London, August 22: Australian skipper Steve Waugh has given himself an even chance of playing his last Ashes Test in England and stopping the hosts from turning the tables again in the fifth and final Test at The Oval starting here on Thursday.

Australia suffered an unexpected defeat on the last day of the fourth Test after a sporting declaration by stand-in captain Adam Gilchrist, which spoilt the tourists' hopes of making a clean sweep of the Ashes on English soil.

England beat an Australian side without Waugh and it took a special innings by Mark Butcher to turn the game on its head. The home side was outplayed on the first four days and in the three previous Tests.

It took the best innings by an Englishman all summer to end Australia's aspirations of a 5-0 sweep and of Waugh's plan to make his own ``Millennium Ashes'' at The Oval.

Waugh doesn't want 3-1 becoming 3-2. Instead, he remains adamant he'll lead Australia to a 4-1 series win by clinching the final Test.

"There's no such thing as dead rubbers in my book,'' Waugh said. "I don't think it would be a fair reflection of what's happened - even at Headingley we dominated the match until the last day. We want to make sure we end the series on the right note.''

Waugh, who has played in Australia's record-equaling seven straight Ashes series victories, rated Butcher's innings among the best he's seen in the Ashes.

"Things didn't quite go our way, but you don't mind being beaten when someone plays a great innings like that,'' he said. "That's what Test cricket is all about, that's the competitive nature, they played really well.''

Waugh is battling against time and advice to make his last Ashes appearance here. His Ashes victory celebrations were ruined after he was taken away on a stretcher with Australia a handful of runs away from a historic win at Trent Bridge in the third Test.

The 138-Test veteran tore his left calf muscle and has since put himself through a tough rehabilitation regime.

"I guess I'm somewhere around a 50-50 chance,'' he said. "I've played with worse in the past. If you are fit you got to get out there. You are never 100 per cent sure how you are going to go. But there are other attributes as we.

"I've got to be nearing 100 per cent to play in this game. You don't play many games at 100 per cent. But I've got to get somewhere close to that,'' Waugh said after limping into the pre-match conference at The Oval.

Waugh will decide on Thursday whether he'll play or entrust Gilchrist to lead the lineup again.

"I'm batting, no problem in the nets, it's whether I can run fully between the wickets and field okay,'' Waugh said.

Gilchrist became the first Australian captain to lose a Test after declaring and setting the opposition a target.

Australia dumped opener Michael Slater and gave Justin Langer's Test career a lifeline. Langer, who was dropped at the start of the series, will open the batting with Matthew Hayden.

The Australians are also seriously considering making their first bowling change of the series after they had opted for the pace trio - Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee - and leg spinner Shane Warne so far in the series.

Waugh believes Colin Miller's off-cutters could be useful on The Oval surface after England had called up veteran leftarm spinner Phil Tufnell to partner offspinner Robert Croft.

If Australia was to pick 38-year-old Miller - the oldest member of the squad - it would come at the expense of Lee. The tear away fast bowler has improved in every game he has played since his elbow injury, but lacked the wicket-taking ability despite topping 94.6 miles per hour (142 kph) during England's run chase on Monday.

England will pick from Tufnell, Croft and rookie swing bowler Jimmy Ormond to fill two bowling places made vacant after injuries ruled out Alan Mullally (rib) and Alex Tudor (hip).

Four years ago, Tufnell bowled England to victory with figures of 11 for 93. He hasn't played a Test since the fourth Test in Cape Town against South Africa, 20 months ago.

But he has been picked with the hope he could reproduce his match-winning spell yet again against the high-riding Australians.

"I haven't ruled out playing two spinners but my gut feeling is it could be one,'' England skipper Nasser Hussain said.

Lineups:

England: (from) Nasser Hussain (captain), Michael Atherton, Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher, Mark Ramprakash, Usman Afzaal, Alec Stewart (wicketkeeper), Andy Caddick, Darren Gough, Robert Croft, Phil Tufnell, Jimmy Ormond and Richard Johnson.