Jones Loses Fitness Fight

England fast bowler Simon Jones has lost his fight to be fit for Thursday's fifth Test at the Oval.

Jones, who hobbled off during England's fourth Test win at Trent Bridge with a bone spur on his ankle, has been having intensive treatment, including daily visits to an oxygen chamber and physiotherapy sessions. But at a fitness test today, Jones was still experiencing pain on his ankle and was immediately ruled out.

But while England were ruing the loss of Jones, the Australians were confident that Glenn McGrath would return for the Fifth Test.

McGrath has been struggling to shrug off a right elbow problem sustained in a tour match at Northampton, which ruled him out of last week's fourth Test defeat at Trent Bridge and last weekend's match with Essex. But he bowled at a decent pace in the nets this morning at the Oval and seems certain to be fit for Thursday's final Test.

"I think he'll be fine because he's a champion," stressed Shane Warne at a press conference this morning. "In these situations champions come to the top and if he can get the ball down to the other end then I think he'll play - he wouldn't let himself or the team down by saying he's right when he's not."

Warne also admitted that the 2005 Ashes was the best Test series he had played in throughout his career.

"It's the first time that The Oval counts for something in my time on my fourth tour. That's a good thing. No one wants to see easy cricket or whitewashes.

"Unfortunately this sort of series doesn't come along all the time. This series has probably been the most fascinating and entertaining cricket in my 15 years of playing."

The 35-year-old Warne has taken 28 wickets at 19.67 runs apiece - more wickets than anybody else in the series and at a lower average - and has also averaged more than 31 with the bat while going in at No8.

"For me personally, it's probably been my best ever series I have ever played, with the bat and ball I think my numbers have been pretty good. But it's down to five days now, all that is irrelevant."

"I thought the pressure was on England in the last Test match because they knew that all we had to do was win one of the last two test matches," he said. "But they performed well.

"Now the pressure is on us, as far as I'm concerned. If we don't perform well we'll have lost the Ashes for the first time in nearly 20 years. But the guys will see it as a challenge, they won't fear it."