Ospreys flanker Jac Morgan will captain Wales in Saturday’s opening World Cup warm-up clash against England at the Principality Stadium.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has yet to announce his World Cup skipper, though, and says each of the preparation games against England home and away, plus South Africa in Cardiff, could have a different player at the helm.

Centre Max Llewellyn, plus props Corey Domachowski and Keiron Assiratti will make their Test debuts on Saturday.

And former England prop Henry Thomas, who qualifies for Wales through his father and has been able to switch countries under new World Rugby regulations, is among the replacements along with fellow uncapped forward Taine Plumtree.

Full-back Leigh Halfpenny, meanwhile, will win his 100th cap as Wales step up their World Cup preparations.

Zak Crawley was "a revelation" for England in The Ashes, according to batting great David Gower.

England recovered from 2-0 down against Australia to draw the five-match series 2-2 and may have even forced a famous victory had the weather not intervened in the fourth Test at Old Trafford.

Crawley scored a magnificent 189 from 182 balls in that Manchester contest and finished the series as England's top scorer with 480 runs at an impressive 53.33 average.

Having also hit fifties at Edgbaston and The Oval, Crawley is now established at the top of the order after what had been a mixed start to his Test career.

Prior to this summer, the 25-year-old averaged just 27.60 and had only produced 10 scores of 50+ across his first 61 innings in the longest format.

Gower, who with 3,037 runs is England's second-highest run-scorer in Ashes history, hopes the opener has turned the corner.

"Look at the way Zak Crawley batted – for the last three years he has been an enigma," Gower said to Stats Perform. 

"You look at the man thinking he has got enormous talent. You look at the way he hits the ball and you think this man must make thousands of runs. And yet, he's averaging 20-odd. 

"Suddenly, in this series, that style has been proven to be worthy. 

"The trick for Zak Crawley now would be to carry on doing that wherever else he plays in the world and hopefully the lesson will have stuck. 

"There are ways he can do that because he did change his game slightly, he did become more nuanced in the way he approached the opening overs of an innings. 

"So people do learn as they go. This is the great thing – people learn throughout their careers and you have never nailed it for sure. You are learning each and every day that you are out there. 

"Zak Crawley certainly contended to be a player of the series, I think that was a revelation."

Gower felt it was difficult to select a player of the series, with Chris Woakes ultimately winning the award despite not playing in every match.

The former England captain added: "It is always hard picking a player of a series when you've seen so many performances. The official result was Chris Woakes, who came in to play only three Test matches.

"What was interesting to me was that, for all the preparation and all the planning, things fell into place – not entirely by accident, but by circumstance – with Ollie Pope having to be left out because of injury. 

"So the balance of the team changed, Woakes and [Mark] Wood came in and the Woakes-Wood partnership actually seemed to make a huge difference to England. 

"Wood's pace at Leeds was very much the difference. And Woakes [made an impact] mainly with the ball and a little bit with the bat as well. 

"Woakes just had a series that he will savour for a long, long time."

England do not return to Test action until January 2024, when they will travel to India for a five-match series.

They will now turn their attention to retaining the Cricket World Cup. The latest edition of the 50-over tournament starts in October.

Stuart Broad bowed out from cricket with 604 Test wickets to his name after taking the final two in England’s win over Australia at the Oval.

Here, the PA news agency looks back at the key statistics from his stunning career.

Old enemy

“I’ve had a love affair with the Ashes my whole life and the thought of being able to bowl my last ball and face my last ball against Australia fills me with joy.”

Those were Broad’s words as he announced his retirement after day three of this summer’s final Test and they are reflected in his career statistics.

Only Shane Warne (195) and Glenn McGrath (157) have taken more than Broad’s 153 Ashes wickets, at an average of 28.96, and the 12 men he dismissed seven times or more in Test cricket include eight Australians.

Opener David Warner is famously his favourite opponent with 17 dismissals across seven Ashes series dating back to 2013, including seven in 10 innings in 2019.

He has taken Steve Smith and Michael Clarke 11 times each, Usman Khawaja, Chris Rogers and Shane Watson eight and Travis Head and Mitchell Johnson seven times.

Broad took the wickets of New Zealand pair Ross Taylor and Tom Latham and South Africa’s AB de Villiers 10 times each and De Villiers’ compatriot Hashim Amla on eight occasions. He has dismissed 234 different batters in total.

Game-wrecker

Broad’s wickets came in 167 Tests at an average of 27.68, with his debut coming back in 2007 against Sri Lanka.

Known for his game-wrecking bursts, Broad has 20 five-wicket hauls and three 10-wicket matches – a best of 11 for 121 against Australia at Chester-le-Street in 2013 and two against the West Indies, at Lord’s in 2012 and Old Trafford in 2020.

He produced a scintillating best of eight for 15 at Trent Bridge to help win the 2015 Ashes and has seven-wicket hauls at Lord’s in the aforementioned West Indies clash and against New Zealand in 2013.

Broad is the only England bowler with two Test hat-tricks to his name, removing India trio MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar in successive balls in figures of six for 46 in 2011 and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal and Shaminda Eranga in 2014.

Going out at the top

Broad’s golden period between 2013 and 2016 brought 196 Test wickets at 25.56, with four of his five best innings figures including six for 25 against India at Old Trafford and six for 17 in Johannesburg to bowl South Africa out for 83.

He put together a similarly impressive stretch dating from 2019 – the year he turned 33.

He has 171 wickets at 24.23 in that time and aside from a down year in 2021, with 12 wickets in seven Tests, has averaged almost 40 dismissals a year.

Among the elite

Broad sits fifth and new-ball partner James Anderson third on the list of leading Test wicket-takers, headed by two of the world’s all-time great spinners.

Sri Lanka star Muttiah Muralitharan’s 800 wickets may never be matched, with the late Shane Warne currently the only man within 100 after taking 708 for Australia.

Anderson has 690 while former India spinner Anil Kumble racked up 619 wickets to Broad’s 604.

McGrath and Courtney Walsh are the only other bowlers to take even 500 – McGrath 563 and West Indies great Walsh 519.

Only Kumble of the ‘500 club’ has a higher average than Broad’s 27.68, the Indian taking his wickets at 29.65. McGrath’s 21.64 edges out Muralitharan (22.72) for the best average.

Broad surprisingly has the fewest five-wicket innings among the septet, though on 12 of those 20 occasions he has gone on to take at least six.

More than just a Test bowler

While Broad’s batting declined in recent years, he has 13 Test half-centuries and a memorable 169 in the controversial Lord’s ‘spot-fixing’ Test against Pakistan in 2010.

A Test batting average of 18.03 does not do justice to the all-round ability he showed for much of his career, having in his teenage years followed the lead of his famous father Chris as an opening batter.

His brilliance also translated to different formats, taking 178 one-day international wickets at 30.13 and 65 at 22.93 in T20, where he captained England in 27 of his 56 appearances.

England are hoping that retiring seamer Stuart Broad has “one more fairytale left” as they look to salvage a 2-2 draw on the final day of the Ashes.

Australia offered Broad a guard of honour on Sunday morning but went all out to ruin his farewell appearance at the Kia Oval.

Long-time foe David Warner joined series top-scorer Usman Khawaja to put on 135 without loss on day four before rain arrived to wipe out play midway through the afternoon session.

That left the tourists needing another 249 on day five to reel in their target of 384 – a chase that would go down as the second highest by any Australia side and eighth highest in Test history.

England need another 10 wickets to claim victory and take a deserved share of the spoils but failed to generate a clear-cut chance in their first 38 overs, with Broad wicketless from six.

He had already signed off his batting career in perfect fashion, smashing his last ball for six during a brief cameo, and assistant coach Marcus Trescothick is pulling for the 37-year-old to depart in romantic fashion.

“We don’t quite see the fairytales that we want to see at times but it would be lovely to dream of it,” he said.

“If there was one more fairytale left it would be ideal if it was Stuart’s last five-for. One or two wickets to win and he runs in and gets his last five-for…something like that would be brilliant wouldn’t it?

“He’s going out right on top, isn’t he? To think you could hit your last ball for six, it was great. Most people finish when their stumps are knocked over or they’ve nicked one to slip.

“He got a great reception, it was really nice. For Stuart to get a just reward for the hard work and dedication he’s put in for such a long time was really nice to see.”

Trescothick insisted England were always expecting a tough finish despite the size of their lead and brushed aside the idea that the emotion around Broad’s departure had contributed to their tricky time in the field.

“We go about the business in the same way. We’re trying to win an Ashes Test match,” he said.

“We want to win the game for the team but you’ve got that something extra with it being Stuart’s last game. Let’s go out and win it.

“It’s been great watching the tributes that they’ve put on the TV and some of the footage they’ve put out but these guys are very professional about what they’ve got to do and and that will be no different on the last day.

“The game is in a great position and we’re still pretty positive about the job we’ve got to do. A couple of early ones in the morning and suddenly we’re right back on and right in the mix again.”

Trescothick confirmed that Mark Wood was passed fit, despite England holding their fastest bowler back until the 33rd over of the innings, but accepted both he and spinner Moeen Ali (groin) were struggling through after a draining summer.

“Woody’s fit to bowl, but like pretty much everybody else there are little aches and pains off the back of a big five-Test series,” he said.

“Moeen obviously had the little niggle but it’s been easier over the last couple of days. It’s not 100 per cent, of course it’s not. It probably won’t be for two or three weeks now but we’ve got a little bit out of him and will continue to try to do that again.”

An enthralling Ashes will come to its conclusion at the Kia Oval on Monday with Stuart Broad and England eager to fashion a “fairy-tale finish” to square the series.

Sunday’s washout following only 39.5 overs means the latest instalment of the England versus Australia rivalry has gone to the wire with plenty on the line.

Australia are 135 without loss in pursuit of 384 to win a series in England for the first time since 2001, but the hosts are desperate to claim a victory that would earn them a share of the spoils at 2-2 despite urn returning Down Under.

Throw in Broad’s retirement in addition to this arguably being the end of an era for several members on each XI and it sets up the prospect of a fitting finale to an Ashes series that has left its mark on a generation.

View from the dressing room

England may prefer for Australia not to get their target down to single figures but Broad will be dreaming of a leading character role. Australia need 249 more runs to pull off victory and claim a 3-1 series win, but their pursuit of 384 would represent the second highest Test chase in this country. It is geared up to be another thriller.

Symbolic send-off

Broad lapped up the benefits of making his retirement plans public on Saturday night when he walked out to bat for one final time on day four.

A sold-out Kia Oval crowed greeted his emergence from the pavilion with a standing ovation before old rivals Australia gave the veteran a guard of honour.

Alongside Broad was his friend James Anderson with the duo arm in arm before the latter told his fellow his new ball partner to soak up the special moment alone.

Stand and deliver

After the testimonial vibes of Broad’s standing ovation and guard of honour, a bizarre opening passage occurred from Mitchell Starc’s opening over with singles turned down during the first five balls.

It was quickly forgotten when Starc’s final delivery was short and Broad latched onto it with a swashbuckling pull for six over square leg.

Anderson was trapped lbw by Todd Murphy in the next over, which meant Broad’s maximum was the final ball he faced in cricket. Some way to go.

Little birthday joy for Jimmy

While Broad would have hoped for a wicket on what could have been his swansong, Anderson may have also envisaged a different 41st birthday.

The elder statesman of the England team was serenaded by the Kia Oval crowd with happy birthday and his children made a poster for their dad which was picked up by the TV cameras, but he was out lbw after five balls.

Anderson then again ran in hard and produced his normal pace, but he and the rest of the bowling attack were blunted by Australia’s openers and worryingly barely an opportunity was created in 38 overs. Captain Ben Stokes knows that must change early on Monday.

Khawaja kicks Creepy off top spot

No two batters have better highlighted the culture clash between the teams than Usman Khawaja and Zak Crawley, who will end the series as numbers one and two in the run-scoring charts.

Crawley’s classy 73 on day three took his overall tally to 480 runs and left Khawaja with a 57-run target to pip him to the top spot, which he managed in stoic fashion on Sunday and the Australian opener walked off unbeaten on 69.

While Khawaja is seven runs shy of the 500-mark, the eye-catching difference between the duo is the number of balls faced. Crawley needed 541 deliveries to score his tally at a strike rate of 88.72. In contrast Khawaja has taken 1,248 balls with a strike rate of 39.50 to demonstrate the different methods adopted by the teams this summer.

Broad’s Ashes?

Broad has already confirmed he will retire but he is not the only player set to bring their Ashes career to an end on Monday.

Warner will bow out in January and is 32 runs shy of signing off here with a first hundred in England while Moeen Ali signalled earlier this summer he would go back into red-ball retirement.

The next Ashes is more than two years away and it looks a tall order for 41-year-old Anderson to feature while Mark Wood, 33, may even struggle and doubts have to be cast over Stokes given his ongoing knee concerns.

Australia’s XI includes several players over 30, with Steve Smith (34), Khawaja (36), Josh Hazlewood (32) and Mitchell Starc (33) unlikely to grace these shores again.

It all contributes to the end-of-an-era feel surrounding day five but with 20 wickets in this series and this ground the scene of his first big Ashes moment in 2009, you would not bet against Broad producing a fairy-tale finish.

Stuart Broad’s hopes of retiring in a blaze of glory threatened to go awry as his old rival David Warner helped Australia puncture the party atmosphere on day four of the final Ashes Test.

The stage seemed set for Broad to bow out in style following his shock announcement on Saturday night, as he was awarded a guard of honour by the tourists and then smashed his final ball as a batter into the crowd for six.

That left Australia chasing a mammoth 384 to win at the Kia Oval, 121 more than the ground record, placing England as heavy favourites as Broad began the chase for wickets alongside 41-year-old birthday boy James Anderson.

But Australia spoiled the party as Warner (58no) and Usman Khawaja (69no) carried the score to 135 without loss. In all England sent down 38 overs without a single concrete chance before rain stopped play in the afternoon session.

Broad bowled six overs for 15 but was unable to give the crowd the moment they wanted – an 18th career dismissal of Warner.

Australia showed their respect for England’s most prolific Ashes wicket-taker by lining up at the boundary edge and clapping him through as he and Anderson emerged to complete their last-wicket stand. Anderson, who has vowed to carry on despite having four years on his partner, made a point of taking a different route.

The pair refused to take easy singles off the first five balls of Mitchell Starc’s first over, a seemingly curious ploy but one that cashed out when Broad stepped away and smashed the seamer over midwicket for six. That would be his final stroke as a professional cricketer, with Anderson lbw to Todd Murphy in the next over.

Both men dashed off as they rushed to get their hands on the new ball, with clouds rolling in on cue. Warner produced an uncertain jab off Broad’s first delivery, spraying it off the inside edge, but the Dukes was refusing to swing despite the overheads.

Broad’s first spell did not not create any real danger, though he managed a few theatrical reactions to suggest otherwise, but he was not alone. Anderson and Chris Woakes fared similarly, with the 10th over of the innings thrown to Moeen Ali. Mark Wood, meanwhile, saw his 90mph go surplus to requirements.

He had not been certain to bowl at all due to a groin injury, but worked through five gentle overs before giving way to Joe Root. Warner and Khawaja were focused on the task at hand, picking off a steady diet of loose deliveries and reaching 75 by lunch.

Warner hinted that he was ready to go through the gears at the start of the afternoon session, clattering Anderson high over mid-off with a clean swing of the bat that took the score to 92 – the highest opening stand of the series.

Anderson sent down a wild beamer at his next visit, with Warner flopping to the ground as he avoided injury and collected four deflected runs into the bargain. With Root beginning to leak boundaries at the Vauxhall Road End, Stokes finally sent for Wood after 33 overs.

The Durham quick rapped Khawaja on the helmet as he ducked into a skiddy bouncer, but England could not get prevent the game slipping away from them. Khawaja was first to 50 in 110 balls, with Warner a couple of minutes behind but 20 deliveries quicker.

The weather intervened midway through the session but, while rain ruined England’s victory charge at Old Trafford last week, this felt like a welcome break for a home side who were losing the initiative with every run scored.

A swashbuckling six from Stuart Broad in his final batting innings set Australia 384 to win the fifth Ashes Test, but England were unable to make any inroads on the fourth morning at the Kia Oval.

Broad’s shock announcement on Saturday night that he would retire after this series ensured all eyes were on him as England resumed on 389 for nine.

Following a guard of honour, Broad pulled the last delivery of Mitchell Starc’s opening over into the stands and it was his final flay of the bat.

Todd Murphy trapped James Anderson lbw five balls later to dismiss England for 395 with Broad unbeaten on eight.

There would be no early heroics with the ball for Broad though, with David Warner and Usman Khawaja able to enjoy their best opening stand of the series to guide Australia to lunch on 75 without loss before rain arrived.

Broad lapped up the benefits of making his retirement plans public when he walked out to bat for one final time on day four.

A sold-out Kia Oval crowed greeted his emergence from the pavilion with a standing ovation before old rivals Australia gave the veteran a guard of honour.

England’s innings would last a further 11 balls, but it was enough time for Broad to deliver one last time with the bat.

After singles were turned down from the first five balls of Starc’s over, the sixth was smashed over square leg for six by Broad.

It would prove the final ball of Broad’s batting career with Anderson out lbw in Murphy’s next over to set Australia 384 to win the series.

Broad sprinted off to get ready for his bowling stint and despite enticing an inside edge first up from Warner, it landed safely and Ben Stokes had replaced both his new ball bowlers by the ninth over.

Moeen Ali got the call after recovering sufficiently from his groin strain on Thursday but leaked runs initially and Australia’s openers brought up their fourth fifty stand of the series in the 14th over.

Further changes by Stokes saw Broad and Anderson brought back after spells from Chris Woakes and Joe Root, but quick Mark Wood was conspicuous by his absence.

Australia’s scoring rate did slow and yet Khawaja and Warner nudged their way past the 73-run partnership they put on at Lord’s with the former surviving an lbw appeal by Root before light rain arrived as the players walked off.

England bowler Stuart Broad has announced he will retire from Test cricket at the end of the Ashes series, bringing the curtain down on an illustrious – and at times electrifying – career.

Here, the PA news agency recalls some of Broad’s greatest displays in the longest format of the game.

Eight for 15, v Australia, Trent Bridge 2015

Undoubtedly Broad’s finest hour, this was perhaps among the most memorable feats in Ashes history. Bowling unchanged from the pavilion end on his home ground, Broad routed Australia almost single-handedly in the space of 57 deliveries. He had Chris Rogers caught by Alastair Cook at slip with his third ball, and doubled up when Steve Smith also fell in his first over. Broad finished with figures of 9.3-5-15-8, and Australia were blown away for 60 all out in 18.3 overs – en route to defeat by an innings and 78 runs in under three days, losing the Ashes in the process.

Hat-trick hero, 2011 and 2014

Broad is the only Englishman with two Test hat-tricks to his name. His first came against India, 12 years ago and again on his home ground in Nottingham. England were thoroughly dominant all summer, on their way to number one in the world under Andrew Strauss, and Broad did his bit when he had MS Dhoni flashing an attempted drive to second slip and Harbhajan Singh lbw despite an inside-edge in India’s pre-DRS days, before bowling Praveen Kumar. Broad repeated the dose three years later, this time against Sri Lanka at Headingley where the successive scalps of Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal and Shaminda Eranga were not enough to stop England losing the match and series.

Six for 17, v South Africa, Johannesburg 2016

This was another unstoppable Broad special. England had eked out a 10-run first-innings lead at the Wanderers, but South Africa’s openers Dean Elgar and Stiaan van Zyl appeared set to lay a decent foundation second time round – until Broad seized the moment again. In under 10 overs, he had the first five wickets. It was he too who completed the rout when he had Faf du Plessis last out, caught-and-bowled, as South Africa mustered just 83. England went on to win by seven wickets inside three days, wrapping up the series with a match to spare.

Five for 71 & six for 50, v Australia, Chester-le-Street 2013

The Ashes were again in Broad’s sights, and he once more made no mistake. His five first-innings wickets restricted Australia to a 32-run lead. In the second innings, the tourists appeared on track to halve the series deficit to 2-1 with one to play when they reached 168 for two in pursuit of 299. Broad had other ideas, though, finishing with six for 50 as Michael Clarke’s men lost their last eight wickets for 56 – and England clinched a series win.

Six for 31 & four for 36, v West Indies, Old Trafford 2020

A brilliant outing, which saw Broad seal player of the match, player of the series, take a 10-wicket match haul and become just the seventh bowler in history to claim 500 Test scalps. Broad’s name was all over this encounter, even chipping in 62 with the bat for good measure. After the match he made it clear the landmark was not a parting gift to English cricket and he has lived up to his word, going strong three years down the line.

Five for 37, v Australia, The Oval 2009

A young Broad’s calling card to the world game. With the Ashes on the line he elbowed aside more established names such as Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison to take matters into his hands. From 73 without loss, he ran a wrecking ball through the Australian batting order in a devastating session as they slipped to 160 all out. They never reclaimed the momentum and the urn came home.

England bowler Stuart Broad will retire from Test cricket following the Ashes.

The 37-year-old made the announcement at stumps on day three of the final Test against Australia at the Kia Oval.

Broad has taken 602 wickets in 167 Tests, making him the second most successful paceman in Test history behind team-mate James Anderson.

“Tomorrow or Monday will be my last game of cricket,” he told Sky Sports.

“It’s been a wonderful ride, a huge privilege to wear the Nottinghamshire and England badge as much as I have.

“It’s been a wonderful series to be part of and I’ve always wanted to finish at the top. This series just feels like it’s been one of the most enjoyable and entertaining that I’ve been part of.”

England put themselves in pole position for an Ashes-levelling win in the fifth and final Test, leaving Australia a record chase after another display of ‘Bazball’ bravado at the Kia Oval.

The hosts turned in a swaggering attacking performance on day three in south London, clattering their way to 389 for nine as they ushered an enthralling series towards its end game.

Joe Root cracked 91 before being undone by a shooter, Zak Crawley signed off a fine summer with a vibrant 73 and Jonny Bairstow clubbed 78 as the tourists chased leather for 80 overs.

It was a fitting way for England’s batting unit to bow out after six weeks of fearless – and often reckless – hitting with 48 boundaries and three sixes.

Australia have already retained the urn thanks to their 2-1 lead but face a mountainous battle if they are to land a first outright win on these shores in 22 years.

Stuart Broad, England’s second-highest Test wicket-taker of all time, announced after the match that he would be retiring from all cricket at the end of this match.

They are already 377 behind on a ground where the highest fourth-innings pursuit sits at 263, while Donald Bradman’s ‘Invincibles’ are the only Australian team to have chased more.

They established a slender lead of 12 before being bowled out in the final act of day two, an advantage that lasted precisely an over.

The first ball of the day was a wide half-volley from Mitchell Starc, practically begging to be crashed through the covers for four. Crawley had done exactly that to the opening ball of the series back at Edgbaston and needed no encouragement to repeat the stroke.

A single and two boundaries from Ben Duckett followed in quick succession, clearing the deficit in six balls. For an Australia side who had scraped just 13 runs off the bat in a soporific first hour on the second day, England’s self-assured start seemed disorientating.

Starc was hauled off after shipping 22 from two overs – a poor spell even by T20 standards, let alone an Ashes Test – with Australia unable to plug the scoring. England reached 50 in 8.4 overs, with Duckett collecting seven fours.

The touring attack were light on ideas but finally made a breakthrough with 79 on the board, when the returning Starc had Duckett (42) caught behind off a thin edge. England were not allowed to send out Moeen Ali due to time spent off the field with a groin injury, leaving Ben Stokes to become his side’s fourth number three of the series.

Any hopes of the wicket allowing Australia to reset crumbled upon contact as Crawley stepped out of Duckett’s shadow and began to dictate terms. He took a liking to Todd Murphy, easing through his arsenal of sweeps and off drives to leave the spinner unsure of what line to bowl.

With Starc continuing to be costly, England romped along to 130 for one at lunch with Stokes an unlikely anchor as Crawley freed his arms. The Durham man is nobody’s idea of a wallflower, though, and he shifted gears abruptly by hooking Josh Hazlewood’s third ball of the afternoon for six.

His immediate reaction suggested Stokes was worried, but Starc could do no more than paw it over the ropes at fine-leg. Crawley was in sight of reaching 500 runs for the series, a landmark few would have tipped him to get close to at the start, but fell 20 short when he drove slightly lazily at a Pat Cummins delivery that shaped away.

That was the first of three wickets in the session, though it would be hard to call it a comeback. Stokes made 42 before hacking Murphy to mid-on and Harry Brook hit one huge straight six before nicking Hazlewood behind, but this was Root’s time to take the spotlight.

After surviving a marginal lbw shout on four, he came to life. Mitch Marsh was reverse ramped for six over third man, a party trick that never loses its sparkle, and flicked fine to fine-leg when he straightened up in response.

Starc, meanwhile, coughed up three consecutive boundaries culminating in a loose-limbed uppercut. Root’s half-century took just 42 deliveries and by the time tea arrived, he and Bairstow had already pushed the lead past 250.

Bairstow seemed particularly hungry to hurry along, depositing Murphy through the covers and popping him back over his head, then tucking into his favourite cut shot to give Hazlewood a dose.

By the time his frenzy took the fifth-wicket stand to 100, he had scored 70 of them. Root was quietly making his way towards his own century, an apparent inevitability until he was cut off by a grubber from Murphy.

The bowler can take credit for generating some handy turn, but Root had no chance as the ball skidded into his stumps off the toe end. Bairstow followed with a flat-footed poke at Starc and the innings wound to an end in a flurry of activity.

The ailing Moeen made an enjoyable 29 in what is surely his final Test innings, but joined Chris Woakes and Mark Wood in donating his wicket chasing quick runs at the close.

Joe Root picked up the baton with an unbeaten fifty after Zak Crawley hit 73 to help England’s lead move beyond the 250 mark by tea on day three of the final Ashes Test.

Crawley had walked off at lunch on 71 not out but could only add two more runs to his total before he nicked off to Pat Cummins, bringing a stellar series to an end with a final total of 480 runs.

England captain Ben Stokes followed him back to the pavilion when he picked out Cummins off Todd Murphy to join Ben Duckett in departing for 42.

When Harry Brook edged Josh Hazlewood behind for seven at the Kia Oval, the hosts were on the verge of throwing away a strong morning session where 130 runs were scored for the loss of one wicket.

Root ensured that would not be the case and reached tea on 61 not out after receiving support from Jonny Bairstow, unbeaten on 34, to guide England to 265 for four, a lead of 253 at the end of another run-fuelled afternoon session.

After Australia were all out for 295 from the last ball of day two, Crawley and Duckett walked out to glorious sunshine in south London with a 12-run deficit to wipe out.

England took six balls to move into a lead with Crawley beginning his final innings of the series in the same vein he started this Ashes at Edgbaston, crunching his first delivery through cover for four.

Mitchell Starc was on the receiving end this time and his opening two overs went for 22 runs, more than the 21 Australia had ground out during a pedestrian first hour on Friday.

It continued the culture clash between the two teams as Duckett clipped and cut away for four with ease to put on a fifty stand with Crawley inside nine overs.

Australia did finally make the breakthrough after nearly 90 minutes of play with Starc striking in the first over of his second spell when Duckett’s booming drive got the faintest of edges and, despite an initial not out call, Cummins’ review showed a spike on UltraEdge and the England opener departed for 42.

Stokes entered the fray at three, after Moeen Ali was absent from the field on day two due to his groin injury, but it quickly turned into the Crawley show.

Three runs off a Cummins misfield at mid-off saw Crawley reach his half-century off 61 balls before he swept Murphy for consecutive fours to bring up the fifty partnership before lunch.

Crawley took guard at the start of the afternoon session on 71 but there would be no Ashes hundred on this occasion after he nicked off two runs later, but with his place at the top of the run-scoring charts established.

Root encountered trouble during the early stages of his innings, wearing one on his body before he survived a tight lbw appeal against Hazlewood, with an Australia review showing it was umpire’s call on impact.

It would prove decisive with Root’s trademark ramp shot brought out to hit Mitch Marsh for six and a pull for four off Starc brought up another fifty partnership for England.

At the other end, Stokes had mixed aggression with patience alongside a degree of luck with Starc only able to stumble over the boundary rope after taking a catch at fine leg straight after lunch.

Stokes’ next attempted big shot did prove his downfall though with Cummins picked out at mid-on to give Murphy his first wicket of the day.

Brook followed for seven, although only after smashing Murphy back over his head for six.

Root had already reached fifty by this point but dropped anchor after the arrival of Yorkshire team-mate Bairstow at the crease.

England wicketkeeper Bairstow was happy to adopt the role of counter-punching, smacking five fours to march off for tea on 34 not out with the hosts’ advantage now beyond the 250-mark.

England veteran Rachel Daly revealed she blocks out the frightening possibility of becoming a victim of the devastating injury crisis besetting women’s football and the World Cup.

Midfielder Keira Walsh was stretchered off with a suspected knee injury in the first half of the Lionesses’ 1-0 group-stage victory over Denmark on Friday, later appearing on crutches and sparking concern she might join England’s Beth Mead and Leah Williamson on a long list of players ruled out of the 2023 tournament with the same anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that disproportionately affects women.

There was no update on Walsh’s condition as of Saturday night in Sydney, three days before the Lionesses play China in Adelaide with a target of escaping Group D in top spot.

Daly said: “I don’t think you can think about it, for me, those three letters scare the absolute you-know-what out of me. 

“Fingers, toes, everything crossed for Keira, but that’s football isn’t it, it’s tough, you have your highs and your lows and you just hope that everything is all right and she’ll be all right for the future. It’s a tough one but I hope she’s all right.

“I think losing anyone is tough but a player with the ability of Keira is a tough one to lose. She’s such an integral part of the way we play and it’s tough, but that’s why Sarina’s built a squad, we’ve got depth, and [Laura Coombs] came on and did really well. So it’s obviously disappointing and heart-breaking for Keira but hopefully it’s nothing too serious.”

England boss Sarina Wiegman did not make any changes to her starting XI during the Lionesses’ Euro 2022-winning campaign, but on Friday opted for two from England’s 1-0 tournament-opening win against Haiti.

Women’s Super League (WSL) Golden Boot winner Daly, who was named as a forward for this tournament, returned to left-back where she started every game of the European Championships, while Chelsea’s Lauren James got the nod on the left wing in place of Lauren Hemp.

It proved a prescient swap after Daly set up James’ first World Cup goal after six minutes against Denmark, that strike also ultimately enough to maintain England’s 100 per cent record and place them in prime position to finish top of Group D with a point against China.

Daly said: “I say it all the time but it’s an honour to put on this shirt whenever I can. I’ll play in any position. It’s not the one I’ve been playing in regularly for my club but it’s something that’s still familiar.

“I think I did all right, there’s tweaks I need to make on my game in that position but that’s OK, I learn from it, I’ll go and analyse it, I’ll fix it and move onto the next game. For me, it’s just getting onto the pitch, and doing what I can for the team.”

The 31-year-old Aston Villa striker also heaped praise on James, a decade her junior, hotly touted as the future of this England squad and backed by Blues boss Emma Hayes to be a vital force for the Lionesses in their quest for a maiden World Cup.

Daly said: “Yeah, LJ’s just a strength on her own, she’s phenomenal, and you saw what she can do, glimpses of what she can do. I can’t take any credit for anything she does, she’s just an unbelievable person and player.”

England will hope to set a match-winning total when they begin their second innings on day three of the fifth Ashes Test.

Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett will walk out at the Kia Oval with Australia holding a narrow 12-run lead after the tourists were all out for 295 from the last ball on Friday night.

Australia had gone along at a pedestrian rate in the morning before wickets tumbled regularly, but Steve Smith’s 71 and late blows from Pat Cummins and Todd Murphy saw the tourists go beyond England’s 283.

Smith received a lifeline on 44 after substitute fielder George Ealham came agonisingly close to his own Gary Pratt moment and now all eyes are on England’s batters as they look to level the series.

View from the dressing roomSuperstitious Stu!

Australia crawled along at a snail’s pace during the opening hour of day two and, whether by coincidence or chance, it took Stuart Broad witchcraft to inspire a change in fortunes.

Labuschagne had scored nine runs from 81 deliveries before Broad decided to rearrange the bails ahead of the fifth ball of the 43rd over. Seconds later and Mark Wood found the edge where Joe Root took a stunner at first slip.

Broad’s agent of chaos act worked a treat and he has not ruled out a repeat when Australia are chasing. “It was a pretty successful result wasn’t it? So, I think if the game gets tight I might wander up again,” the England seamer smirked.

Honours up for grabs

After Wood’s breakthrough, Broad got on a roll after lunch with Khawaja and Travis Head out in quick succession to move the veteran on to 20 scalps for the series and bring up the 150-mark for Test wickets against Australia.

Broad has plenty of Aussies for company at the top of the wicket-takers column in this series and Mitchell Starc (19), Pat Cummins (17) and Josh Hazlewood (15) will get one last opportunity to bump up their numbers when they try to bowl England out for an attainable target on day three.

Remarkably, Chris Woakes is now up to 15 dismissals despite featuring in only five innings. Before he gets the chance to improve his figures, he may bat at three with Moeen Ali only able to come in after 120 minutes of England’s innings on Saturday or after the fall of their fifth wicket.

Jimmy jumping for joy!

James Anderson has endured a tough series, claiming only four wickets in three Tests before this outing, but he was able to bring the Kia Oval crowd to their feet with the crucial scalp of Mitch Marsh.

Marsh dragged onto leg stump in the opening over of Anderson’s first spell from the Pavilion End during a purple patch for the hosts on Friday afternoon.

It helped cement England’s grip on the contest at this point, with five wickets falling in the middle session and Australia walking off on 186 for seven.

‘You cannot do that’

On a day where plenty of fielders took centre stage, Ben Stokes saved the best until last.

During the final over on Friday, Cummins tried to launch Root into the stands and almost succeeded, but Stokes leapt to take the catch at long on before he threw the ball up in the air as he was about to stumble over the boundary rope.

England’s captain was then able to step back onto the turf and collect the catch at the second time of asking to bring Australia’s first innings to an end on 295 and set up an exciting third day.

Boy George is that the difference?

While England’s energy is now firmly on batting, you have to wonder what might have been had substitute fielder Ealham written his name into Ashes folklore with the dismissal of Smith.

Smith looked to complete a risky two in Australia’s 78th over, but Ealham sprinted in from the boundary rope and hurled in a hard, flat throw that forced the Aussie batter to dive to make his ground.

It provoked memories of Pratt’s memorably ran out Ricky Ponting during the 2005 Ashes, but TV umpire Nitin Menon eventually ruled Smith not out.

Replays showed Jonny Bairstow may have nudged one of the bails out of its groove before taking the ball and further clips highlighted how both ends of the bail may not have left their grooves before Smith made it home.

Smith was on 44 and the scoreboard briefly showed Australia on 195 for eight. He would subsequently make 71. How crucial may they prove?

Trinidad and Tobago’s Calypso Girls and Barbados Gems were both brave in defeat despite being outclassed by reigning champions New Zealand and England in their respective opening games at the Vitality Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa on Friday.

The number 10-ranked Calypso Girls, who were the first Caribbean team in action, went down 27-72 to number two-ranked New Zealand, while the 14-ranked Gems, succumbed to a 29-90 loss to number three-ranked England Roses.

Those results meant that both Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados will have to play catch up in their respective pools, if they are to make the top three to progress to the next round.

New Zealand head Pool D ahead of Uganda, who were 79-37 winners over Singapore, while England heads Pool B ahead Malawi, who registered a 55-49 win over Scotland.

Trinidad and Tobago, one of only three countries to win a World Cup title in the tournament’s history, knew they were always up against it against the Silver Ferns, but left their best on the court in restricting the champions to a score under 80.

Still, New Zealand were comfortable from the start going 23-2 in the opening quarter and 43-11 at half time, before asserting authority at the backend of the contest.

Grace Nweke scored a flawless 31 goals for New Zealand and Maia Wilson made 22 of 24 attempts, while Afeisha Noel and Joelisa Cooper, had 17 and 10 goals for Trinidad and Tobago.

The Calypso Girls are scheduled to face Singapore on Saturday at 11:00am Jamaica time.

Meanwhile, Barbados, despite the presence of experienced siblings Sasha and Kadeen Corbin, who both racked up over 70 caps for England before switching allegiance, struggled for consistency which proved their undoing against the Roses.

They Started positively by matching strides with, but a number of unforced errors paved the way for England to take command of the game at 20-8 going into the first interval and 42-18 at half time.

England rang the changes at the start of the third quarter and with Barbados being caught out by the long balls, it forced goal shooter Kadeen Corbin to take up the goalkeeping position. While the move gradually assisted in restricting the Roses, it also limited the Gems’ scoring chances across the last two quarters.  

Faye Agard, captain of the Bajan Gems took heart from her team’s performance heading into their second game against Scotland tomorrow at 9:00am Jamaica time.

“We know we had some really good passages of play, but we also had a lot of unforced errors that we need to work on. So, we know what we need to do, go back to the drawing board and fix some things for the next game,” Agard said.

Stuart Broad was content to give Steve Smith “the benefit of the doubt” after his run-out reprieve left England and Australia neck and neck after day two of the fifth Ashes Test.

Substitute fielder George Ealham, the 21-year-old son of former England all-rounder Mark, came close to swinging things decisively in the home side’s favour when he produced a lightning fast gather and throw to leave Smith scrambling.

Memories of former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting having his stumps thrown down by Gary Pratt 18 years ago came flooding back, but Smith was spared that fate as replays cast doubt over the role of wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.

He appeared to nudge a bail loose with his arm before gathering the ball and completing the run out, leading TV umpire Nitin Menon to spare Smith on 44. Australia added exactly 100 runs for three wickets after the incident, finishing 295 all out and 12 runs in front.

The decision did not go down well with the majority of the sold-out Kia Oval crowd, but Broad admitted his own grasp of the technicalities was imperfect and accepted the verdict.

“I don’t know the rules to be honest. I think there was enough grey area to give that not out,” he said.

“What are the rules? Was it the right decision? It looked like benefit of the doubt sort of stuff. The first angle I saw I thought ‘out’ and then with the side angle it looked like the bails probably dislodged.”

Broad’s bowling partner James Anderson also sought to take any heat out of the umpires’ call, telling BBC Sport: “It felt like one of those where Australia think it’s not out and we thought it was out.

“I’ve not had a proper look on the TV, but it felt like a very close decision. We have to trust that the third umpire knows what he’s doing and got the decision right.”

Smith, who top-scored with 71, accepted his near miss but doffed his cap in Ealham’s direction after admitting the Surrey second teamer had caught him unawares with his rapid response.

“It was pretty tight, but when I looked the second time it looked like Jonny might have knocked the bail before the ball came in,” he said.

“It looked a close one but it got given not out, didn’t it? He was quick! I know now he’s very quick.

“The next one we hit out there we kind of pushed and he was haring round the boundary, coming in at pace. Had I known that previously, I might have just stayed there for the single.”

England will begin their second innings on Saturday morning, with barely anything to separate the sides as an enthralling series enters its final chapter.

There have been two distinct styles on show, with England scoring at a rampant rate 5.17 across less than 55 overs and Australia taking almost twice as long to get their runs at 2.85.

The tourists have already retained the urn with a 2-1 lead, but both teams have a viable route to victory as they look to finish the series on a high.

“It’s going to be another cracker, I think. Both teams played pretty different on it but pretty successfully,” Broad said.

“At one stage when Smith was nearly run out we thought we could get a pretty decent lead, but the Aussies battled pretty hard there and I think it’s just set up to be a cracking game again. That is the way the Aussies play, they try to see off the new ball, grind you down, and see off a huge number of overs.”

Smith added: “It’s ebbed and flowed the whole way…a few of us got good starts but couldn’t go and get a big score.

“We’re 12 runs in front so it’s pretty much a one-innings game from here. One positive out of the game so far is we have put more overs into their bowlers than the 50-odd ours bowled.”