The ultimate match of what has been an enthralling Ashes 2023 series so far will commence at the Kennington Oval tomorrow onwards. Having been ahead for most parts of the previous Test at Old Trafford, hosts England had no option but to bow down in servitude before the weather Gods and thus also lose out on an opportunity to regain the urn.
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They will, however, look to square the series 2-2 and march on with the aim to entertain the fans with their exciting brand of cricket. As for visitors Australia, the last match of the series will be as important as the opening one played at Edgbaston. Reason being that they have not been able to register an away Ashes win since the year 2001, and to do it against an English side which hasn’t lost a Test series in the Bazball era, would be quite a notable achievement for the recently crowned world champions.
It was at this very venue where they had defeated India to lift ICC World Test Championship 2021-23 title last month. Thus, the Pat Cummins-led side might well have a better idea than the hosts as to what to expect from the pitch.
The Oval Cricket Ground Pitch Report
Traditionally, Oval Cricket Ground pitch has aided the hit-the-deck fast bowlers as the surface helps them extract decent enough bounce. Also, this venue tends to bring the spinners into the game as the match progresses, more so if the sun continues to beat down with intensity.
Having said that, the even bounce also make The Oval one of the better venues for the batters in the country. Getting through will the passage of play with the new ball is generally a challenge, but conditions will only get better once they have their eye in. The average first innings score of 343 is a testament to the same.
There was an even covering of grass by the first looks of The Kennington Oval pitch a couple of days ago. With there also being a rain forecast right from Day 1 itself, it will be interesting to see whether Australia do include spinner Todd Murphy in their Playing XI or not. The likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Nathan Lyon were quite effective during the second innings of the WTC final, scalping a collective of seven wickets.
All in all, the surface is likely to be conducive for the batters during the final Test. If both the teams do remain unchanged, we might be in for a fascinating contest between the two fierce batting line-ups.
James Anderson And Stuart Broad’s Average Returns At The Oval
The Oval surface does help the pacers with decent bounce and carry, but it also tends to swing less. The veteran English pacers in James Anderson and Stuart Broad have returned with average bowling numbers at this venue in Tests.
Across 15 Tests, Anderson has scalped 49 wickets at a strike rate of 62.6, whereas Broad has returned with 41 wickets across 13 Tests at 58.6 balls per wicket. With Anderson having returned with mere four wickets across six innings in this series till now, the management has named him in an unchanged Playing XI. Hence, it will be interesting to see how the legendary bowler performs in this match.
