England vs Australia – Ashes LIVE: Stuart Broad smashes his last-ever ball for six after being given a guard of honour by the Aussies as he seeks perfect send-off with tourists set 384 to win the fifth Test and the series
Follow Mail Sport’s live blog for Day four of the fifth Ashes Test between England and Australia at the KIA Oval.
Host commentator
167 Test matches
244 Innings
602 Wickets
150 Ashes wickets
3664 Runs
18.04 Average
13 50s
1 100
169 best
4x Ashes victories
1 x T20 World Cup
Anderson is back to bowl from the Vauxhall end with Australia currently 15-0 here.
It’s slow scoring so far for Australia with Broad and Anderson keeping them pegged back on their wicket.
Warner has the only boundary so far, hitting a four in the first over.
Walking out for the guard of honour, Broad put his arm around his bowling partner Anderson to walk through the guard of honour with him.
Anderson held back and let broad go on his own, allowing Broad to savor the moment.
The pair have taken an enormous 1037 wickets in the 138 Tests they have played together, a record bowling partnership – and two of the most iconic bowlers in the history of English cricket.
Broad has been speaking on Anderson’s reaction to his decision to retire, claiming that Anderson just said: ‘Are you joking?’ after learning of his retirement.
More to follow…
Australia start 13-0 after the first two overs with Warner making six runs off five balls while Khawaja has six runs off nine.
Broad’s back in the action again and is bowling to Khawaja.
Its Anderson to Warner now and the Australian has opened well holding out to Anderson’s advances in the opening three deliveries.
Australia get off to a solid start here with Warner knocking the ball out in the final ball of the over to extra cover for four.
Broad has taken his wicket 16 times in his career!
Broad is set to open the bowling here to David Warner…
Mark Wood is out on the wicket preparing to bowl as Stuart Broad is back on the field to a round of applause after he struck a six with his final ball of the ashes.
He’ll now lead the bowling attack alongside Wood and will likely be having a crack at his old adversary David Warner.
The on-field decision is upheld! The fun and games are now over and the serious business with the ball will now begin.
Anderson is out for an lbw with Murphy ending England’s second innings, with Australia now needing 384 to take the series outright.
Anderson could be out here after sweeping another reverse shot, but misses with the ball catching him on the pad.
On-field decision is out
Meanwhile, the crowd have started signing Happy Birthday to Anderson with the Barmy Army’s trumpeter Billy Cooper leading the rendition of the song.
Todd Murphy is now bowling to Anderson after the turn of the over and the 41-year-old has swung a very nice shot out to fine leg with a reverse sweep.
No run.
Huge cheers come up for Broad as he slams a massive six out to deep extra cover.
A big swing from Broad sends the ball out to deep point but he signals to Anderson to stay in his crease.
Throughout his England career, the bowler has played 167 Test matches, 121 One Day matches and 56 T20 internationals – taking 845 wickets. A true servant of English cricket.
Broad slashes at another ball from Starc and the crowd cheer as it goes out to short third man.
No run.
England are 389/9 and hold a 377 lead on Australia.
Broad repels the first ball from Mitchell Starc, pushing the ball out to mid-wicket.
No run.
There’s an emotional atmosphere inside The Oval right now.
Broad and Anderson have walked down the steps onto the field.
The Nottinghamshire cricketer puts his arm around Anderson before stepping over the boundary, but Anderson lets him have the moment, with Broad stepping out to walk through the guard of honour.
He receives a rapturous applause from The Oval crowd as the pair head over to the wicket.
It’s Broad to take centre stage on strike.
Australia have lined up with a guard of honour for Stuart Broad here. Great respect for a cricketing legend.
There is not a spare seat in this ground today! What an atmosphere!
As we’re about to get underway at The Oval, we must say a big happy birthday to Jimmy Anderson who turns 41 today.
It will be an emotional day today with Anderson set to walk down the steps alongside his bowling partner, Stuart Broad any moment now.
It’s been an enthralling Ashes series so far with both sides impressing with the standard of cricket that’s been played.
Bazball has been the talk of the Test series, with England impressing with their fearlessness and up-lifting style of play, with Ben Stokes’ side’s spirited come back from going 2-0 down being an impressive feat.
As we edge closer towards the end of the fifth test match, while the Ashes may have escaped England, Brendon McCullum’s side now have the chance to win the fifth test match.
Mail Sport’s Oliver Holt has been reflecting on the series saying: ‘It is England who have played the kind of cricket that lifts the soul. They did not win back the Ashes but if they continue to play like this, if they continue to hone this brand of cricket, the future belongs to them.’
More below…
It’s been a brilliant series so far for Stuart Broad who has impressed to become the leading wicket-taker in this summer’s series.
But he’s also helped to take wickets in other ways, too, notably playing mind games with Marnus Labuschagne by swapping his bails earlier in the season.
It seems his playful trick worked, with the Asutralian getting out on the following ball.
𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲: Stuart Broad
𝗢𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Mind Games Extraordinaire
Incredible, Broady 😂👏 #EnglandCricket | #Ashes pic.twitter.com/MdeuNgrN2F
So play is set to get underway in the next 20 minutes at 11am today and the weather is dry but a little overcast in South West London today.
England currently hold a lead of 377 on Australia after posting 389/9 yesterday with Broad and Anderson still at the crease.
But there’s been some big news coming out of the England camp this week, with their express pace bowler, Mark Wood, set to miss The Hundred this August.
England are hoping to rest their fast bowler, in what will be a blow for the limited-overs competition, with the 32-year-old having now played three Ashes Test matches in a row.
The precaution comes as England are hoping that he can remain fit for October’s Cricket World Cup with England also set to tour the West Indies and India in December and January.
Ben Stokes is also set to miss the tournament as he looks to overcome a knee injury that has plagued him throughout the series.
Broad has made his way out into the middle of the pitch at The Oval as he joins the rest of his team in their warm up. He was spotted fist bumping fans and signing autographs as he made his way down to the field from the dressing room.
Broad has also had a great series so far, notably playing mind games with Marnus Labuschagne earlier on in this test match, swapping his bails around.
And his mind games worked, with The Australian batter getting out on the next ball!
From his 169 against Pakistan at Lords in 2010, to his eight wicket haul at Trent Bridge in 2015, Broad has had some outstanding moments in an England shirt.
So as he prepares to retire, re-live five of his best cricketing moments with Mail Sport here…
Tributes are raining in for Broad, with Ricky Ponting admitting last night that he is ‘the ultimate Ashes warrior.’
Speaking to Sky Sports, Ponting was asked whether Broad was a top-class competitior.
‘Absolutely,’ he admitted. ‘But not just a competitor. I think some of the things that Glenn McGrath has had to say. I’m a big believer in judging the quality of player on longevity and to maintain that level of excellence for so long is not an easy thing to do.
‘As an international player you have to try and re-invent yourself from series to series and we heard that Stuart Broad was working ahead of this series on an outs winger to try and trouble Marnus Labuschagne. That’s a lot of hard work and thought and skill that goes into doing that.
‘I described him last night as the Ultimate Ashes Warrior. Australian and English cricketers are judged on their performances in the Ashes, like it or not.
‘And if you look at what he’s done, 150 Ashes wickets and 25 consecutive home Ashes Test matches, it’s pretty hard to not argue that his best cricket is played in Ashes Series when his team needed him the most.’
And a former England captain has been speaking to Mail Sport on Stuart Broad’s career, with Nasser Hussain claiming that the bowler has ‘picked the perfect time to retire’.
Hussain said following play yesterday: ‘It is always a dream to finish on a high and it does not get much higher than this, especially if England now go on to win here at the Oval and level this Ashes series.
He added: ‘There is no doubt Broad will go down as one of the all-time greats not only of English cricket but in the world game. He has, after all, in this series become only the second seamer in history to reach the remarkable figure of 600 Test wickets.’
More from Nasser below…
The big news from yesterday was the announcement that Stuart Broad would be retiring from cricket following the conclusion of this summer’s Ashes Series.
Broad, who passed 600 Test wickets earlier in the series, confirmed the news at the end of play yesterday at The Oval.
The Nottinghamshire bowler has been a key member of the England Test side since he made his debut in 2007.
Broad has 167 caps with the national side and has been pivotal in the series so far.
In his column for Mail Sport, the England bowler, an iconic figure of English cricket over the past few years, spoke of his time playing for England, saying he made his decision to retire on Friday and will retire ‘at the top of his game’.
Read Broad’s full column below…
Hello and welcome to our Ashes Live Blog where we’ll be bringing you all the latest action, analysis and commentary from the fourth day of the fifth test at the Oval.
It’s been a brilliant test match so far and we’re poised for what is set to be an enthralling day of action after England finished day three 389/9 with James Anderson and Stuart Broad at the crease.
Recap on all of yesterday’s action below…
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