the ashes 2005

It is easy to say it with hindsight, but even as the 2005 Ashes were being contested, everyone involved was aware they were part of one of the greatest series ever.






Cricket's turn in the sun

Perhaps it had to do with the history of the rivalry between England and Australia, dating back purely in cricketing terms to 1887.
Maybe it was because England had not beaten their great rivals in a Test series since 1987, the weight of expectation growing as time wore on.
Certainly it had a lot to do with the fact that the two best teams in the world - in English conditions at least - were going head-to-head.
Even without that off-field baggage, a series that had more twists and turns than the route from the Lord's dressing-room to the hallowed turf would have carried the attention of a nation.
Appropriately the Test series began at Lord's, where England's bowlers shocked Australia with their pace and hostility.
The home of cricket turned into a coliseum as Steve Harmison hit three batsmen on the head in the first morning on his way to a five-wicket haul.






Ashes opening lives up to hype

Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting refused stitches after his cheek was split open, and wore the resulting scare like a badge of honour throughout the series.
Veteran McGrath hit back in the best way possible, though, with a wonderful display of accurate seam bowling, taking his 500th career wicket in the process.
Along with Shane Warne, he ran through the English order on the fourth morning and it looked like business as usual for the Australian juggernaut.
However, England players accused of being a "bunch of drips" by just one of the newspaper headlines that week, proved to be anything but.
The second Test at Edgbaston was described as one of the best ever, and the comparisons with the infamous "Botham's Ashes" of 1981 started here.
McGrath was ruled out after a freak training accident when he trod on a ball, and Ponting's decision to put England in to bat first was exposed mercilessly.






Move over Botham

The home side could still have capitulated, though, were it not for Andrew Flintoff's heroic second innings batting as he hit four sixes in adding 81 for the last three wickets.
Australia were set a ground record 282 to win, but had no intention of capitulating and it took a tireless display from Flintoff and Harmison to squeak a two-run victory.
Flintoff's conversation with Brett Lee after the tailender's defiant and almost successful unbeaten 43 came to define the mutual respect that pervaded the series.
On to Old Trafford, where 19,000 people were turned away on the final day, denied the chance to see England come a single wicket short of victory.
Again Australia's lower order bailed them out, with Warne and Lee fighting a valiant rearguard action.





I can't remember celebrating a draw before in my career


Justin Langer Test diary

Amazingly there had not been a single century until the third Test of the series, but here there were two of the highest class, from rival captains Ponting and Michael Vaughan.
Amid the excitement, it was almost possible to miss Warne becoming the first bowler ever to pass the mark of 600 Test wickets.
Now cracks were beginning to show in the once-impregnable Australian armoury.
The plans laid by Vaughan and coach Duncan Fletcher to combat their rivals' attacking batsmen were paying bigger dividends than they could ever have expected.
Even so, England came within three wickets of losing the entire series on a surreal Sunday afternoon at Trent Bridge as Warne worked his magic.






England dare to dream

After a match in which the momentum had swung this way and that with exhausting regularity, England set about chasing a nominal 129 for victory.
Enter Warne, looking like he could win the series single-handed, dismissing Marcus Trescothick first ball and Vaughan with his seventh.
When Geraint Jones was the seventh wicket down with 13 runs still needed, the tension was at its height.
But Ashley Giles and Matthew Hoggard, two uniquely English characters, got across the winning line and guaranteed folk hero status.
The country was at fever pitch, and England were certainly in the ascendancy going into the final match at The Oval.
Even though two days were ruined by rain and bad light, the series remained in the balance as England sought a draw and Australia pushed for a win to tie the series and retain the Ashes urn.






Day the Aussies were beaten

Kevin Pietersen had demonstrated his attacking intent on his Test debut eight weeks previously but his most high profile contribution to the series since then had been six dropped catches.
Now was his turn to shine as he survived a crucial drop by Warne on 15 and took the attack to Australia, belting seven sixes.
Australian legend Richie Benaud's attempt to sign off from the commentary booth for the last time in England in low-key fashion was ruined as Pietersen was out off his final syllable.
By then, though, the urn was safely in England's hands, the only anti-climactic part of the series being the moment when bad light ended the game early.
Flintoff, who emerged bleary-eyed from the team hotel for an open top bus parade to Trafalgar Square, will be remembered as England's larger-than-life hero.
But every one of the 12 players who celebrated in front of 25,000 on the streets of London played a part in a series which live on in the memory forever.

We will never know what possessed the ECB to stage the first game at Lord's, a ground that so inspires Australia that they remain unbeaten there since 1934. The decision played into Australia's hands as they completed a comprehensive victory. Not only was history against England, there was also Glenn McGrath angling the ball down the Lord's slope, and bowling with inhuman control to settle the game with match figures of 9-82. Only Kevin Pietersen mastered him with innings of 57 and 64, getting a big stride in to negate the effect of the slope, while most of his colleagues were caught on the crease. But the margin of victory flattered Australia a little and the seeds of their later downfall in the series were sown on the dramatic first day when England skittled them for 190. Although Australia made 384 in then second innings, England had taken 20 wickets in the match. Having got that part of the equation right they knew that if they found a way to make more runs they could compete.

2nd Test, Edgbaston: England won by two runs
England won a monumentally exciting game by the narrowest margin in Ashes history as cricket fever swept the nation. The win was built around the 407 runs they scored on the first day as they put into action a post-Lord's gameplan of all-out aggression. They were helped by Ricky Ponting's bizarre decision to put them in, probably influenced by the flooding that had hit the ground days before the match. But not only had sun baked the pitch hard and made it good for batting, Australia were without Glenn McGrath. He had trodden on a ball warming up for the game and turned his ankle, and with it, the series. Marcus Trescothick (90) was free to blaze away at will, and Kevin Pietersen (71) and Andrew Flintoff (68) proved they could bat together. Flintoff came to the fore in this game, striking a total of 11 sixes in the match, and taking seven wickets. But England so nearly failed to get over the line after dominating the game. Australia were 175-8, needing another 107 runs to win going into Sunday. Nobody imagined they had a chance, but Shane Warne (42), Brett Lee (44*) and Michael Kasprowicz (20) almost won it for them in the face of sustained aggression from Steve Harmison and Flintoff. Flintoff had tried to knock Lee's head off all morning, but in an unforgettable moment of sportsmanship commiserated with him at the end. A distraught Kasprowicz said his dismissal to Harmison, caught behind off his glove down the leg side, would haunt him for the rest of his life.

3rd Test, Old Trafford: Match drawn
A match which ended in a draw was nevertheless the middle one of the three in a row that would be contenders for an all-time top 10 of Ashes Tests. By the fourth innings England had built a lead of 422 and Australia had to bat out the last day to survive after a day had been lost to rain. A packed house, with 25,000 more locked out of the ground, watched another thriller go down to the wire as, with nine wickets down, Glenn McGrath (5*) and Brett Lee (18*) somehow kept out the last 24 balls from Flintoff and Harmison. Australia were kept alive by Ricky Ponting's seven-hour chanceless epic 156, a truly great innings. But the fact was that Australia had once again been dominated from the first session to the last in a game that had begun well for them with the news that Lee had recovered from a knee infection and McGrath was fit enough to play. England had won the toss and Michael Vaughan played a lovely attacking innings of 166, demonstrating remarkable self-belief considering his run of low scores. Another one of the endlessly intriguing what-ifs in the series was the question of what might have happened in the game if the McGrath ball that bowled Vaughan early in his innings had not been a no ball. The match was also notable for the devastating reverse-swing of Simon Jones, who took 6-44 in the first innings. His absence with cramp at the end of Australia's second innings probably cost England the win they richly deserved as much as Saturday's washout.

4th Test, Trent Bridge: England won by three wickets
Another almost unwatchable drama unfolded when England collapsed to 116-7 chasing only 129 to win on the fourth day. They were simply mesmerised by Shane Warne who took 4-31 in the innings and spread panic until tailenders Ashley Giles (7*) and Matthew Hoggard (8*) saw England through. Giles admitted to not being able to feel his legs before he went out to bat, and Hoggard claimed he always shut his eyes when facing Brett Lee, who took 3-51. But Hoggard actually looked confident at the crease and even drove Lee in the middle of a hostile spell majestically through cover for four. The game should not have been so close after England had built a score of 477 around a measured, classical hundred by Andrew Flintoff (102) and a lovely innings from Geraint Jones (85), then dismissed Australia for 218. But it became close for two reasons. Firstly, Michael Vaughan felt he had to enforce the follow-on in case of bad weather disrupting play later on, allowing Australia a glimmer of hope of pressuring England with Warne in the last innings, then England lost Simon Jones to injury. Jones' reverse-swing had again been England's most potent weapon in the first innings when he took 5-44, but he had bowled only four overs in the second innings when he went off injured. It left England's attack somewhat toothless and Australia cashed in with a score of 387. It could have been worse, however, had substitute fielder Gary Pratt not run out Ricky Ponting (48) in full flow with a direct hit from cover. Ponting reacted with an outburst about England's use of substitute fielders that cost him most of his match fee.

5th Test, The Oval: Match drawn
Kevin Pietersen's almost insane brilliance ensured that England kept the Ashes when he rescued England's tottering batting on the final day with an innings of 158 that included seven sixes. England had been in trouble when four wickets fell to Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in the morning session to leave them 126-5 with plenty of time left for Australia to chase a total down. But Pietersen ensured the draw England needed, helped by the stoical gifts of Ashley Giles (59), who has never batted better and never will. The tension gradually eased from the game and Pietersen had some fun by hitting sixes off his old mucker Warne. By the end the draw was achieved comfortably, but England had been up against it for much of the game. After winning the toss their total of 373 was well below-par and left them vulnerable. It would have been even fewer but for a timely century by Andrew Strauss (129), and another marvellous contribution from Andrew Flintoff (72). Australia looked like building a big lead when Matthew Hayden (138) and Justin Langer (105) got them off to a great start. But the glorious British weather rescued England. Without the injured Simon Jones they were struggling until the fourth day, when Flintoff turned yet another match, this time with the ball. He bowled a magnificent unchanged spell of 16 overs to take 5-78 in humid, cloudy swinging conditions. Matthew Hoggard also revelled in the conditions to take 4-4 in a near-unplayable spell, as Australia lost their last six wickets for 44 runs to trail by six runs. But a lot of overs were lost and, on the final day, it became a race against time to save the Ashes. Pietersen did the rest, but all Australians will have forever to ponder what might have been had he not been dropped three times early in his innings.

15 Sep, 2005

last years ashes woz immense like i hope this 1 can b jus a gd if nt beta

hopefully punter n pidgeon will get there heds noked off

bet u 2 fainted or summit wen we won

fukin h8 pidgeon mcrath