No regrets for Stokes but Old Trafford draw will hurt
Brendon McCullum whistles as he leans on the buggy that brought out the covers, tossing a new ball in the air to pass the time. The bat he had been using for slip catches now safely stuffed up his waterproof jacket to shield it from the rain.
Beyond him, England players and staff are playing their usual game of PIG, which requires all participants to keep a football in the air for as long as possible, with three mistakes allowing everyone in the circle a flick at your forehead. As time passes, the circle gets bigger as another brave soul decides to join them from the dry, warm confines of the home changing room. There are as many as 12 of them, all seemingly having the best time, making a note of showing face and willing to get on with this match. The only Australian on the field is England's bowling coach David Saker.
The Old Trafford party stand, meanwhile, is sparse but for numerous umbrellas dotted around, a range of different colours amid the gloom making this look like one of those old paintings of Japanese maple trees on a canvas of steel usually soaked with booze and some other things. Other hardy punters huddle under the Point for shelter. Meanwhile, the platform for the tram back into Manchester becomes increasingly rammed.
The football goes on, as do the laughs. And as the bucket hats sag even more as they become increasingly saturated with water, it is hard not to regard this as one last rally. A final attempt at full-blooded positivity as crushing inevitability closes in. The final hymn played on the Titanic, except it's headers-and-volleys.
Mother Nature, though, held her nerve. She does not put point and square leg on the boundary. She refuses to get rid of her slips. Bowls her spinner - sorry, plays her spinner. And for the first time this Ashes series, England take a backwards step, eventually retreating inside. Mother Nature has won. And four hours later, at 5.24pm, Australia have retained the urn.
That England dominated the first three days of this fourth Test made it all feel a lot worse. This was on course to being the most Hollywood version of Bazball, tenets hammed up to the nth degree, under the brightest lights and in front of the most eyes. Opponents snuffed out under par, a bumper 592 underpinned by Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow scoring at a rate of sizeable-bits-an-over to establish a 275-run lead, then the quick prising out of four wickets, all by Friday. Alas, the weekend brought nothing but one more dismissal, 150 overs lost and a Bible's worth of rain and misery.
Ben Stokes spent most of the day trying to affect the universe. In keeping with his captaincy throughout his tenure, he cycled through different theories on the hoof. Watching the rain did not make it disappear, so he went to the back of the dressing room to watch the Open golf instead. That did not work either. By the end, he just wanted it to be over. "The last 20 minutes was the most frustrating because I'm not sure why we were still waiting for play to start," he said. "We probably could have shaken hands about half an hour earlier."
One can only imagine the scale of Stokes' internal struggle on Sunday. Especially given how much he hated watching the chase at Headingley, having been dismissed and thus unable to affect proceedings. The shots of him staring out the window as the hopes of an Ashes victory washed away were akin to a spouse looking longingly into the distance willing their love, their purpose, to return home, but knowing they won't. England's totemic allrounder, the man who makes amazing happen when those around him need it most, powerless to make this stop. A man who vowed England would never look for the draw and stuck to his word throughout his tenure now has his first, through no fault of his own. And it will sting far worse than any of the four defeats.
The ECB has a habit of meeting Ashes missteps with an [insert name of author] Review. But you'd imagine even if the fifth Test at the Kia Oval goes Australia's way for a 3-1 scoreline, and a first home Ashes defeat for England since 2001, the signal won't be put out for the high-performance hivemind heroes to assemble. The 17 Tests since McCullum and Stokes took the reins have produced 12 wins. The 17 before them? Just one, with 11 defeats. Things are so much better while being so much more fun.
That's not to say the rest of English cricket won't indulge in their own introspection. And following such a deflating end to what threatened to be one of the greatest comebacks, the heart kicks with the head, and reasonable criticisms blend in with overly-emotional retaliations, where there are no answers that will satisfy, no comfort to be enjoyed, just simply frustration to burn off and sadness to endure.
Should we, as posited by Joe Root, simply play on until 10pm until it actually gets dark in this country? Why did England declare on day one of the first Test? Maybe Test matches should all have reserve days? Would England be 2-1 up if Ben Foakes was keeping wicket instead of someone who had not done it consistently in three years and was coming back from a serious leg break? Is there a reason we're still playing cricket outdoors? Would it have hurt England to play that second evening at Lord's more sensibly after Nathan Lyon pulled up lame? Should the Ashes be played in the UAE? Can we blame the Hundred for taking up the whole of August and pushing this high-profile series into the usually rainy window of *check notes* July? Did they bat too long here in their first innings here?
As the regrets create their own clouds, Stokes utilised what power he had to shoo them away from following his charges. There are none to be had: not those calls sitting between the nonsense above, not even that England lost the opening two Tests despite bossing the first and relinquishing control unnecessarily, before flunking the second.
"When you look back at the cricket that was played, we did everything we possibly could," Stokes said. "Regardless of what we did we would have ended up in the same situation. I think anyone who is going to question the declaration in this game probably doesn't understand the game as well as we do."
When this all began at the start of last summer, the key message was the need for all to commit to the brand - both inside and outside the four walls of that dressing room. The nature of this way of being is built upon enjoyment. And it is a luxury of sport that playing the way that gives you joy also elicits joy in others.
And as much as the last 15 months have thrilled, it is the last one that has really hammered it home. To see the way those who do not regard this game as their favourite, or have simply have never looked this way for their hits of drama and high-octane buzz, have been pulled into all this. It is no exaggeration to state this England team doing as they have done, particularly over the last four matches, has produced a raft of "lifers".
Therein lies a success of sorts, if not the one England set upon achieving last month. Something those in the dressing room may find satisfaction in once the disappointment subsides.
"We've become a team that have been so unbelievably well followed and we will live long in the memories of those who have watched us," Stokes said. "As much as I would love to be an Ashes-winning captain, I want this team to be a legacy team. And regardless of what happens over the next period, this 18 months will go down in history as one of the most exciting and proactive teams to go out there and represent England."
It was at the end of Stokes' press conference that he did divulge two regrets. A deciding, winner-takes-all Test at the Kia Oval could have taken cricket to new heights, where it might have stayed if England had walked away with a 3-2 headline. Minds blown, hearts warmed, souls nourished, legacies defined. That will now have to wait until the next Ashes comes along.
The second was specific to Stokes.
"Probably the catch that I dropped off Nathan Lyon," Stokes said, referencing the diving attempt in the final throes of Australia's victory in the first Test. Eight wickets down, Lyon hooked and Stokes put down with 37 left on the table. It proved to be the last chance given as Pat Cummins took his side home. "I think that's probably the biggest one to be honest."
It's not hard to chalk this up as a return to Stokes' role when this all began - putting himself between scrutiny and his players to best preserve their positive mindsets. But it also spoke to the overarching fact that will come to burn England once the rains stop and they move on from Manchester.
They could not do any more in this fourth Test. But they could have stopped Australia from retaining the Ashes with a Test to go earlier on.