Next stop Perth and England will need all-round best of Stokes

Tourists' batting lineup looks set for the Ashes but the fitness of the captain is vital to the pace attack's makeup

- Ali Martin

The England-India epic that ended up like two weary prizefighters trading blows will live long in the memory – a 2-2 classic for which the players on both sides deserve immense credit. Not that Mohammed Siraj, still hitting 90mph on the speed gun on the 25th day, showed weariness. If anything, he could well hold the key to solving the world's energy problems.

Plaudits in particular go to three men who stepped up bravely when other sports would have simply subbed them off: Shoaib Bashir bowled with a broken left hand at Lord's; Rishabh Pant batted with a broken foot at Old Trafford; and then Chris Woakes, Horatio Nelson armed with a Gray-Nicolls, followed him in folklore at the Oval. Don't be fooled by the white flannels and the stoppages for tea – Test cricket is a brutal sport.

Although it has been said in some quarters – most notably Nasser Hussain but other prominent voices too – that England getting over the line at the Oval and winning the series 3-1 would have been a "travesty". After all, India were the away side, dominated the run charts – four players in the top five – and had four of the six leading wicket-takers. They won more sessions, goes the argument, and lost all five tosses, indisputably.

Sure. But a travesty? England chased down 371 to win at Headingley, defended a mere 193 at Lord's, and then, at 2-1 up, forced India into a remarkable rearguard at Old Trafford by sticking 669 on the board – the highest total of the series. Had this been followed by 10 men reeling in 374 at the Oval, their second-highest run chase and breaking the ground's 123-year-old record by 111 runs, 3-1 would surely have been well earned.