Bad light denies England as Ashes ignite
With England needing 21 runs from four overs with six wickets in hand, and a capacity crowd in a state of high excitement, the umpires took their light meters out and ordered the players off
With England needing 21 runs from four overs with six wickets in hand, and a capacity crowd in a state of high excitement, the umpires took their light meters out and ordered the players off
Scorer: Gopi Rangarajan | Commentator: Andrew McGlashan
8.00pm The Australians get their medals. Michael Clarke introduced last , gets a few boos. That's not good. Clarke should get a lot respect. "At the end of the day we are here to try and win. Credit to England, they played really well today. We are outplayed throughout the series, we thought we were a chance. Our bowlers have been exceptional. I certainly can't complain about the whole squad."
Nearly there, folks. Now come the England for their medals. Alastair Cook comes up last. Moments away from lifting the urn. First a word: "It would have been nice to finish the game off, rules are there for a reason. It was pretty dark. Umpires have strict guidelines. Fair play to Australia for pushing the game on. Our job was to make Australia's task as tough as possible. I thought the way we controlled that run chase was fantastic. A word on the crowd, we've had amazing support. I'm also very privileged to captain these guys."
The champagne is already flowing...Alastair Cook lifts the urn. The fireworks go off. It will be a long night for the England players.
Well, that just about wraps things up for the Ashes series. But you haven't got long to wait before the next one. November 21 in Brisbane we go again. Before that, though, plenty more cricket coming up starting with the Twenty20s in a few days time then the five match ODI contest. For now, though, from Gnasher, Alex, Alan and everyone else who has brought you the coverage of this series thanks for joining us and goodbye for now.
7.50pm The players are coming down the steps now for the formalities (warning: they can take a while)
Starts with medals to umpires. They get booed but Aleem Dar responds by waving to the crowd.
Man of the match goes to Shane Watson: "It was an exciting finish. The light came to rescue us in some sort of way. We wanted to set something they had a chance of chasing. It didn't work out for us, but the crowd got something to see."
Craig: "@Jerry: If England needed a draw to retain the Ashes and were bowling, would the ICC rules still be stupid? Craig - England fan."
Phil: "momentum with england? Did anyone else notice that Australia declared twice in this match, and that without those declarations, this match wouldve peetered out long ago?"
No surprises for England's player of the series: Ian Bell and he also wins the Compton-Miller medal. "On a personal note it was nice to contribute. Going into the series I was probably low on a few runs. [Looking back to 2005] I don't think I was very good back then."
Australia's player of the series: Ryan Harris "I wanted to play five Tests, I ended up playing four. My aim was to not go home early. The result didn't go our way, we'll see what happens at home."
7.45pm Bob: "So I think that puts England back on the front foot when the Aussies were looking like momentum was moving their way. Test cricket - bloody hell!"
Keith Bennett: "England won 3-0, nearly 4-0, despite losing on first innings 4-0."
Nick: "bloody atrocious end to the match (and this coming from an aussie!). not the umpires' faults though, just the ICC and their officious mania for making rules in dowtown Dubai that take decisions away from the on-field officials."
Jerry: "The ICC rules on light are stupid. A 20/20 would still be going."
Swati: "The light was really bad, the fielders were hardly able to see the ball, you can say ODI, 20/20 will be going on now without issues, but that's because of the white ball!"
robert gilliland: "not sure any english fan can complain, the only reason there was a match was because clarke created one. As for the light, the English were playing for light on day 4 of the 3rd test with a full day to go. Great day of cricket and just end to a strange series"
I'll stay around to bring you the presentation shortly.
7.40pm Plenty of hugs, slaps on the back and smiles in the England dressing room. There's a camera in there, too. Now the Aussies come over to shake hands. A hard-fought series which occasionally got a little edgy. We'll all be doing it again in two months. Phew. "It's an incredible feeling and hard to put into words," says James Anderson. "We won't be leaving the dressing room for a while."
Alastair Cook now comes down The Oval steps to cheers from the crowd who have started to calm down after the light decision. "I was thinking I haven't played one-day cricket for a while," says Matt Prior.
KP: "We have to give it a go today, we'd lost a day to rain. That's the brand of cricket this team plays." Well, some made dispute that.
Now this getting feisty. Clarke into the umpires about the light. That didn't look too good. They are going off! It's all over. Oh boy, in some way it is fitting that the umpires are at the centre of it all as this Ashes series ends. They had to be fair to both teams, but is this good for cricket? The umpires are doing what they are told. It's just a good job that the Ashes wasn't on the line. Credit to both teams for the way they played today, was fantastic Test cricket until the light faded. A little ironic, though, that it was Australia so keen to leave the pitch at the end. Anyone fancy speaking to James Faulkner tonight?
IR Bell run out 17 (33m 17b 1x4 0x6) SR: 100.00
Clarke chatting to his bowler again...but he's trying to set his field. Down to the umpires. Rule book or common sense? Now Starc aborts his run-up...boos ring around The Oval
The noise around is incredible. Surely the umpires won't stop this?
The light meter is about to come out. I'm not sure they'll stay on. Oh dear.
Clarke having a word with the umpires
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