‘It did have a significant bearing on the tactics’ - Andrew McDonald on ball change at Oval Test

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has given his opinion on the crucial ball change during the fifth and final Ashes Test at The Oval in London. The ball was changed after the first delivery of the 37th over of the fourth innings, with the umpires claiming that it had gone out of shape after Mark Wood's short delivery hit Usman Khawaja on the helmet. Notably, after play was halted due to rain on the fifth day, it provided significant help to the English fast bowlers.

Chris Woakes dismissed openers Khawaja and David Warner after a 140-run opening stand, while Wood removed Marnus Labuschagne on the final day. However, following a two-hour rain delay, Steve Smith and Travis Head reduced Australia's target to 120 with seven wickets in hand. Later, the hosts restricted Pat Cummins and Co. to 334 runs in a 384-run chase to win the game by 49 runs and tie the series 2-2.

McDonald said that he had never seen a substitute ball have such an impact on a game. He also stated that the ball change had a huge impact on the tactics used by England, but that Australia should have been able to handle it.

"I've never seen tactics shift so dramatically on the back of a decision. Went from catchers in front of the wicket to behind the wicket, and there's no doubt in some ways changed the shape of the game and the tactics within the game. So I will say that ball change did have a significant bearing on the tactics, the way that England went about it. But in saying that, I think we still should have been able to navigate that," McDonald told ESPNcricinfo.

"There were two clumps where we lost 3 for 30 and 5 for 50, and that's part of us owning it. The umpires are out there to make a decision and they had a box of balls to choose from, and they made the best decision at that time from what they saw was there,” he added.

England dominated the last session of Day 5, preventing Australia from securing what would have been a historic triumph. The five-game series ended in a 2-2 draw, allowing Pat Cummins and Co. to retain the urn. However, they fell short of their ultimate goal of a first series win on English soil since 2001.