Ashes 2023 live: England v Australia fifth Test score today – cricket updates

England have less to play for now but, as captain, Stokes is not lacking drive as he seeks to cap a six-week contest that has reinvigorated the Test game.

“Putting the shirt on, walking out, representing the country, leading this team out is all the motivation I need,” he said.

For opposite number Pat Cummins, the goal is clear: becoming the first Australia captain since Steve Waugh in 2001 to win a series outright on English soil.

“We know that it wasn’t our best week last week and at the end of the game it was a bit of a pat on the back, ‘well done, we’ve retained the Ashes’ but really it feels like the job’s not done,” he said.

“This group has been really motivated to win the series.”

England are bidding to level the series and deny Australia their first Ashes victory overseas for more than 20 years, as the fifth and final Test begins at the Oval today.

Australia may have already secured the ultimate prize and retained the urn after the rained-out draw in Manchester put them 2-1 ahead and ensured they could not lose the series, but there is still plenty to play for. As England captain Ben Stokes put it this week: “2-2 sounds a lot better than 3-1.”

Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum have opted for the same England XI which dominated the fourth Test before the weather scuppered their chances of victory. For Pat Cummins, there is the chance to become the first Australian captain since Mark Waugh in 2001 to win an Ashes series in England, with defeats in 2005, 2009, 2013, 2015 and a draw four years ago.

Follow all the latest Ashes updates from the Oval as England bid to square the series.