England captain Ben Stokes was pretty blunt in his post-match interview after Australia retained the Ashes at Old Trafford on Sunday. He gave a one-word answer to former England skipper Michael Atherton during the presentation after rain ruined the final day of the fourth Test.
England needed five more wickets to level the series up at 2-2. However, the Manchester weather had other ideas and not a single ball was bowled.
The hosts can no longer win the series and must now attempt to draw it and prevent Australia from winning an away Ashes tour for the first time since 2001. Stokes’ side were aiming to come back from 2-0 down to triumph at the Kia Oval next week and regain the urn.
Sky Sports commentator Atherton asked Stokes at the presentation whether he had any regrets from the earlier defeats, especially the opening match of the series at Edgbaston. But the all-rounder firmly replied: “No.”
Rain did relent briefly at around midday and an inspection led to a 1pm start time being announced. However, shortly after that was decided, the rain returned.
Stokes admits it is a difficult way to end a match that his team had dominated throughout. He added: “It is a tough one to take, playing the cricket we managed to play over the first three days, to get on the wrong side of the weather is a tough one but I guess it’s all part of the journey.
“We knew what we needed to do and that played into our hands a little bit. It was another do-or-die game for us and I don’t think we could have done much more – bowling them out and then scoring 590.
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