LAWRENCE BOOTH AT OLD TRAFFORD: Three late wickets, including Joe Root, left England's Ashes hopes hanging by a thread on Friday night as they battled to save the fourth Test.

PAUL NEWMAN AT OLD TRAFFORD: Joe Root was battered and bruised as he tried desperately to keep England afloat at Old Trafford but he just could not steer his ship to Ashes safety.

Australian cricketer David Warner has given a quick thinking response to a fan after being sledged in England during the Ashes test. 

Sportsmail's Lawrence Booth assesses the performances of both sets of players after Australia got the better of England in the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford.

England have named an unchanged squad for the fifth and final Ashes Test at the Oval as Joe Root looks to salvage a consolation win after Sunday's disappointment of failing to regain the Ashes.

Brian Mullins' mother and daughter wanted to honor his free-spirited nature after he died of a heart attack in March. So they cremated him and put his ashes in a bottle to send him on one last adventure.

Justin Langer rejected suggestions Australia's Ashes celebrations at Old Trafford targeted England's Jack Leach for mockery, insisting the on-pitch party was a 'two out of 10' performance.

Members of the Australian cricket team were understood to be trying to contact Jack Leach on Tuesday night following suggestions that they mocked him during their Ashes celebrations.

Jason Roy's Test future looks uncertain after he was dropped from Thursday's Ashes finale at The Oval, as England look to finish their summer with a series-squaring win over Australia.

His time in charge is destined to be remembered for a phenomenal improvement in white-ball cricket, capped off by this summer's World Cup win at Lord's.

Mick Jagger cut a casual figure as he watched England take on Australia in the Ashes on Thursday.

BUMBLE AT THE TEST: Finally I have an answer to my question. How do you get Steve Smith out? A straight one from Chris Woakes. Simple.

PAUL NEWMAN AT THE OVAL: It did not quite inspire pronouncements on sandwich boards that 'He's out' as news of Don Bradman's demise was once greeted at the Oval.

SPORTS AGENDA BY MIKE KEEGAN: Eddie Jones has included lessons on Japanese history as part of England's World Cup preparations

England have set a minimum target of 425 points in their quest to reach the inaugural World Test Championship final at Lord's in 2021. Joe Root's team claimed 56 from the 2-2 draw in the Ashes.

Archer took 47 wickets in his first season of international cricket, including 22 at just 20 apiece in the Ashes , leaving new-ball partner Broad to lavish praise on his 'incredible attributes'.

A cricket supporter has been forced to get a very embarrassing tattoo after Australia failed to win the 2019 Ashes. 

Joe Root has declared his desire to continue as England Test captain despite a failure to win back the Ashes from Australia after a drawn series.

He had a disastrous time at the Ashes in England, scoring just a measly 95 runs. 

EXCLUSIVE BY LAURA LAMBERT: Sky is being investigated by Ofcom for three separate incidents of the word 'f***' being audible during its cricket coverage this summer. Sky declined to comment.

From the bushfire crisis ravaging New South Wales and Queensland to the final climb of Uluru, Getty Images has reveals its most powerful photos from the past year.

Sky Sports breached Ofcom's broadcasting rules on swearing during their cricket coverage this summer, but have been cleared over David Gower using the f-word in his final Test.

Companies rising out of the ashes to avoid paying tax, wages and other debts will face a crackdown when regulators get increased powers.

England's Instagram account posted a compilation of Stuart Broad bowling David Warner out during the Ashes (pictured) after the batsman won Australian cricketer of the year.

A new documentary on the Australian cricket team has captured the moment when the worst was feared for Steve Smith after he was struck by a Jofra Archer bouncer in last year's Ashes series.

A large crowd of English cricket fans were seen taunting the Australian team as they boarded their bus during the Ashes tour in 2019.

Alistair Shipsey said his uncle Ivan Milat is a 'victim' and initially suggested his ashes be scattered in Belanglo State Forest, near Sydney, where the hitchhikers he murdered were found.

Jameela Jamil has laid into Caroline Flack's controversial new show, The Surjury, before it has even aired, causing a war of words to erupt on Twitter on Friday.

The 'activist', 33, inspired the Love Island host, 39, to hit back, which saw Caroline insist those at the heart of the series 'are people not contestants' as she branded it 'a discussion show'

Chrissy Teigen, 33, has been having a tough time understanding the phrases used by the contestants on the hit British reality show Love Island

The Apprentice has come under fire this year for seemingly picking off those from an ethnic minority group when it comes to the boardroom firings - and this week has been no different.

The 35-year-old singer joked about the age gap between she and her 70-year-old Canadian musician husband in some recent Twitter banter.

The soap star, 27, was competing in I'm A Celebrity when her husband was hit by claims that he enjoyed a threesome with Chloe and Natalie last year - which he strongly denied.

A London tribunal upheld the dismissal of Maya Forstater (pictured). Duncan Bannatyne and Sharon Davies MBE revealed their support for her - but others voiced their opposition.

The actor, 77, took to Twitter to post a festive snap of himself in front of a Xmas tree decorated with Elvis Presley baubles, which he tagged the legendary rapper, real name Tracy Marrow, 61.

A Twitter user named Sam took to social media on December 26 to share a video of the De'Longhi Magnifica espresso maker brewing a cup of coffee.

Mourners chanted 'Death to America' as they thronged in the streets beside the coffins of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on Saturday.

Ellie Goulding, 33, grabbed some well-earned down time in a mystery sun-soaked location, taking to Instagram on Monday to share a bikini snap.

The popular BBC Radio Ulster host uploaded the images (pictured) on Twitter alongside a love heart and a praying emoji, a day before it emerged he had passed away aged 47.

The High School Musical actress, 31, took to Instagram Live on Monday to share her views on the spiraling pandemic. A clip from the video quickly went viral as fans seized on her cavalier comments.

Vanessa Hudgens has apologised for her flippant Instagram video, in which she called the potential quarantine timeline 'a bunch of bull**t'.

The 34-year-old model took to Twitter to write about famous people having 'a dumb frickin' moment' and urged fans not to ruin their lives squarely based on that.

Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington saw his side's dreadful away record continue but lauded the performance of rookie Corry Evans.

Before every UEFA match there is a meeting of 'emergency personnel' who run through what to do in the event of any major incident before or during the match.

Germany, Poland, Romania and Albania successfully reached Euro 2016 as the final round of qualifying matches continued on Sunday. Constantin Budescu struck twice for Romania.

Some of them have been there, a few of them have done it - but do the managers who are guiding 24 national sides at Euro 2016 really know what their players are going through?

Albania leveled quickly after conceding an early goal, but gave away another goal at the start of the new half, and Ukraine, also going to Euro 2016, sealed the win with two minutes to go.

Figures – collated by the Association of Accounting Technicians using player values according to transfermarkt.com – value the German squad at £421.4million with England at £334.5m.

Switzerland have to communicate better on the field and must be more composed in possession if they want to qualify for the knockout stages of Euro 2016, goalkeeper Yann Sommer said.

Antoine Griezmann has claimed that his late goal for France against Albania enacted some 'revenge' for his disappointing showing in the Euro 2016 opener against Romania.