England batters take charge of fifth Ashes Test before Broad bombshell

At the end of a day of English dominance came the latest dramatic twist in a series full of them. Stuart Broad, Ashes warrior and antagonist of Australians, walked off the field and announced this fifth Test at the Oval will be the last of his golden career.

“Tomorrow or Monday will be my last game of cricket,” he told Sky Sports.

“It’s been a wonderful ride, a huge privilege to wear the Nottinghamshire and England badge as much as I have.

“It’s been a wonderful series to be part of and I’ve always wanted to finish at the top. This series just feels like it’s been one of the most enjoyable and entertaining that I’ve been part of.”

All eyes had been on Jimmy Anderson in the build-up, the old master who turns 41 on Sunday. But Anderson has since stated there are no such thoughts; the kind of thoughts that Broad has clearly been harbouring. The question now is whether England can send the 37-year-old off into the sunset with a series-squaring victory.

Both Broad and Anderson had been out in the middle at stumps, the two old mates pushed out of the door one after the other during the final stages. Having spent the best part of three sessions noodling away at the crossword and recharging the batteries, they were now needed to add the final runs on an already impressive pile.

It was slightly comedic stuff, as you come to expect when they are batting. Anderson copped a blow to elbow from Mitchell Starc – not so funny, admittedly – but managed to swat a couple fours for the crowd. But if anything, the biggest cheer came in the final over of the piece when Anderson successfully overturning an lbw to finish eight not out.

Those eight runs took England 389 for nine at the close, a rollicking rate of 4.8 runs per over taking them to a lead of 377. Just 80 overs were bowled on the day – the continuation of an annoying theme in this series – but England certainly made those sent down count with a performance of controlled aggression throughout.

Whether Ben Stokes declares or not overnight, it will take a record run chase at the Oval – or a forecast-defying deluge of rain – for Australia to claim a first series win on these shores for 22 years. Steve Smith described this as a “bucket list” achievement at the start of the tour but the bucket hats may well prevent this from being ticked off.

That said, a pitch which returned 20 wickets across its first two days eased up on the third. There was one gremlin witnessed across the three sessions, a ball from Todd Murphy that shot under Joe Root’s bat to gallingly bowl him nine short of a century. Otherwise it was a case of swatting away fluffy mogwais, scores of 73 from Zak Crawley and 78 from Jonny Bairstow among those to underpin this England charge.

The wheels quite didn’t come off for Australia as they did in Manchester. They put in a decent shift all told and the promising Murphy, while shipping 110 runs from his 22 overs, claimed three wickets. But at the end of a tiring, compact tour, one that started by winning the World Test Championship on this ground, they were still run a bit ragged.

So much back to the start of the day, when England trailed by 12 and things appeared in the balance. Well, that Australian lead lasted all of five balls, Crawley slapping Starc’s loosener through cover a la Edgbaston, pilfering a single, and then watching Ben Duckett finish the over by sending a couple of half-volleys to the rope.

Thirteen runs made it the most expensive opening six-ball over by an Australian bowler in Ashes cricket, Starc swiftly yanked out of the attack when his follow-up leaked nine more. The left-armer did claim figures of four for 94 by the close but with this opening burst the tone was set and England barely looked back.

First came a stand of 79 in 17 overs from Crawley and Duckett. Though ended when Starc returned and picked off Duckett’s edge for 42, it took the pair to 359 runs in tandem across the series and thus the best for England in the Ashes since Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss combined for 549 in 2010/11.

With Moeen Ali needing to wait two hours after time off the field with that groin injury, the question of who would slot in at No 3 was answered when Stokes himself gamboled down the steps at 12.27pm. He was into his work early, pulling Josh Hazlewood for six in a session that reaped 130 runs – twice that of Australia’s first two a day earlier.

The afternoon delivered 135 more, even if three wickets fell. Crawley had looked in fine touch before the break but went for one drive too many and fell to Cummins.

Stokes fell eight runs short of a half-century, handing Murphy his first of the innings, while Harry Brook was smartly nicked off by Hazlewood for seven.

But at the other end Root was very much up and running, freshly past 50 from just 40 balls and now joined by Jonny Bairstow. And from 222 for four the pair put on 110 for the fifth wicket, batting past tea and driving home England’s advantage.

There was a late flurry of wickets in the evening session, stemming the flow of runs. There was also in all likelihood Moeen’s final innings as a Test cricketer, emerging at No 7 and cracking four fours in his 28. Falling to an attempted guide, and for what is his career average overall, it was a fitting cameo with which to say farewell.

The question now is whether Broad can similarly sign off in style.