Moeen Ali did not field on the second day as his contribution to the final Test of his career continues to be severely limited by an injury to his right groin.
Moeen picked up the injury on day one of the fifth Ashes Test at the Oval, scampering between the wickets in the early part of a productive partnership with Harry Brook. After lengthy treatment on the field, Moeen decided to go into all-out attack mode, smashing a pair of big sixes – including one memorable strike off the outstanding Pat Cummins – before being bowled slogging spinner Todd Murphy.
Moeen was unable to take the field after England were bowled out for 283, and it seems unlikely he will be able to play a significant part with the ball later in the match.
To read more about Moeen’s injury, go here:
Ashes fixtures and full schedule
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First Test, Edgbaston, Birmingham – June 16-20 (Australia won by two wickets)
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Second Test, Lord’s, London – June 28-July 2 (Australia won by 43 runs)
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Third Test, Headingley, Leeds – July 6-10 (England won by three wickets)
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Fourth Test, Old Trafford, Manchester – July 19-23 (Match drawn)
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Fifth Test, The Oval, London – July 27-31
Trent Bridge has missed out on hosting a men’s Test, although it was the venue for the one-off Test in the women’s Ashes.
What time does each Test match start?
All five Tests are designated ‘day’ matches, commencing at 11am (BST), and each day’s play is scheduled to last until 6pm, although time can be made up to 6.30pm, if no breaks in play, to facilitate 90 overs. Lunch will be at 1pm and last for 40 minutes and tea at 3.40pm for 20 minutes.
What is the weather forecast for the fourth Test?
Some light showers are forecast for mid-afternoon Friday. Early forecasts suggest Saturday and Sunday will be largely unaffected, while showers are expected throughout Monday – the fifth and final scheduled day of the series.
What is England’s record in the Ashes at each ground?
What TV channel is the Ashes on? How can I follow it in the UK?
Live coverage
Sky has the rights for domestic Tests and is broadcasting all five matches exclusively live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event.
More people tuned into the Edgbaston Test than any other in Sky’s history, with the peak audience of 2.12 million narrowly beating the figures for the 2019 Ashes Test at Headingley, when Ben Stokes marshalled an extraordinary England heist.
TV highlights
The BBC has a highlights package and shows Today at the Test on BBC2 at 7pm after each day’s play.
Radio coverage
The BBC has the radio rights for domestic Tests and features ball-by-ball coverage (unless you are listening on longwave during the shipping forecast) on Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and via the BBC Sounds app.
TMS coverage is led as usual by Jonathan Agnew, alongside what it calls “an iconic commentary team” comprising Isa Guha, Simon Mann, Alison Mitchell, Daniel Norcross and Jim Maxwell, with summarisers Michael Vaughan, Sir Alastair Cook, Phil Tufnell, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Ebony Rainford Brent, Vic Marks and Alex Hartley. Andy Zaltzman returns as scorer.
Who is in the Ashes squads?
England named an unchanged squad and then an unchanged XI for the final Ashes Test at the Oval.
Selectors have kept faith with the same players who had them on the cusp of victory at Old Trafford.
Ben Stokes resisted any temptation to freshen up his bowling attack by bringing in Josh Tongue or Ollie Robinson.
England XI for fifth Ashes Test
Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jonathan Bairstow (wk), Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
Australia squad for fifth Ashes Test
Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (vice captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.
What are the players saying?
Mitchell Starc, the fast bowler who picked up four wickets, including Harry Brook, described it as “a pretty even day”, but said Australia’s was a contended dressing room. Brook, meanwhile, painted a positive picture of England’s day, having been asked to bat first in helpful bowling conditions.
“We’ve had a decent day In the end, we were all talking about 250 being decent score at lunch time and got 33 more than that,” Brook said. “We were happy with the way we scored our runs. It would have been nice to get few more wickets tonight but hopefully we get them tomorrow morning.”
Brook praised the Australia captain Pat Cummins, who put a difficult fortnight behind him to bowl brilliantly, despite having figures of just one for 61 to show for it.
“I definitely felt that,” Brook said, when asked if Cummins was bowling quicker today. “My inner thigh definitely felt that. He looked like he was running in a bit harder today. As soon as the pitch is seaming like that it always feels a bit quicker. He doesn’t miss much, and they bowled really well.”
Moeen’s contribution to his final Test limited by groin injury
By Will Macpherson at the Oval
Brook said that Moeen had taken it upon himself to attack Australia’s bowlers after the injury, with his movement limited and running between the wickets becoming a struggle. Moeen had 11 from 37 balls before the injury, then clouted 23 more from his next nine deliveries, before being bowled by the recalled Murphy.
“That was his decision. As soon as the physio left the pitch he was like, “shall I just tee off now”. I said to hm that he should have been doing it from the start. He’s one of the best power hitters in the world. We have seen that in franchise cricket, white ball for England. There are probably not many better men to have out there if you want someone to go and smash it. It’s a shame he didn’t last longer but the way he went about it after getting injured was perfect.
“I think we still could have easily got ones, because they decide to put the field back as soon as we played a few big shots. I didn’t think that was a problem, but obviously he was in a bit of pain so there weren’t going to be many twos out there.
“If he’d have lasted five to 10 more overs he might have been open about 80. You can’t look too much into it.”
Moeen is set to “re-retire” after this Test match. He initially called time on his Test career in September 2021, but answered an SOS call from Ben Stokes to play in this series when Jack Leach suffered a stress fracture of the back. This is his second injury of the series, having split open his spinning finger, which limited his involvement at Edgbaston and contributed to him sitting out at Lord’s. He returned to the team at Headingley, and has even been promoted to No 3 in the batting order.
The injury looks likely to ramifications for the remainder of his summer, in the Hundred with Birmingham Phoenix, and with England’s white-ball sides in September. If a serious tear has been sustained, he could have very limited build-up for England’s World Cup defence in India in October.
Mitchell Starc, the fast bowler who picked up four wickets, including Brook, described it as “a pretty even day”, but said Australia’s was a contended dressing room. Brook, meanwhile, painted a positive picture of England’s day, having been asked to bat first in helpful bowling conditions.
“We’ve had a decent day In the end, we were all talking about 250 being decent score at lunch time and got 33 more than that,” Brook said. “We were happy with the way we scored our runs. It would have been nice to get few more wickets tonight but hopefully we get them tomorrow morning.”
Brook praised the Australia captain Pat Cummins, who put a difficult fortnight behind him to bowl brilliantly, despite having figures of just one for 61 to show for it.
“I definitely felt that,” Brook said, when asked if Cummins was bowling quicker today. “My inner thigh definitely felt that. He looked like he was running in a bit harder today. As soon as the pitch is seaming like that it always feels a bit quicker. He doesn’t miss much, and they bowled really well.”
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