Tue. Nov 5th, 2024
Occasional Digest - a story for you

England is preparing for the possibility of needing to rely on spin to win the vital fourth Ashes Test, after Joe Root and Moeen Ali were asked to bowl close to half the overs on Saturday at Old Trafford due to bad light.

After a wet day at Old Trafford, Australia will resume on Sunday at 5-214 and need another 61 runs to make England bat again in the fourth Test.

With the game — and the series — in the balance, the final day will come down to how much play is possible and whether England has the bowling firepower to take quick wickets at Old Trafford to set up a possible win.

England captain Ben Stokes had an animated discussion with umpires Nitin Menon and Joel Wilson late on day four when they decided the light was too poor to utilise pace bowling.

If given a choice, England would no doubt have wanted to make use of Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and James Anderson, not to mention speedster Mark Wood, whose rapid bowling registering speeds up to 160kph has made life uncomfortable for Australian batsmen in this Test.

Some pundits and fans online expressed surprise at the decision, pointing to the fact that Wilson had been wearing sunglasses out in the middle at the time.

England staff remain adamant the quicks should have been able to continue bowling, but the concern would now be that the precedent is set for the same decision to be made on Sunday.

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