4th Ashes Test: 5 talking points of England's path to the Urn

4th Ashes Test: 5 talking points of England’s path to the Urn: When the English team walked on to the 22 yards in the morning session at Trent Bridge, they knew that they were only 3 steps away from recapturing the cherished Urn once again. And as anticipated it was matter of only sometime before England transpired to the glory in the match and they won back the Ashes series. Now, they have got an unbeatable lead of 3-1 in the series with a Test to go at the Kia Oval. Though, after English team ripped the tourists in the 1^st innings of the match for 60 runs, their comeback in the match seemed improbable. They could never recover from the psychological wounds which the 1^st innings had caused in their psychology.

CricTracker takes a look at the 5 talking points of 4th Ashes Test match:

1. England regains the Ashes:

With this impeccable glory, the home side regained the Ashes series. The English bowlers put the final nail in the Australian coffin when they got them out for 253 runs in the 2^nd innings en route to the path of glory by an innings and 78 runs. In the 2014/15 Ashes series, the Australian team had whitewashed the English side by 5-0. But, now with this win the cherished Urn is back with a bang.

2. Michael Clarke’s retirement:

Michael Clarke announced his retirement from Test cricket as triumphant English side outplayed the touring party and emerged as the victor. Now, Clarke will make his final appearance in International cricket at the Kia Oval Test which will begin from 20^th August. He has already taken retirement from T20Is and ODIs. In the last two years, the 34-year old was suffering from injuries and slump in form as he could manage only 625 runs in 13 Tests at an average of 28. He was severely criticized by the Australian media in the build up of this Test which had left him fuming.

3. Stuart Broad at his menacing best:

After James Anderson got injured with side strain, many thought that his absence would shrink England’s journey towards the Urn. But, then a man by the name Stuart Broad emerged as the protagonist whose hazardous spell of seam bowling proved too fatal for the tourists as in 9.3 overs, he sent 8 Aussie batters back in the hut. His immaculate good length deliveries took the shape of bullets which had one and only aim to flatten the Australian’s. Broad won the man-of-the-match award for his 9 wickets in the match.

4. Joe Root- legend in the making:

At the pitch where Australian’s were haunted by the Ghost to run back to the pavilion. Joe Root swayed it away with his sheer class and elegance as he rooted out any slight possibilities of an Aussie comeback. Now, the baby faced boy has become the hot toast of the UK as with every subsequent match he is raising his bar with some giant consistency. Many sense, dwelling of a future legend in him.

5. England’s bowling and Australian batting:

The English bowlers were spot on in the match as they made the full use of the favorable English conditions. The flawless Broad in the 1^st innings and spectacular Stokes in the 2^nd innings proved too hot to handle for the Australian batters. The Australian batsmen have shown an unseen pattern of fading in the series which prevailed in this Test as well. They didn’t seem anywhere near to applying common sense as all the batsmen kept tumbling in the same way which also highlights their inflexibility. You cannot play aggressively at every facet of the game, had they battled the tough early period with wisdom then as the pitch eased up, they could have launched barrel of fireworks on the bowlers.