One of the most curious aspects of this ICC World Test Championship final is that the country which is staging it is really more concerned with the five Tests that will follow. 

Hardly surprising, as for the home country, it is The Ashes series against Australia, the most important cricket series against the country which most people in this country consider kith and kin.  Almost everything Australia have done in this Test has been judged against how they may play when the Ashes start. On Friday night, when Mitchell Starc came to the press conference, all questions from the English press were about what the Australian bowling performance at The Oval says about the Edgbaston Test next week, which will start the Test series.