22 July 2023 , 19:32
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Marcus Trescothick promised that England would fight until the last ball after taking a dim view of being forced to dial down their pace attack.
Skipper Ben Stokes looked unhappy when he was told the light was too poor to persist with his Dad's Army seamers and had to bowl spin at both ends in the Ashes twilight zone. England fans' frustration was compounded by umpires Joel Wilson and Nitin Menon wearing SUNGLASSES in the gloom.
Only one Australian wicket fell in 30 overs between pulses of rain in the fourth Ashes Test, and the Baggy Greens advanced to 214-5 - still 61 runs behind. Trescothick, assistant coach to Bazball principal Brendon McCullum, said: "We were sat on the balcony and we didn't think the light had deteriorated that much to not allow our seamers to bowl.
"It didn't feel like it was that dark, but the umpires out in the middle have to make a decision. And tomorrow, if that's what we are given, that's what we'll take. If there's any opportunity to get out in the middle, we will grab it with both hands.
"In the dressing room everyone has a different weather app open on their phones and they are all saying pretty much the same thing about tomorrow: rain! But if we get a decent amount of time to force victory, we can still do it."
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Trescothick was a member of the England side thwarted at Old Trafford in 2005, with the Aussies clinging on for a draw nine wickets down, and he said: "If we have to take it to the last ball again, we'll stay here until 12 midnight if we have to. We've got to keep our fingers crossed, but we can't control what we turn up to in the morning."
Rain has threatened to curtail the fourth Ashes test at Old Trafford (OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)Have your say! Who'll win the Ashes - England or Australia? Give us your prediction in the comments section.
Aussie No.3 Marnus Labuschagne frustrated England with a superb 111 before he fell to Joe Root's spin with the floodlights on. He said: "It sometimes so hard to judge because we're so used to playing with lights on and if you take them off it becomes so hard and batting with red ball under artificial light is so hard.
"It's not a call for the players, we just handle it from there. We were so close to having a tremendous day there. We only needed 60 more to be within England's first innings total.
"The wicket still feels all right, the ball change seems to have more swing and that'll be a challenge in the morning, if we get play tomorrow. For us, this is about saving this Test match and retaining the Ashes."