The story of the greatest Ashes series of all time - England vs Australia 2005
This is the story of the greatest
Ashes series of all time - the
2005 Ashes in
England which were eventually won by England 2-1, the first time since
1987 that England had won the
Ashes.
In March,
Australia's captain,
Ricky Ponting, said that this Ashes series would be the closest since Australia's dominance began in
1989. Since 1989, when
Australia started their winning Ashes streak, England had only come within one match of the title once, in
1997: Australia were the pre-eminent side in the world, whilst England had dropped from being the top-rated in
1981 to sixth for much of the Nineties. They reached a low
point in
1999 with a series loss to
New Zealand leaving them bottom of the unofficial
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack rankings. However, since the previous series in 2002--03, England had improved on their fifth place in the official rankings, and were second before this series. Australia were still top-ranked, but England had won 14 and drawn three of their 18 previous
Test matches since
March 2004, and had won six successive series. Nonetheless, before the
First Test some
Australians, including fast bowler
Glenn McGrath, were suggesting that a 5--0 win in the series for Australia was a serious possibility.
The BBC reported on the day after the series that it was "hailed as
the most thrilling series ever". Individual matches were very closely fought, with one match decided by a two-run margin, one match drawn with only one wicket remaining, and one match won by three wickets. The outcome of the contest was not decided until the very last day of the series.
Australia won the first
Test comfortably, but the
Second Test saw England level the series with a two-run victory, the narrowest win in Ashes history. The third Test ended in a draw (with England one wicket away from a win), and England won the fourth Test in
Nottingham (Trent Bridge) by three wickets, losing seven men in a chase of 129, after England enforced the follow on after gaining a lead of 259 on first innings.
The fifth and final Test started on
8 September at the
Oval in
London. It entered its final day with England batting in their second innings, 40 runs ahead with nine wickets in hand. Australia needed a win to force a 2--2 series draw and retain the Ashes; any other result would give the Ashes to England and end 16 years and eight series of
Australian dominance. After a day of fluctuating fortunes, England established a lead of 341 after
Kevin Pietersen's maiden century, and Australia batted for one over before the teams went off for bad light, the stumps were pulled out of the ground, and the match was declared a draw to ensure the return of the Ashes to England.