innings at The Oval. It is hard to believe that a player of his caliber had not been part of England's Test group for 12 months now. It'll probably be hard to keep him out now.
Just before the start of the series, Stokes, in an article for Players Tribune, had written that his team wanted to entertain the fans.
"Obviously, we want to win but just as important, we want whoever’s paid their money to watch England leave the ground saying, “Wow, what a good day that was,” he wrote.
It might be right to say that he and his team certainly walked the talk. This series attracted a whole new audience to the game and the format and as Stokes said after the game, "I think it's what Test cricket needed."
It's hard to not agree with that.