THE STORY FROM THE OVAL: DAY 2 INSIGHT
By Phil Walker

At last: Jimmy Anderson celebrates after bowling Mitch Marsh
PICTURES: Alamy

The Oval styles itself as cricket’s home for weepy farewells. The Final Test they like to call it, the stage from which all the tales and intrigues of another summer fall with the final curtain. No amount of pomp and plonk can remove the slightly elegiac air that permeates the place, for no other ground has seen so many departures from the scene.
A total of 285 players have played their last Test here. 117 of those are English, 67 Australian. ...