Travis Head admitted Australia had “mixed emotions” after Sunday’s washout in Manchester saw them retain the Ashes, but knows the feeling will be very different if they can win the series.
Rain forced the final day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford to be abandoned, wiping out the chance of a potential winner-takes-all decider at the Kia Oval.
Australia have arrived in south London with a 2-1 lead and know the urn will return home with them, but a similar scenario in 2019 saw them come unstuck in the final Test and subsequently forced to settle for a drawn series.
Given the tourists have not won an Ashes series in England since 2001, there is plenty on the line despite the disappointment of last weekend’s wet weather.
“The feeling around it was yes, we have got away with one, but ultimately we have come here to win the Ashes and we have gone a huge way to doing that,” Head reflected two days out from the fifth Test starting on Thursday.
“We played really nice for three Test matches, maybe not played the best week last week, but if we can shut that out and think about what we did well for the first three Test matches, it will put us in good stead for this week.
“This week is very important and I think there are a lot of similarities with ’19.
“Coming here with the opportunity and a lot of different feelings with how the weeks panned out in ’19 and then this week, but I also think off the back of that, it probably showed us how much it meant and how much winning the Ashes would actually really mean instead of retaining them.
“No-one had done it for such a long period of time until 2019 and the high of retaining them, achieving that was huge and great, but then we didn’t have our best week that year.
“So, I think when we reflect from that and moving forward with the group being pretty similar, the ambition is to come here and win them so we have got that chance.”
Australia were completely outplayed in Manchester with England able to post 592 to establish a 275-run first-innings lead and Pat Cummins’ side were still in the red when the heavens opened at Old Trafford.
Only 30 overs of a scheduled 180 were bowled during the weekend and Head painted the picture of a calm dressing room once the draw was confirmed.
Head added: “It is mixed emotions because you would love to win a Test match to retain them and hopefully this week we can win a Test match to do it.
“A draw is a different feeling, no matter what the situation, but there was no real massive elation because we could see the situation coming.
“It was a really relaxed group, we had a quiet beer and a chat about where we need to go and what we can achieve this week, so our heads moved pretty quickly onto this week.”
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