Australia captain Pat Cummins saw another Ashes defeat at the Kia Oval as a missed opportunity but was proud to play in a series he feels will be remembered like the 2005 edition.
The visitors saw history repeat itself after they were dismissed for 334 to lose by 49 runs in the final Ashes match of the summer to give England a series-levelling success, having experienced the same disappointment four years ago in south London.
While the fourth Test wash-out in Manchester confirmed the urn would return home with Australia, they arrived in London eager to secure a first series win here since 2001, but came up short despite leading the five-match series 2-0 after victories at Edgbaston and Lord’s.
Cummins said: “I think because we’ve had really good series, especially at home and we’ve had a lot of success, the bar gets raised.
“So, coming over here retaining the Ashes feels like a little bit of a missed opportunity but in 2019 we were all pretty happy about a retained Ashes. I don’t think we should lose sight of that.
“It’s a huge achievement to come over here and win and get ourselves into many winning positions. Yeah, again we just kind of missed what we’ve come here hoping to achieve but winning the World Test Championship (against India) and retaining the Ashes is a pretty successful tour.
“Once we reflect on it, we’ll be proud that we’ve retained it and it’s been a wonderful tour but we all got up today hoping we’d win 3-1.”
In keeping with the narrative of the series, day five ebbed and flowed, with Australia losing three early wickets before Steve Smith and Travis Head guided them to 264 for three, only 120 runs off a record-breaking target at the Kia Oval.
Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali combined again during an extended evening session to swing the momentum back in England’s favour before Stuart Broad claimed the dream finish with the last two wickets to sign off from cricket in style.
An enthralling series concluded at 6.25pm on its final day and after the build-up was dominated by talk of another instalment like 2005, Cummins believes this match-up delivered with the contrasting styles of England’s aggression and the pragmatism of Australia adding to a thrill-a-minute two months.
“It has been one of the best things about the last eight weeks, just walking around the streets, you always expect one idiot every now and then but there hasn’t been any,” Cummins reflected.
“Everyone has been amazing and just talking about the cricket and how much they’ve loved it. I know it is the same back in Australia, big viewers, lots of people interested in cricket, so how good is that? It doesn’t get any better.
“I was a bit young for 2005 but that series gets talked about a lot and it feels like this one will be the same.”
England’s roaring fightback after rain wiped out two hours of play on Monday ensured Australia’s celebrations of retaining the urn were hollow with no confetti cannons fired.
Cummins faced plenty of scrutiny and criticism after rain earned them a draw at Old Trafford following three days of being outclassed by England.
The Aussie skipper added: “Whether we like it or not, Ashes tend to define eras or legacies. If that’s the case for this one, it is something we can be really proud of.
“Both the last two series over here we’ve retained the Ashes and that doesn’t happen very often.
“In terms of criticism, it happens. There are plenty of people out there watching at home and in the crowd, it’s part of the job.
“I think it is one of those series where every game was really close. We got on the right end of it in the first two games and unfortunately couldn’t get over the line in the last two, which is disappointing but overall a really good tour.”
Asalanka leads Sri Lanka to ODI series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka wrapped up the ODI series against the West Indies with a five-wicket victory in Pallekele.
The hosts successfully chased down their opponents' total of 189, giving them an unassailable 2-0 in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka controlled the early powerplay - Asitha Fernando (3-35) and Maheesh Theekshana (3-25) took two wickets apiece to leave the tourists at 31-4 in the ninth over.
Wanindu Hasaranga (4-40) then claimed three of his four wickets as Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Hayden Walsh and Alzarri Joseph were all dismissed in the space of 14 balls.
However, Sherfane Rutherford (80 off 82 balls) and Gudakesh Motie (50 not out) steadied the ship to take the Windies from 58-8 to 189.
Although Joseph claimed Avishka Fernando (9) in the fourth over, Nishan Madushka and Sadeera Samarawickrama both chipped in with contributions of 38 to get the hosts to 112-4.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (62 not out) led the charge thereon, while Kamindu Mendis (11) comfortably got them over the line with 34 balls remaining.
Data Debrief: Rutherford-Motie historic stand proves academic for tourists
West Indies were looking to level the series, but their hopes were not aided by Sri Lanka's impressive bowling.
Rutherford and Motie did their best. Their partnership brought 119 runs, which is their nation's highest ninth-wicket stand in ODI history, breaking the previous record of 85 between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph.
However, it ultimately proved in vain as the hosts secured the series with a game to spare.
'I was a tired, grumpy old man' - Stokes apologised to England team-mates after Pakistan defeat
Ben Stokes says he apologised to his England team-mates after his frustrations were evident during the second-Test defeat by Pakistan.
The hosts levelled the three-Test series on Thursday after wrapping up a 152-run win in Multan.
However, it could have been a different story but for fielding errors at crucial stages for the visitors, Jamie Smith and Joe Root notably dropping catches to dismiss Salman Agha, whose subsequent knock of 63 helped Pakistan seal victory with a day to spare.
Stokes, who returned to action following a hamstring injury, could not hide his frustration during a difficult day for England, but insisted he would not let his emotions get the better of him again.
"No one means to drop catches, but it just proves how important catches are in these subcontinent conditions, they don't come along that often," he told Sky Sports.
"I actually apologised to the group last night. It's the first time in my captaincy that I've let my emotions and how I was feeling with the way the game was unfolding show in my body language.
"I owned up to that and was very annoyed at myself for letting that out. It's something that I don't want to do or be seen to be doing, so I apologised to the group about that.
"Poor old me, I was a tired, grumpy old man last night! You won't see that happen again."
However, England coach Brendon McCullum defended the actions of his skipper.
"We all know how passionate Ben is, how much it means for him to play for England," he said.
"We've seen that through his bloody-mindedness to get back from injury, which was significant, and to do so in a nine-week timeframe and to have his first TM [Test match] in extreme conditions, 40 degrees, and be able to give what he gave to the side.
"I think, maybe, that's where some of that frustration led to - certainly, it wasn't directed at any of the players. It was more about trying to assess the rhythm of the game, and to impact on it."
Sri Lanka breeze to series win over West Indies
Sri Lanka cruised to a nine-wicket victory over West Indies to seal a T20I series triumph.
With the series delicately poised at 1-1 heading into the final match on Thursday, Sri Lanka started with intent in Dambulla.
Maheesh Theekshana (2-19) and Wanindu Hasaranga (2-24) led the charge as Sri Lanka skittled through the Windies' top order.
Rovman Powell's stubborn 37 and a contribution of 32 from Gudakesh Motie steered West Indies to a reasonable total of 162-8, but it was one well within reach of Sri Lanka.
Pathum Nissanka clipped seven fours and one six in a 22-ball 37 to get Sri Lanka's chase rolling at pace, before he was bowled by Gudakesh Mottie (1-31).
Yet the damage was mostly done, with Kusal Mendis powering his way to an unbeaten 68 and Kusal Perera plundering 55 from 36 balls to get the job done with the minimum of fuss.
Data Debrief: Perera closing in on Sri Lanka record
Perera is now just nine runs away from surpassing Tillakaratne Dilshan (1,889) as the leading scorer in Sri Lanka's T20I history.
His efforts, combined with those of Nissanka and Mendis, saw Sri Lanka win for a fourth time in their last six T20Is at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, although this is the first time they have won at the venue in that run when batting second.
The Windies' miserable record in Asia has continued, meanwhile. They have won only one of their last 11 T20Is in Asia (L10), with that victory coming in the first match of this series. They have now lost 33 T20Is on the continent in total, with only Ireland (35) having lost more.
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