Even though the Ashes is firmly bagged after being retained with a rain-marred draw at Old Trafford, rising middle-order star Travis Head insisted Australia are determined to script a victory in the final Test at The Oval and pull off series honours – a feat not achieved by any visiting Australian side since 2001.
Head also admitted the Aussies weren’t up to scratch with their on-field display throughout the Manchester Test, which England dominated and had the tourists on the mat leading into the last two days that were badly disturbed by torrential English rains.
Given that England were at the receiving end of bad weather this time, the English media and players have been trying to tilt the narrative in the home team’s favour with the intention to take the sting off the Australian triumph despite the prestigious urn now standing lost.
Talk of ‘moral victory’ has been rife even as Australia deservingly hold the Ashes after wins in Edgbaston and Lord’s at the start of the series. Head recognises, though, the best way to shut the noise up and earn due credit for their performance would be to rub another victory on the opposition camp’s wounds at The Oval.
“The feeling around it was yes, we have got away with one, but ultimately we have come here to win the Ashes and we have gone a huge way to doing that,”
Head told the press on the eve of the much-anticipated Test match starting Thursday.
“We played really nice for three Test matches, maybe not played the best week last week, but if we can shut that out and think about what we did well for the first three Test matches, it will put us in good stead for this week,”
he added.
Head firmed up the Aussie ambitions for The Oval Test by revealing there was no great sense of “elation” following the draw at Old Trafford despite the urn being retained. It was the second consecutive trip Australia managed to retain the Ashes but the significantly tougher triumph of winning a Test series on English turf remains elusive for two decades.
