Australia get lucky but retaining the Ashes was reward for earlier efforts | Geoff Lemon

Washout denied England chance of victory and rare fifth-Test decider and tourists still want to win the series

Sometimes in life, you get away with one. You glance away then look back just in time to hit the brake. You double-check the recipient field before texting the wrong person about what a prat they are. You snag a few fingers in the back of a jumper when a toddler has materialised on the edge of the kitchen bench. You make a stunning catch when a loan shark launches your mother’s Fabergé egg off the back of a truck.

It’s not because you deserve it. It’s just the way things happen sometimes, a counterpart to all the times they don’t. At Manchester in 2013, Australia had England 37 for three on the last day, having declared overnight with 332 to protect, the list of dismissals reading Cook, Trott, Pietersen. The ball was doing all sorts, Ryan Harris was on one. Then it rained and England retained the Ashes by virtue of having won the first two Tests.

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