"Aussie...Aussie...Aussie... You should have declared earlier Ben..." The Australian fan in the Australian kit had waited nearly 8 hours to chant for his team and take a bit of a jibe against the England captain. In that time, he'd braved the incessant Manchester rain and the chilly Manchester breeze. He'd also probably battled the urge to give up and leave the sodden atmosphere of a completely drenched Old Trafford Cricket Ground. Not to forget fought the logic, quite a few times that too, in him hanging around aimlessly on one of the wettest days in the history of Test cricket.

He will however turn around and say that it was all worth it though. For, there he stood screaming his lungs out at around 5.24 pm local time as Pat Cummins and his team officially retained the Ashes. Just like they had at Old Trafford four years earlier, albeit in very different circumstances. The retention in 2019 had come on the back of one of the best Test wins in the Tim Paine era. It had also come in the wake of the Headingley debacle, where Ben Stokes had seemingly killed both Australia's momentum, and their spirit. So, it made sense that the Australian team were more excited than usual to celebrate having taken an unassailable lead in the Ashes series. The final moment of that Test four years ago added to the drama that followed as captain Paine charged towards the Spidercam to throw a punch in the air while the rest of his teammates jumped around wildly after the last wicket.

Here, the urn was secured when the two umpires walked up to the Australian dressing-room and shook Cummins's hand, informing him that the fifth day's play was washed out. The Australian captain's reaction was a polite smile and a nod of the head.