England won the last Ashes Test at The Oval as the Ben Stokes-led side fought back from 2-1 down to level the series in what was a riveting contest between bat and ball. (More Cricket News)
At 264-3, Australia had their noses in front despite a stiff target of 384 ahead of them. But some clever bowling and neat catching enabled the home side to fight back into the Test match and square the series 2-2. On the other hand, the Aussies suffered a collapse, losing their last seven wickets for a mere 70 runs as they lost the chance to win the Ashes series for the first time since 2001.
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Australia, however, retain the Ashes urn as winners of the previous series, and because England did not win the current series but only drew it.
After the result, ex-England captain Michael Vaughan took a swipe at the Aussies.
"This Ashes has ended up as a 2-2 draw, but of the two captains there are going to be far more questions about Pat Cummins' method than Stokes'. Meanwhile, Cummins and Australia have sent a message to England that they're almost scared of them. They've been so, so worried about what England can do that at times they've forgotten about their own strengths," Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph.
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"So even though they won the World Test Championship final against India and leave England with the urn retained, Cummins goes home with more questions than answers. This summer England have played in that Australian way. And Australia have been left looking like England in the 1990s: too attritional and fearful. England have done to Australia what Australia have done to them many times before."
The former England captain further went on to write that, the Pat Cummins-led team were 'spooked' by England's 'Bazball' mode of play.
"The tourists have tried but I think they've been spooked by Bazball. In the field they've been far too attritional and reactive at times, and they've also let England stick to their own plans with the ball. We all talk about the batting side of Bazball but with the ball England have always created new angles and challenges, even on some flat wickets," he wrote.
