England Ashes stars ‘refuse to give interviews’ as Australia retain urn

England players refused to give interviews outside the post-match presentation as Australia retained the Ashes on Sunday. Sky Sports presenter Ian Ward made the claim shortly after the fifth day was officially abandoned due to rain.

England only managed to pick up one wicket in the 30 overs that were played on Saturday. They headed into Sunday needing five further scalps to level the series up at 2-2.

However, the Manchester weather had the final say. The rain briefly relented so much so that a 1pm start time was announced.

But it quickly returned and play was called off shortly before 5.30pm. Ward was alongside Mark Butcher, Ricky Ponting and Nasser Hussain when the disappointing outcome was announced.

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Speaking to Hussain, Ward revealed information that he had been told, presumably through his earpiece. He claimed that, outside of the presentation, no one from the England camp would be speaking to the media.

Ward said: “What about England’s feelings overall? We sort of touched on it. It sounds like from what I’m hearing they’re not giving any other interviews other than Ben Stokes. A bit deflated?”

Zak Crawley was named man of the match for his first innings score of 189. He spoke to Michael Atherton at the presentation, while skipper Stokes also gave his verdict on the result.

However, there was no other member of the England team or coaching staff who spoke to Sky Sports before their programme ended. Stokes’ side will now be looking to level the series at the Kia Oval in the fifth Test starting on Thursday and prevent Australia from winning a Test series in this country for the first time since 2001.

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Former skipper Hussain admits there will be a sense of disappointment in the hosts’ camp after the weather ruined their chances of regaining the urn. He said: “Yeah they will be deflated because whatever you’re trying to achieve and the big picture, and we know what, we know the big picture, Test match cricket, entertainment, the long-term project…

“From where they were, where they’d won one in 17 to where they are now, this is the first drawn game. They’ve had to draw a game because of the weather, not because of how they played.

“They’ve completely bossed this Test, they’ve completely bossed it from start to finish. They’ve been the better team, they’ve been outstanding and the weather has stopped them, not their cricketing ability.”

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