Cricket - The Story Of The Ashes 2005
Created | Updated Aug 12, 2005
Work in progress. Obviously.
The Ashes1 is a cricket series played between the teams of England and Australia, and is one of the oldest sporting contests in the world. Every two years, the teams square up to try to win the oldest cricket prize of all, and since 1987 Australia had been by far the superior team, winning every series since Mike Gatting's England triumphed.
If it were possible, the 2005 series was even more keenly anticipated than ever. The Australians were still the world's number one cricketing nation, but England had made great strides since the embarrassment of the mid-1990s teams, and under Zimbabwean coach Duncan Fletcher had risen to second in the rankings. A young, fresh team seemed set to take on the aging Australians, and there was great optimism amongst the English that at last they had a side who could win back the Ashes.
Pre-series
The key to England's success would be star players like captain Micheal Vaughan; Marcus Trescothick and Andrew Strauss, the openers; all-rounder Andrew Flintoff; and the main strike bowlers, Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard. In recent years, all had proved capable match-winners, and the supporting cast of young players like Geriant Jones, Ian Bell and Simon Jones brought a vigour to the team that previous England teams had been missing.
However, Australia had selected a team of old hands and proven masters of their art. Bowler Glenn McGrath had taken 499 Test wickets going into the series, and spinner Shane Warne was the leading wicket taker in the world with 583.
The First Test, Lords, London 21st - 25th July
England's middle order batting debate was ended with the selection of debutant Kevin Pieterson and Ian Bell. Graham Thorpe, the man left out, would announce his retirement from international cricket a couple of days later. Australia's only surprise was that Jason Gillespie, whose recent performances suggested he was on the wane, was preferred to Micheal Kasprowic.
England: Trescothick, Strauss, Vaughan (captain), Bell, Flintoff, Pieterson, G Jones (wicketkeeper), Giles, Hoggard, Harmison, S Jones.
Australia: Langer, Hayden, Ponting (captain), Martyn, Clarke, Katich, Gilchrist (wicketkeeper), Warne, Lee, Gillespie, McGrath.
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan), R E Koertzen (South Africa).
Day One
Australia won the toss and chose to bat, unsurprising as it was a beautiful sunny day and it looked like a good pitch for batting on. Langer and Hayden made a good start, reaching 35 without loss before Matthew Hoggard finally made a breakthrough, bowling Hayden with an excellent swinging ball. England were bowling with fury and aggression, and Australian wickets fell until the tourists were down to 87 for 5, a thoroughly impressive performance by the bowlers.
Katich, Gilchrist and Warne counter-attacked for Australia, but all fell in the twenties, and England were delighted to have bowled out the Australians for 190. Trescothick and Strauss batted out the last few overs before tea, and England's prospects looked good.
Enter Glenn McGrath. After tea, he took the fight to England's top order, taking the wickets of Trescothick2 (4), Strauss (2), Vaughan (3), Bell (6) and Flintoff (0) to leave England on the ropes at 21-5. Suddenly Australia's 190 looked like a pretty good score. Pieterson and Geriant Jones put on a 58 partnership, but Brett Lee struck with two more wickets before the close to leave England hanging on, having made just 92 runs for the loss of seven wickets. It was an immensely exciting days' play.
Day Two
Clearly, much would depend on the performance of new Kevin Pietersen, England's last batsman of any stature. After a fairly quiet start by his standards, Hoggard was dismissed by Warne and Pietersen began to be more aggressive. After hitting a rush of boundaries, including sixes off Warne and McGrath, he was finally dismissed on 57 by an incredible catch by Damien Martyn, and England were all out for 155. It said much for England's batting performance that Simon Jones, the last man to come in to bat, was their third highest scorer with 20 not out.
A disheartened England took to the field, trailing by 35 runs. Some good partnerships from the Australian batsmen and they could be out of sight; a few quick wickets and England were right back in it. The next two sessions would surely decide the match.
The intensity wasn't quite there from the bowlers, however, and at lunch Australia could be happy with their performance at 47-1. Some assured batting and poor catching from the English fielders in the afternoon meant that Australia were able to push home the advantage. Even so, Pietersen, at the heart of everything, dropped a simple catch from Clarke, who was on 7, just before tea, and it was clear that just a little luck in the right places could see England right back in it.
But there was no respite from the Australians in the final session of the day. Clarke eased to his fifty off just 64 balls, and although England rallied with a rush of wickets right at the end of play, it was clear that the tourists were in the driving seat. Australia finished the day looking strong on 279-7.
Day Three
England needed to bowl out the Australians very quickly, but didn't. Simon Jones in particular looked capable of taking wickets, but again some poor fielding cost England dear. By the time Jones beat Gillespie with a great full-length ball to end the innings, Australia had amassed 384 - leaving England a highly improbable 420 to win3.
England, in the event, made a remarkably good start, with both Strauss and Trescothick seeing off the new ball and getting themselves settled. For a short time, it seemed the big run chase was on; with two and half days to go, if England played defensively and batted slowly to protect their wickets, they would win. However, with the score at 80-0, Strauss looped one in the air from Lee and the bowler took the catch4, and wickets began to fall. By the time bad light intervened, England were 156-5, with Pietersen and Geriant Jones the only recognised batsmen left. Only the weather could save England now.
Day Four
And rain it did, all morning and for most of the afternoon. Play finally got underway at 3.45pm with the Aussies in no mood to let England off the hook. McGrath quickly dismissed Jones, who looked too eager to attack the bowling, and Ashley Giles beofre rain briefly gave England hope again. It didn't last, and Englands last five wickets fell on day four for just 22 runs. The last five batsman managed to last just 61 balls.
McGrath was awarded man-of-the-match for his incredible bowling performance, taking nine wickets for 82 runs - and his aggregate batting of 30 for no wicket was higher than England's Vaughan, Bell and Flintoff combined. The hosts clearly had some work to do ahead of the next Test, and the only consolations were the performance of Pietersen, with 50s in both innings, and the fact that they had bowled Australia out twice.
Result
Australia: First innings 190 all out (Langer 40; Harmison 5-43)
England: First innings 155 all out (Pietersen 57; McGrath 5-35, Lee 3-47)
Australia: Second innings 384 all out (Clarke 91, Katich 67, Martyn 65; Harmison 3-54)
England: Second innings 180 all out (Pietersen 64no; McGrath 4-29, Warne 4-64
Australia win by 239 runs. See also the full BBC scorecard.
The Second Test, Edgbaston, Birmingham 4th - 9th August
It was a remarkable show of faith for England to select the same squad, with only the addition of Paul Collingwood of Durham - apparantly as another option if the pitch was too green to hold spin. The press had had a field day, slating the whole team - in particular captain Vaughan and poor Ashley Giles, a regular press target but still Englands only world-class spinner. Clearly the side would need to perform this time; to go 2-0 down in a five match series would surely end their chances.
For Australia, the only debate was whether to continue with Gillespie - wicketless at Lords - or bring back Michael Kasprowicz, who had impressed in a warm up game at Worcestershire with five wickets. However, Ponting was quick to dismiss the suggestion that Gillespie might be dropped, saying 'Kasprowicz has done everything he can do, but if you look at the way Jason bowled, and the way we performed in the first Test, it would be unlikely that we'd change the team.' It seemed Australia and England would line up unchanged.
Until the warm-up. Australia were chasing some rugby balls around when Glenn McGrath stepped on a rogue cricket ball and went over on his ankle. A freakish accident, but one that removed the world's number one fast bowler from Australia's line-up, and this alone had to give the English hope. As Geoffrey Boycott said at the time, 'every Englishman must be wearing a smirk right now'.
England: Trescothick, Strauss, Vaughan (captain), Bell, Flintoff, Pieterson, G Jones (wicketkeeper), Giles, Hoggard, Harmison, S Jones.
Australia: Langer, Hayden, Ponting (captain), Martyn, Clarke, Katich, Gilchrist (wicketkeeper), Warne, Lee, Gillespie, Kasprowicz.
Umpires: R E Koertzen (South Africa), B F Bowden (New Zealand)5.
Day One
Ricky Ponting won the toss and, surprisingly, put England in to bat. The pitch was fairly green and looked like a good batting strip, but perhaps Ponting sensed a kill after Lord's and thought bowling England out cheaply would effectively end the summer's contest. Vaughan, however, said after the toss was made that he would have batted anyway.
The absence of McGrath seemed to have an effect of the batsmen, Trescothick in particular looking far more relaxed. The two left handers batted at an amazing rate, giving the Australians much to think about with a stream of boundaries. In the fourth over, Warne at first slip spilled a difficult catch from Strauss, but apart from this it was England. Trescothick was both imperious and impetuous, and the crowd were treated to the rare sight of a spinner, Shane Warne, being brought into the attack before an hour had been played6. Warne brought the Australians only moment of joy, when he bowled Strauss for 48 with just seven minutes to go until lunch, with England on 112. It was a great start from the home side, who went in for lunch on 128-1.
The fun continued after lunch, England moving on to 164, but then losing Trescothick (90 including two sixes and 16 fours), vaughan (24) and the unfortunate Bell (6) in quick succession. 187-4 didn't look quite so sparkling, and it seemed the momentum had moved Australia's way. Would England throw away a great start again, just like at Lord's?
The dismissal of Vaughan brought together the two players considered to be England's most aggressive, Flintoff and Pietersen. They needed to put together a partnership if they were to regain the initiative, and the expectant crowd hoped to see fireworks. Flintoff rode his luck at first, just clearing Lee at mid-off with a drive and surviving a Warne lbw appeal. After that, there was no looking back. The two shared a stand of 1027, Flintoff departing caught behind for 68 from only 62 balls - hitting five sixes and six fours along the way.
The momentum continued with the tail, Pietersen making 71, and England were finally dismissed for 407 from 79.2 overs - an incredible scoring rate of 5.13 per over. Rain brought an early close, sparing Australia's opening batsman from having to face a resurgent England.
Day Two
The big question was; had England just made a half-decent score on a good batting strip, or had they actually batted extremely well? certainly 407 seemed like a good enough score. England certainly set about the day with furious intent, Harmison battering Langer's helmet with a bouncer off the third ball of the day8, and Hoggard had Hayden caught at short extra cover from his first ball10. Ponting then survived a run out chance before Australia moved the score along nicely, Langer digging in for a gritty innings. Just as it seemed he was set for a big score, Ponting then top-edged Giles with a contemptuous stroke and was caught easily by Vaughan for 61, before Vaughan ran out Martyn with a brilliant piece of fielding.
Every time it seemed Australia were getting the upper hand, England's bowlers regrouped and struck. At 194-3, Australia looked confident; a few overs later, with Giles and Flintoff having taken wickets, they looked decidedly shaky at 208-5. But with Langer and Gilchrist at the crease, anything could happen.
England knew they needed just one more wicket to get into the tail, and finally got their reward when Jones trapped Langer with a perfect inswinger. Warne then charged Giles madly and was bowled, Jones had Lee caught at slip, then Flintoff charged in and took the last two wickets, Gillespie and Kasprowicz trapped lbw with successive yorkers. Australia had been bowled out for 308, with Gilchrist stuck on 49 not out at the end.
Although Australia had given away some cheap wickets (Ponting, Hayden and Warne especially), clearly the bowlers deserved considerable plaudits for the 99 run lead England held11. Ashley Giles in particular deserved credit for confounding his critics with 3-78 off his 26 overs, each of his wickets coming at key times. Indeed, the fielders moved aside to let 'The King of Spain12' lead them from the field.
Although it would have been unthinkable a few days before, Australia were on the back foot. Although they sounded upbeat (Langer saying 'whatever England set us, we'll be confident we can catch it'), England now had an opportunity to put the game out of sight. Australia would have to bowl superbly to stay in the match.
England negotiated the first six overs fairly comfortably, until the Australian talisman, Shane Warne, came on to bowl the final over of the day. His second ball span so hard off the pitch that it came back from outside the off stump and round the back of Strauss' legs to bowl him. It was a harsh reminder to England that the contest was by no means over.
Day Three
The following morning, England seemed intent on throwing it all away. Although Lee and Warne bowled like demons (Lee taking three wickets in 11 balls for just four runs), some senior batsmen were guilty of poor shots. Trescothick wafted outside off stump and edged to Gilchrist, and Vaughan was once again bowled through the gate for 1. When Hoggard joined them in the pavilion, England were 31-4 and behind in the match for the first time. After less than 15 overs, Australia were on top.
Bell and Pietersen steadied the ship before both fell caught Gilchrist bowled Warne, and both rather unluckily. With the score at 75-6, Jones joined Flintoff at the crease. It seemed the partnership might come to a premature end, as Flintoff cut Warne to point and immediately pulled up in some pain. Clearly his shoulder was giving him some distress, and although he batted on, he looked a shadow of the destructive force of the first innings. But when Jones was out for nine just after lunch, Flintoff was England's last recognised batsman. If England were to set Australia a competitive target, Flintoff was the last realistic chance.
In some pain, he batted on. The boundaries started to flow, but he was running out of partners, and when Harmison was out with England on 131-9 he really got going. He hit two sixes off successive balls from Kasprowicz to bring up his fifty, clobbered Lee for a six (the ball ending up on top of the pavilion), then a four, then another massive six off successive balls. Ponting responded by putting every man back on the boundary with the exception of the bowler and wicketkeeper - almost unknown in a Test match. Undeterred, Flintoff hit a further six and a four before being bowled by Warne to finish an incredible innings (73 runs from 86 balls, four sixes13and six fours). England had made 182, leaving Australia needing 282 to win the match. Although the highest score ever made to win batting fourth at Edgbaston was 21114, it seemed a reasonable total for Australia to chase, and the general feeling was that England had given them a chance of an unlikely victory. Mike Selvey of Radio Four's Test Match Special felt that 'Australia will say they can chase anything down, but I don't know they've ever done so against an attack like England's on a pitch like this'.
One way or another, the next three hours would decide the Test. Australia got off to a fine start, Hayden and Langer looking confident and relaxed and keeping the scoreboard moving along. The new ball seen off, Vaughan brought on Flintoff to bowl and, despite his injury, found enough bounce on the second ball to deceive Langer, who deflected the ball off his elbow and onto the stumps. Flintoff was clearly fired up and spent the rest of the over flummoxing poor Ponting, before bowling him a perfect outswinger that the Australian captain edged to slip.
From then on, it was a case of the batsmen getting themselves in and set before getting out. Hayden, Martyn and Katich all made double figures before being undone by good bowling. When Adam Gilchrist, Australia's biggest dangerman, was caught by Flintoff off Giles for one and the score 136-6, England knew they had a great chance. Flintoff returned to capture Gillespie with another great yorker, then Warne and Clarke finally put a partnership together. England had asked for, and got, an extra eight overs of play in the hope of forcing a result but these two seemed inseperable. Then, finally, with the partnership worth 38 and just four balls left, Harmison shattered Clarke's stumps with a slower ball for his first wicket of the match. The end of play, and England just needed two tailenders' wickets to win. Australia still required an unlikely 107 to win.
Day Four
Australia resumed with Warne and Lee at the crease, and a capacity Edgbaston crowd roaring England on - but none knew the drama ahead. A fantastic early spell of bowling from Harmison and Flintoff resulted in a succession of played-and-misses from the Aussies, but Warne and Lee had nothing to lose. Gradually they came out and started playing shots, hitting boundaries and beginning to turn the tide. With some lucky nicks, edges and wonderful cricket shots, they charged down the England total. Warne's refusal to accept defeat was admirable, and despite some luck brought Australia within 61 runs of victory before his luck gave out and he trod on his stumps.
England were within one wicket of victory, and only had to dismiss either Australia's number ten or eleven batsmen to tie up the match.
Easy? No way. Brett Lee batted like a demon, with Kasprowicz (out for a golden duck in the first innings) proving an able compananion, and the total to win came down; first past fifty, then past thirty, then past twenty. 15 runs short, and a difficult chance off Kasprowicz's bat wass dropped by Simon Jones at deep third man. Then Flintoff squaundered four byes on a no-ball, and Australia - unbelievably - looked set to win.
England bowled very well, all morning. Australia had batted out of their skins, with nothing to lose, and struck plenty of boundaries initially. The run rate had slowed down later on as the pressure mounted, but now it was all or nothing.
Flintoff's final over consisted of short balls. The first four were all well evaded by Lee, the fifth almost finding the edge, and the sixth rapping him sharply on the knuckles. Lee scampered through for the single, in much pain, to face Harmison. Four to win. One ball, and either side could win; England with a wicket, Australia with a boundary.
The ball wasn't swinging, so Hoggard and Jones would be ineffective. Giles had been seen off by the tailenders. So it fell to Durham's Steve Harmison to bowl what would surely be the final over, win or lose. His first ball was a full toss, wide of off stump, which Lee goes after but only claims a single. Three to win. Harmison's second ball was short to Kasprowicz, who gloved the ball15 and Jones, scrambling, took the catch. England had won by two runs.
It was an incredible finale to an amazing game, and was the closest ever finish to a Test match between the sides. Out of nearly 1200 runs scored in just over three days, England had won by two. Man of the match Andrew Flintoff immediately went over to console poor Brett Lee, who had played so heroically. Having spent the last three and bit days battling Lee with bat and ball, it was a particularly noble gesture to eschew the immediate celebrations to share a few words with his foe. Flintoff said later:
I tried to bowl him out and I tried to knock him out. I tried everything but he just kept coming back. He can be proud of what he did. He bowled great and batted outstandingly. He is a champion.
An honest tribute from a great sportsman. Perhaps the occasion was best summed up by The Age newspaper of Melbourne:
The dictionary scarcely contains words sufficient to capture the drama of the occasion. Seldom even in the annals of Ashes cricket has any match been as tense, as utterly compelling from the first ball to the very last as this epic in white clothes.
Indeed. The mouthwatering prospect of the Old Trafford Test was only four days away.
Result
England: First innings 407 all out (Trescothick 90, Pietersen 71, Flintoff 68; Kasprowicz 3-80, Warne 4-116)
Australia: First innings 308 all out (Langer 82, Ponting 61; Giles 3-52, Flintoff 3-52)
England: Second innings 182 all out (Flintoff 73; Warne 6-46, Lee 4-82)
Australia: Second innings 279 all out (Lee 43 not out; Flintoff 4-79)
England win by 2 runs. See also the full BBC scorecard.
How different all this might have been had Ricky Ponting said on Thursday morning: "We'll bat, Michael." In 45 minutes of madness the Australian captain lost his two most dangerous attackers - McGrath via a stray ball at training and Warne by denying him the chance to bowl last.
- Mark Nicholas, commentator.
The Third Test, Old Trafford, Manchester 11th - 15th August
England named an unchanged squad from the Edgbaston Test. However Australia seemed in some disarray; McGrath was struggling to be fit with his ankle ligament problems, and it was revealed that Brett Lee had been admitted to hospital with a knee infection. Though all in the tourists' camp seemed upbeat about his chances, pace bowler Stuart Clarke was called into the squad as cover. Australia's attack could potentially include any of eight bowlers; almost certainly Gillepsie, Kasprowic and Warne, with another from McGrath, Lee, Shaun Tate, the uncapped Clarke or Stuart MacGill as second spinner on a pitch that traditionally turns16. MacGill, though a world-class leg spinner, would leave Australia with only two seamers and was therefore unlikely to play.
In the end, both Lee and McGrath were passed fit, and the unfortunate Kasprowicz was dropped. Australia and England would both be at full strength.
England: Trescothick, Strauss, Vaughan (captain), Bell, Flintoff, Pieterson, G Jones (wicketkeeper), Giles, Hoggard, Harmison, S Jones.
Australia: Langer, Hayden, Ponting (captain), Martyn, Clarke, Katich, Gilchrist (wicketkeeper), Warne, Lee, Gillespie, McGrath.
Umpires: B F Bowden (New Zealand), S A Bucknor (West Indies).
Day One
It was a crucial toss to win, with a hard flat pitch that looked beautiful to bat on. England won the toss and elected to bat.
Australia opened the bowling furiously, McGrath and Lee tormenting the England openers. Trescothick was dropped by Gilchrist on 13, then Strauss had his off stump removed by a beautful slower ball from Lee.
This brought captain Michael Vaughan to the crease. Although the quality of his captaincy had never been questioned, his total of only 32 runs from the first four innings was the subject of much howling from the press. He soon settled and, when he hit Gillespie for two successive fours, the signs were there that the Vaughan of old was back. On 41, he was first dropped by Gilchrist and then bowled off a McGrath no-ball, but aside from this his innings was a masterclass. He put on 137 with Trescothick for the second wicket17, and when Warne dismissed Trescothick (63) for his 600th Test wicket (Warne became the first bowler ever to pass this mark) simply carried on with rookie Bell. Bell worked hard and concentrated intensely, and proved the perfect foil to Vaughan's elegance at the other end. After passing 100, Vaughan looked to dominate. A four over spell from Gillespie was dispatched for 42 runs, 41 of them coming from Vaughan. He took just 38 balls to bring up the next fifty, survived another catching chance and run out opportunity, before finally holing out off Katich's part-time bowling on 166. It was an irony that such a graceful innings should be curtailed my a mis-timed slog to mid-on.
This brought about a mini-revival from Australia, who had looked rather clueless in the face of Vaughan's dominating innings. A surprisingly nervous-looking Pietersen was caught for 21, and nightwatchman Hoggard fell for a duck on the final ball of the day - both off Lee's bowling. Although they had gone from 290-2 to 341-5, England looked to be in a commanding position, with Bell still there on 59 not out.
Day Two
Australia needed quick wickets, as with Flintoff at the crease with Bell, the total could easily have got out of hand. They struck quickly, with Bell gloving a short ball from Le through to Gilchrist. But then, again, it was all England with Geriant Jones adding 87 with Flintoff, before Flintoff blasted a Warne delivery into the hands of Langer at long-on for 46. Englands tail collapsed, going from 433-6 to 441 all out.
As good as England's batting had been, Australia had to look to their bowlers for some criticism. Though Warne and Lee took four wickets each, there was little support from Gillespie or McGrath, who took one wicket for exactly 200 runs between them. It was down to their batsmen to dig them out.
England almost got off to a flyer, Hoggard just failing to make a sharp caught-and-bowled chance with Hayden on 14, but Australia dug in and began to play some flowing shots. With Australia on 58 without loss, Vaughan turned to Ashley Giles. Justin Langer survived a loud shout for caught behind on the first ball of the over, and on the second Ian Bell at silly point took an incredible reflex catch to dismiss him. Ponting carried on his good work, though, and australia went in to tea looking good on 78-1.
Then the deluge. First Simon Jones had Ponting caught by Bell in the gully, then 15 minutes later Giles had Hayden lbw. 82-3. Katich and Martyn put on 33 more before Flintoff sent Katich's off stump flying, then Giles found terrific spin to do the same to Martyn. At 129-5, Australia were on the ropes.
Michael Clarke had suffered a back tinge in the field on the first morning, and had not been seen or played a part since the second over of the match. He was summoned from his bedrest, and at 4.55pm limped into Old Trafford ready to bat. He would surely be needed now.
Gilchrist was now the key man18, and survived two catching opportunities off Flintoff in the same over. For a while, he put on a good partnership with an effervescent Warne as Australia looked to rebuild their innings, but a change of bowlers (Vaughan bringing on Jones for Harmison) worked for England, as it had so many times during the series. Jones' first ball ended up in the hands of wicketkeeper Jones via Gilchrists bat, and that was that. Finally, poor Michael Clarke, injured a obviously in pain trying to get away from some short deliveries, looped a slower ball from Jones straight to Flintoff. Although Warne finished the day on 45 not out, presumably with more fireworks to come in the morning, Australia looked shattered at 210-7 at stumps. They needed 35 more runs before, potentially, being asked to follow on. It was a full 17 years since they had been in that position.
