The Ashes 2005

Tournament Overview

Series Overview

The 2005 Ashes is widely regarded as the greatest Test series ever played. England, under Michael Vaughan, had been building towards this moment for two years — assembling a pace attack of Harmison, Hoggard, Flintoff, and Jones to challenge Australia's batting, and creating a batting order that could score runs at pace. Australia arrived as overwhelming favourites, having won eight consecutive Ashes series. They won the first Test at Lord's by 239 runs, and the series appeared to be heading the familiar way. Then came Edgbaston. Australia, chasing 282 in their second innings, were reduced to needing just 3 wickets with 2 runs still required when Steve Harmison ended the match by dismissing Michael Kasprowicz. England won by 2 runs in what remains the most dramatic conclusion in Ashes history. England then won the fourth Test at Trent Bridge — Flintoff scoring a vital century in the first innings and taking 4 wickets in Australia's second innings. As the series went to The Oval with England leading 2-1, Kevin Pietersen's magnificent century helped England bat out the final day to draw and win the series. Shane Warne was extraordinary throughout — his 40 wickets almost single-handedly kept Australia in the series — and Ricky Ponting led his side with distinction. But the English crowd, the English summer, and the English spirit of Flintoff — who became the face of that series with his bowling, batting, and his famous consoling of a defeated Brett Lee after Edgbaston — made this England's finest hour in cricket since 1981. The morning after the series ended, England were given an open-top bus parade through London.

Key Highlights

• 1England won 2-1 to regain the Ashes for the first time since 1986-87 — ending 16 years of Australian dominance
• 2The Edgbaston Test is widely considered the greatest ever — England won by just 2 runs after Australia needed only 3 wickets
• 3Andrew Flintoff won the inaugural Compton-Miller Medal as Player of the Series
• 4Shane Warne took 40 wickets in the series — one of the great individual bowling performances in Ashes history
• 5The Old Trafford Test was a draw so famous that it featured on front pages of national newspapers

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