The first day on a pitch that looked like it would provide decent batting was probably in England's favor. Australia won the toss, 299-8 at the end; five of Australia's top six started, but no one reached the big innings; all five reached 32 innings, but none reached 52 innings. Chris Woakes was England's best bowler with four wickets and Stuart Broad took his 600th Test wicket.

For those wishing to watch the fourth Test between England and Australia from Old Trafford, The Ashes live stream, play resumes at 11am BST / 6am EDT / 3am PDT / 9pm AEDT.

Continue reading to see where you can watch The Ashes live stream from anywhere using a VPN.

For Australia, little has changed from the Headingley test. The only change is that "everything" went from three games to two after England won at Headingley.

Before the series, England captain Ben Stokes had called for a fast, bouncy pitch. This seemed an odd request, as such a pitch is more akin to the pitches Australians play on in their own country, rather than the typical green-seaming tracks in England that Australian batsmen have struggled with in the past. Headingley groundsman Richie Robinson created exactly the kind of surface that Stokes wanted, and England won the first game of the series on this surface.

Australia has had a good run of form at Old Trafford of late: since losing the 1981 Test to the Botham-led England, Australia has won four and drawn three of the next seven Ashes Tests. Moreover, all of those victories were by nine wickets, 179 runs, 268 runs, and 185 runs.

How the series ends will determine how the retrospective story is structured; one scenario was clearly that Australia, the world Test champions, were the best side all the way, but England, aided by the luck of the toss and the weather, were able to hold on to Old Tra Ford,

and that England managed to hold on until the Old Trafford.

The other is that a controversial stumping upset England and then turned the series upside down in an engrossing and dramatic series, with the series tied at 2-2 going into the Oval. The next five days will determine which will become history.

Can England keep the series alive? Click here to watch the entire fourth Test at Old Trafford online.

Australian Ashes fans can watch all five Tests for free on Channel 9 and the 9Now streaming service, which works with most smart devices.

But what if you live in Australia and are not home to watch the Ashes live stream? Maybe you are on vacation and don't want to spend money on pay TV in another country when you can usually watch for free at home.

Don't worry - you can watch it via VPN instead. Here's how to do it.

It is natural to want to watch free Ashes live streams from your country, but what if you are traveling abroad when cricket is being played?

Nothing beats a VPN, or virtual private network, which makes it appear as if you are surfing the web from your home country instead of the country you are in. That means you can access the streaming services you've already paid for from anywhere on the planet. Or at least, anywhere you have an Internet connection.

These are perfectly legal, inexpensive, and easy to use. We've tested many of the best VPN services, and our current favorite is ExpressVPN. It's fast, works on a variety of devices, and has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

The VPN is incredibly easy to use.

1. download and install VPN.

2. connect to the appropriate server location - open the VPN app, click "choose location" and select the appropriate location.

3. access the broadcaster's stream - access the site or app of the broadcaster in your country and watch as if you were at home.

Zack Crawley Ben Duckett Moon Ali Joe Root Harry Brook Ben Stokes (captain) Johnny Barebow Chris Woakes Stuart Broad Mark Wood Jimmy Anderson

David Warner Usman Khawaja Marnus Labuschagne Steve Smith Travis Head Mitchell Marsh Cameron Green Alex Carey Pat Cummins, Capt. Mitchell Stark Josh Hazlewood