Australia will be hurting after Manchester Test, feels Mark Butcher after rain helps visitors retain the urn

England had the edge over Australia in the fourth and penultimate Ashes Test, in Manchester, before rain played spoilsport on the final day with Australia trailing England by 61 runs with five wickets in hand in their second essay. Thus, with rain making no play possible on Sunday (July 23), Pat Cummins-led Australia managed to retain the urn with an unassailable 2-1 lead heading into the series decider at The Oval, London. Despite them retaining the urn, former England batter Mark Butcher feels Australia will be 'hurting' post the Manchester Test.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Butcher said, "The Oval Test, regardless of the fact the urn is not up for grabs, is going to crackle and fizz. Australia will be hurting after their performance here and their bowlers will want to show they can't be bullied and smashed for six an over."

Talking about the fourth and penultimate Test, England dominated proceedings from the start. Opting to bowl first, England rode on Chris Woakes' 5 for 62 to dismiss Australia for 317. In reply, England batters were at their attacking best from the word go and posted a mammoth 592 courtesy of Zak Crawley's 189, Joe Root's 84, Moeen Ali's 54, Harry Brook's 61, captain Ben Stokes' 51 and Jonny Bairstow's unbeaten 99. With a massive lead of 275, England had Australia reeling at 214 for 5 -- trailing by 61 runs -- at stumps on Day Four before rain washed out the entire final day's play.

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At the post-match presentation, Stokes said, "It's a tough one to take, you know. The kind of cricket we played on the first three days and to be on the wrong side of the weather, it's a tough one. But it's part of the journey. I think coming into this game, it was a do-or-die game for us. Bowling them out for 320 and scoring 590, we couldn't do much. We'll have a lot of pride to play the next game."

Despite not managing a win at Old Trafford, Manchester, Stokes & Co. will push for a series-levelling win at The Oval, London in the final Test. Meanwhile, Cummins-led Australia will have to pull up their socks as they have been caught in a spot of bother in the previous two Tests. However, they have managed to retain the urn and will go for their first-ever away Ashes series win since 2001 in the forthcoming deciding Test.

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