2009 Ashes series
Encyclopedia
The 2009 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied cricket
rivalry between England and Australia, and was part of the Australian cricket tour of England in 2009
. Starting on 8 July 2009, England and Australia played five Tests
, with England winning the series 2–1. England thus reclaimed The Ashes
from Australia, who had won the previous series in 2006–07.
The first Test was held at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff
, the first Test match ever to be held at the ground, and resulted in England saving a draw with one wicket to spare, and Ricky Ponting
surpassing 11,000 Test runs, becoming Australia's leading Test run scorer as the series progressed. The second Test at Lord's
was preceded by the announcement that Andrew Flintoff
would be retiring from Test cricket at the end of the series. The England all-rounder then took his first Lord's five-for to seal a 115-run victory, England's first against Australia at the ground in 75 years. Rain prevented play for large amounts of the Third Test at Edgbaston
, including the entire third day, making the draw an inevitable result. Australia pegged the score back to 1–1 with an innings victory at Headingley
after bowling out England for 102, their lowest Ashes total since they were bowled out for 77 at Lord's in 1997. This left the Fifth Test at The Oval
to decide the series.
Australia began the match needing only a draw to retain the Ashes, but an inspired bowling performance from Stuart Broad
to remove Australia for just 160 runs, and a maiden Test century for Jonathan Trott
in England's second innings left Australia chasing 546 with two days left to play. An innings of 121 from Michael Hussey
gave the Australians hope, but he gradually ran out of partners before losing his own wicket to give England a 197-run win in the match and a 2–1 series victory.
The 2009 Ashes series began with Australia leading by 31 series to 27, with five drawn series. Australia had won the most recent series in 2006–07 by five matches to nil, but the 2005 series
, the last to be held in England, was won 2–1 by the home side.
Australia's last two Test series before the Ashes were played against South Africa, the first in Australia
and the second in South Africa
. Although South Africa won their tour series 2–1, Australia recovered to win the return series by the same scoreline.
Meanwhile, England warmed up for the 2009 Ashes with two Test series against the West Indies, the first in the West Indies
and the second in England
. The first series comprised five matches and was won 1–0 by the West Indies, but the second only included two Tests, England winning both.
The immediate preparation for the Ashes consisted of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20
, held in England in June 2009. Australia struggled in their group, losing to the West Indies and Sri Lanka by seven and six wickets, respectively, and were eliminated at the first hurdle. England also suffered a shock four-wicket defeat to the Netherlands in their first match, but they recovered by defeating Pakistan by 48 runs to qualify for the Super Eights. There, they were paired with South Africa, India and the West Indies, but defeat to South Africa and a narrow victory over India meant that they needed a victory against the West Indies to reach the semi-finals. They lost the match via the Duckworth–Lewis method, and were eliminated.
Australia completed their Ashes preparations with tour matches against Sussex
and the England Lions, but both matches finished as draws. Meanwhile, England's schedule was completed with a draw against Warwickshire
.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
rivalry between England and Australia, and was part of the Australian cricket tour of England in 2009
Australian cricket team in England in 2009
The Australia national cricket team toured Great Britain to play a series of cricket matches during the 2009 English cricket season. The team played five Test matches – one in Wales – seven one-day internationals and two Twenty20 internationals against England. The Australians also...
. Starting on 8 July 2009, England and Australia played five Tests
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
, with England winning the series 2–1. England thus reclaimed The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
from Australia, who had won the previous series in 2006–07.
The first Test was held at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, the first Test match ever to be held at the ground, and resulted in England saving a draw with one wicket to spare, and Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
surpassing 11,000 Test runs, becoming Australia's leading Test run scorer as the series progressed. The second Test at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
was preceded by the announcement that Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
would be retiring from Test cricket at the end of the series. The England all-rounder then took his first Lord's five-for to seal a 115-run victory, England's first against Australia at the ground in 75 years. Rain prevented play for large amounts of the Third Test at Edgbaston
Edgbaston Cricket Ground
Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...
, including the entire third day, making the draw an inevitable result. Australia pegged the score back to 1–1 with an innings victory at Headingley
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
after bowling out England for 102, their lowest Ashes total since they were bowled out for 77 at Lord's in 1997. This left the Fifth Test at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
to decide the series.
Australia began the match needing only a draw to retain the Ashes, but an inspired bowling performance from Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad
Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team...
to remove Australia for just 160 runs, and a maiden Test century for Jonathan Trott
Jonathan Trott
Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott is a South African-born England Test cricketer. Domestically, he plays for Warwickshire and he has also played in South Africa and New Zealand...
in England's second innings left Australia chasing 546 with two days left to play. An innings of 121 from Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey
Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective...
gave the Australians hope, but he gradually ran out of partners before losing his own wicket to give England a 197-run win in the match and a 2–1 series victory.
Background
2005 Ashes series
The 2005 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Starting on 21 July 2005, England and Australia played five Tests, with the Ashes held by Australia as the most recent victors...
, the last to be held in England, was won 2–1 by the home side.
Australia's last two Test series before the Ashes were played against South Africa, the first in Australia
South African cricket team in Australia in 2008–09
The South Africa cricket team toured Australia between 6 December 2008 and 30 January 2009, playing three Test matches, two Twenty20 Internationals and five One Day Internationals against Australia....
and the second in South Africa
Australian cricket team in South Africa in 2008–09
The Australia cricket team toured South Africa from 20 February to 17 April 2009, playing three Test matches, two Twenty20 Internationals and five One Day Internationals against South Africa.-Squads:...
. Although South Africa won their tour series 2–1, Australia recovered to win the return series by the same scoreline.
Meanwhile, England warmed up for the 2009 Ashes with two Test series against the West Indies, the first in the West Indies
English cricket team in West Indies in 2008–09
The English cricket team toured the West Indies from 25 January 2009 until 3 April 2009. Initially, it was intended that they play four Test matches, one Twenty20 International and five One Day Internationals against the West Indies cricket team...
and the second in England
West Indian cricket team in England in 2009
Day 1: Ravi Bopara made his second century , and England closed the day with 289/7. Fidel Edwards took 4 wickets for 53 runs.Day 2: England closed the first innings with 377 runs. West Indies only scored 152 runs in their innings, and Strauss enforced the follow on. West Indies closed the day with...
. The first series comprised five matches and was won 1–0 by the West Indies, but the second only included two Tests, England winning both.
The immediate preparation for the Ashes consisted of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20
2009 ICC World Twenty20
The 2009 ICC World Twenty20 was an international Twenty20 cricket tournament which took place in England in June 2009. It was the second ICC World Twenty20 tournament, following the inaugural event in South Africa in September 2007...
, held in England in June 2009. Australia struggled in their group, losing to the West Indies and Sri Lanka by seven and six wickets, respectively, and were eliminated at the first hurdle. England also suffered a shock four-wicket defeat to the Netherlands in their first match, but they recovered by defeating Pakistan by 48 runs to qualify for the Super Eights. There, they were paired with South Africa, India and the West Indies, but defeat to South Africa and a narrow victory over India meant that they needed a victory against the West Indies to reach the semi-finals. They lost the match via the Duckworth–Lewis method, and were eliminated.
Australia completed their Ashes preparations with tour matches against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
and the England Lions, but both matches finished as draws. Meanwhile, England's schedule was completed with a draw against Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
.
Squads
| Ricky Ponting Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very... (c Captain (cricket) The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player... ) |
Andrew Strauss Andrew Strauss Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots... (c Captain (cricket) The captain of a cricket team often referred to as the skipper is the appointed leader, having several additional roles and responsibilities over and above those of a regular player... ) |
| Michael Clarke Michael Clarke (cricketer) Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler... |
James Anderson James Anderson (cricketer) James Michael "Jimmy" Anderson is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club and since bursting onto the scene in 2002/03, before his first full season of county cricket, Anderson has represented England in over 50 Test matches and over 100 One Day... |
| Stuart Clark Stuart Clark Stuart Rupert Clark is an Australian International cricketer who plays domestic cricket for the New South Wales Blues. He plays as a right-arm fast-medium bowler... |
Ian Bell |
| Brad Haddin (wk Wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike... ) |
Ravi Bopara |
| Nathan Hauritz Nathan Hauritz Nathan Michael Hauritz is an Australian cricketer who has represented Australia in Tests, One-dayers and Twenty20 Internationals. He is mainly noted for his off spin bowling.... |
Stuart Broad Stuart Broad Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team... |
| Ben Hilfenhaus Ben Hilfenhaus Benjamin William Hilfenhaus is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket. Hilfenhaus plays club cricket for Tasmania University Cricket Club. Prior to turning fully professional, he worked as a bricklayer as well as playing cricket... |
Paul Collingwood Paul Collingwood Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting... |
| Phillip Hughes | Alastair Cook Alastair Cook Alastair Nathan Cook, MBE is an English international cricket player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket for Essex and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003... |
| Michael Hussey Michael Hussey Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective... |
Andrew Flintoff Andrew Flintoff Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top... |
| Mitchell Johnson Mitchell Johnson (cricketer) Mitchell Guy Johnson is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He was awarded the International Cricket Council's 2009 "Cricketer of the Year" award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.-Career:... |
Steve Harmison Steve Harmison Stephen James Harmison MBE is an English cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODI's, and 2 T20's. He also plays county cricket for Durham.... a |
| Simon Katich Simon Katich Simon Matthew Katich is an Australian cricketer. He is the captain of the New South Wales Blues, and also captained, up until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club... |
Graham Onions Graham Onions Graham Onions is an English cricketer. He plays for Durham and England as a right arm fast-medium bowler and a right-hand tail-end batsman. After a successful start to the 2009 cricket season, Onions was selected to face the West Indies in Test cricket, and following success in the series, was... |
| Brett Lee Brett Lee Brett Lee is an Australian cricketer.After breaking into the Australian Test team, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in world cricket... |
Monty Panesar Monty Panesar Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, known as Monty Panesar , is an English cricketer who currently plays for Sussex. A left-arm spinner, Panesar played Test and one-day cricket for England until 2009. In English county cricket he played for Northamptonshire until 2009... b |
| Graham Manou Graham Manou Graham Allan Manou is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Southern Redbacks in Australian domestic cricket. He is a wicket-keeper and aggressive right-handed batsman who has taken more dismissals than any other South Australian player in One Day domestic cricket.Manou was a successful junior... (wk Wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike... ) |
Kevin Pietersen Kevin Pietersen Kevin Peter Pietersen, MBE is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey... c |
| Andrew McDonald Andrew McDonald (cricketer) Andrew Barry McDonald is an Australian Test cricketer who plays for the Victorian Bushrangers, and who made his Test debut in Sydney on 3 January 2009, against South Africa. McDonald also represented Australia at under 19 level and has played for the Prime Minister's XI... |
Matt Prior (wk Wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike... ) |
| Marcus North Marcus North Marcus James North is an Australian cricketer, who scored centuries on both his Test and Ashes debuts. He has also played for the Australian Cricket Academy, Western Australia, Australia A, Durham, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Hampshire.He is a left-handed batsman and right arm... |
Ryan Sidebottom Ryan Sidebottom Ryan Jay Sidebottom is an English cricketer who plays domestic cricket for Yorkshire. He is a primarily a left-arm fast-medium bowler. Sidebottom played his first Test match in 2001 against Pakistan, but failed to take a wicket and was dropped for six years... d |
| Peter Siddle Peter Siddle Peter Matthew Siddle is an Australian Test cricketer. He is a specialist right-arm fast-medium bowler who plays for Victoria and the Australia national cricket team.-Early life and career:... |
Graeme Swann Graeme Swann Graeme Peter Swann is an English international cricketer. He is primarily a right-arm offspinner, and also bats right-handed. After initially playing for his home county Northamptonshire, for whom he made his debut in 1997, he moved to Nottinghamshire in 2005. He often fields at slip... |
| Shane Watson Shane Watson Shane Robert Watson is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically.... |
Jonathan Trott Jonathan Trott Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott is a South African-born England Test cricketer. Domestically, he plays for Warwickshire and he has also played in South Africa and New Zealand... e |
Notes
- Note A: Steve HarmisonSteve HarmisonStephen James Harmison MBE is an English cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODI's, and 2 T20's. He also plays county cricket for Durham....
was called up as cover for the Second Test after an injury concern regarding Andrew FlintoffAndrew FlintoffAndrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
. - Note B: Monty PanesarMonty PanesarMudhsuden Singh Panesar, known as Monty Panesar , is an English cricketer who currently plays for Sussex. A left-arm spinner, Panesar played Test and one-day cricket for England until 2009. In English county cricket he played for Northamptonshire until 2009...
was dropped for the Fourth Test and allowed to return to his county, before being recalled for the Fifth Test. - Note C: Kevin PietersenKevin PietersenKevin Peter Pietersen, MBE is a South African-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional off spin bowler who plays for England and Surrey...
was dropped from the England squad after the Second Test after undergoing surgery on an injury to his Achilles tendonAchilles tendonThe Achilles tendon , also known as the calcaneal tendon or the tendo calcaneus, is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone.- Anatomy :The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 3 muscles in the lower leg:...
. - Note D: Ryan SidebottomRyan SidebottomRyan Jay Sidebottom is an English cricketer who plays domestic cricket for Yorkshire. He is a primarily a left-arm fast-medium bowler. Sidebottom played his first Test match in 2001 against Pakistan, but failed to take a wicket and was dropped for six years...
was called up for the Fourth Test squad, taking Monty Panesar's place in the England bowling attack. - Note E: Jonathan TrottJonathan TrottIan Jonathan Leonard Trott is a South African-born England Test cricketer. Domestically, he plays for Warwickshire and he has also played in South Africa and New Zealand...
was called up as batting cover for the injured Andrew Flintoff for the Fourth Test.
First Test
England won the toss and captain Andrew Strauss chose to bat. England slumped to 90/3 early but recovered with a fine partnership of 138 runs between Pietersen and Collingwood. Hauritz dismissed Pietersen for the crucial fifth wicket when he offered a simple catch to short leg, attempting to sweep from outside the off stump. England ended the day at 336/7 after Siddle picked up two crucial wickets in the last four overs of play.Swann's unbeaten 47 off 40 balls took England to 435. Australia's openers started brightly facing eight overs before lunch. Flintoff, the fastest bowler in the match, captured the only wicket when Hughes's bottom-edge was well caught by Prior. Katich and Ponting steadily took control with sensible batting. Ponting reached a major milestone in his career scoring his 11,000th run and joining Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket. He is the only male player to score a double century in the history of ODI cricket...
, Brian Lara
Brian Lara
Brian Charles Lara, TC, OCC, AM is a former West Indian international cricket player. Lara is generally regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time...
and Allan Border
Allan Border
Allan Robert Border AO is a former Australian cricketer. A batsman, Border was for many years the captain of the Australian team. His playing nickname was "A.B.". He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh...
. By the end of the day both batsmen had scored centuries, Katich's first against England and their unbeaten partnership of 189 runs had Australia at 249/1 at stumps.
Katich and Ponting added 50 runs to the overnight total before their partnership was broken by Anderson who had been given the new ball earlier. Anderson collected his second wicket of the day (Hussey) when Prior took an easy catch. Ponting was soon to follow crashing his stumps as he attempted a cut shot of Panesar. After lunch, Australia consolidated their position without losing a wicket and passing England's total and at tea were 458/4. Play was delayed unexpectedly for two hours due to rain and when play resumed it was under lights – the first time artificial light was used in a Test Match in Britain. At stumps Australia were in a strong position with 5 wickets in hand and a lead of 44 runs.
Resuming in fairly muggy, heavy clouded conditions North and Haddin punished the English attack. North reached his deserved century scoring centuries on both his Test and Ashes debuts. At lunch Australia had reached 577/5. After lunch, Haddin became the destroyer-in-chief, flicking three successive Anderson deliveries to the boundary and closed in on his second Test ton with booming sixes off the ineffective English attack. When Haddin was finally dismissed, Ponting declared the Australian innings at 674/6, the largest total against England since 1934 and fourth highest in The Ashes series. In the short time before tea England failed miserably to hold on, losing Cook and Bopara. The rain started as tea was taken and play ended for the day with England 219 runs behind and in dire straits to save the match.
Resuming on 20/2, England lost three wickets in the first 90 minutes of play and reached lunch on 102/5. Paul Collingwood
Paul Collingwood
Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...
lasted 245 balls and batted for five hours and 43 minutes before being caught at gully by Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey
Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective...
. The last man partnership of James Anderson
James Anderson (cricketer)
James Michael "Jimmy" Anderson is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club and since bursting onto the scene in 2002/03, before his first full season of county cricket, Anderson has represented England in over 50 Test matches and over 100 One Day...
and Monty Panesar
Monty Panesar
Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, known as Monty Panesar , is an English cricketer who currently plays for Sussex. A left-arm spinner, Panesar played Test and one-day cricket for England until 2009. In English county cricket he played for Northamptonshire until 2009...
managed to bat England into a lead. With every dot ball cheered, England managed to bat until 18:40 to secure a draw. Australia captain Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
later accused the England team of time-wasting
Gamesmanship
Gamesmanship is the use of dubious methods to win a game. It has been described as "Pushing the rules to the limit without getting caught, using whatever dubious methods possible to achieve the desired end"...
by allowing their 12th man, Bilal Shafayat
Bilal Shafayat
Bilal Mustapha Shafayat is an English cricketer. He is a middle-order batsman, fast bowler and wicket-keeper. Shafayat was a former captain of the England under-19 side....
, and physiotherapist, Steve McCaig, to twice run onto the pitch.
Second Test
England started the day with the news that former captain and talisman Andrew FlintoffAndrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
was going to retire from Test cricket after the Ashes, Monty Panesar
Monty Panesar
Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, known as Monty Panesar , is an English cricketer who currently plays for Sussex. A left-arm spinner, Panesar played Test and one-day cricket for England until 2009. In English county cricket he played for Northamptonshire until 2009...
had been dropped in favour of Graham Onions
Graham Onions
Graham Onions is an English cricketer. He plays for Durham and England as a right arm fast-medium bowler and a right-hand tail-end batsman. After a successful start to the 2009 cricket season, Onions was selected to face the West Indies in Test cricket, and following success in the series, was...
and Steve Harmison
Steve Harmison
Stephen James Harmison MBE is an English cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODI's, and 2 T20's. He also plays county cricket for Durham....
had been left out of the squad. England started exceptionally well with Strauss and Cook opening and going in for lunch 126/0. There was bad news for the Australians after the break when bowler Nathan Hauritz
Nathan Hauritz
Nathan Michael Hauritz is an Australian cricketer who has represented Australia in Tests, One-dayers and Twenty20 Internationals. He is mainly noted for his off spin bowling....
was hit back by Strauss and in trying to catch it, dislocated his finger. England's pre-lunch form continued into the afternoon with Australia's bowling going downhill when at 196/0 Cook was dismissed LBW by Johnson just short of his century on 95. England soon lost Bopara for 18 and with England on 222/2 they started to collapse. After Cook, England lost their next four middle order batsmen for just 74 with Australia's bowlers looking far better than they had done earlier in the day. Strauss continued past 150 to reach 161 with Broad on 7 going into day 2 and England on a possible shaky 364/6.
England started the way they had finished on day 1 – with fast wickets for few runs. Strauss was eventually bowled out on his second ball of the day for his previous day's total of 161. After that, two quick wickets meant that England were on 378 with only one wicket left. Onions and Anderson started slowly but gathered confidence with a partnership of 47 until Anderson was caught by Hussey ending England's innings on 425 all-out. The Australians had just under an hour before lunch and James Anderson claimed two wickets with the crucial wicket of Ricky Ponting. A 93 run partnership seemed to have the Australians back in the game but 6 wickets for 53 runs put England into a very strong position going into day 3 with Hauritz and Siddle on 3* each.
Having bowled Australia out for 215, England decided not to enforce the follow on. In England's 2nd Innings, openers Strauss and Cook started brightly as they looked to score quick runs to increase their lead in the match. After reaching 32 in 42 balls, Cook was trapped LBW by spinner Nathan Hauritz while England were on 61. Strauss fared little better against Hauritz and was out against him shortly afterwards by a catch from Michael Clarke. These two wickets brought Bopara and Pietersen to the crease and also signalled a slowing of the run rate. This partnership lasted 28 overs when Hauritz, showing few ill-effects from his dislocated middle finger on Day 1, got another England wicket. Simon Katich caught Bopara for 27 from 93 balls. When Pietersen fell 7 overs later, caught behind to Siddle, the score 174 for 4. It was left to Collingwood and wicketkeeper Prior to accelerate the run-rate for England. Matt Prior in particular enjoyed success hitting a quick-fire 61 off 42 balls (an innings which included 9 boundaries) until he was dismissed run out by a quick piece of fielding from Marcus North. Upon Prior's dismissal came Andrew Flintoff, playing in his last test for England at Lord's. Flintoff with Collingwood made a fifty partnership in 8 overs with Collingwood reaching his half-century. When Collingwood was dismissed caught behind off Siddle, Stuart Broad came on as next batsman but failed to face a ball as the umpires stopped play due to rain. Almost immediately afterwards, heavy showers meant that play was abandoned for the day with England 311 for 6, a lead over Australia of 521.
Play was delayed due to early showers until 11:15. Andrew Strauss immediately declared England's second innings closed on 311 for 6, leaving Australia a target of 522 to win in two days of play. England started strongly, reducing Australia to 128/5, but a counter-attack by Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
and Brad Haddin brought Australia back into the game, reaching 313/5 at the close of play, with an outside chance of reaching the target of 522. The highest total ever to have been reached by a test side in the fourth innings to win was 418 (West Indies vs Australia, 2002–03
Australian cricket team in West Indies in 2002-03
The Australian cricket team toured the West Indies from April to June in 2003 to play for the Frank Worrell Trophy.It was Steve Waugh's last tour overseas and Australia were without Shane Warne who was on a drugs ban and missing Glenn McGrath for 2 of the Tests through injury.-Squads:* ODI's...
at St John's
Antigua Recreation Ground
Antigua Recreation Ground is the national stadium of Antigua and Barbuda. It is located in St. John's, on the island of Antigua. The ground has been used by the West Indies cricket team and Antigua and Barbuda national football team...
).
Requiring another 209 runs to win, Australia hopes were high with Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
on 136 and Brad Haddin on 80. England broke the partnership early when Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
made Haddin edge one to Paul Collingwood
Paul Collingwood
Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...
. Graeme Swann
Graeme Swann
Graeme Peter Swann is an English international cricketer. He is primarily a right-arm offspinner, and also bats right-handed. After initially playing for his home county Northamptonshire, for whom he made his debut in 1997, he moved to Nottinghamshire in 2005. He often fields at slip...
then bowled Clarke with his first ball of the day, and Flintoff then bowled both Nathan Hauritz
Nathan Hauritz
Nathan Michael Hauritz is an Australian cricketer who has represented Australia in Tests, One-dayers and Twenty20 Internationals. He is mainly noted for his off spin bowling....
and Peter Siddle
Peter Siddle
Peter Matthew Siddle is an Australian Test cricketer. He is a specialist right-arm fast-medium bowler who plays for Victoria and the Australia national cricket team.-Early life and career:...
to claim his first five-wicket-haul at Lord's, on his final appearance as a Test player at the ground. With only one wicket left, Mitchell Johnson
Mitchell Johnson (cricketer)
Mitchell Guy Johnson is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He was awarded the International Cricket Council's 2009 "Cricketer of the Year" award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.-Career:...
aggressively powered to 63 before he was clean-bowled by Swann to wrap up England's first Ashes Test victory at Lord's since 1934 at 12:42.
Third Test
Play began at 17:00 after a long rain delay. At the start of the day, Australian opener Phillip Hughes announced via his TwitterTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
page that he had been dropped from the side. His replacement, all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
Shane Watson
Shane Watson
Shane Robert Watson is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically....
, put on 85 runs for the first wicket with Simon Katich
Simon Katich
Simon Matthew Katich is an Australian cricketer. He is the captain of the New South Wales Blues, and also captained, up until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
before Katich was trapped LBW in Graeme Swann
Graeme Swann
Graeme Peter Swann is an English international cricketer. He is primarily a right-arm offspinner, and also bats right-handed. After initially playing for his home county Northamptonshire, for whom he made his debut in 1997, he moved to Nottinghamshire in 2005. He often fields at slip...
's first over. Over the course of the day's 30 overs, Watson accrued 62 runs not out as Australia finished the day at 126/1.
England started the day in fine form as Graham Onions
Graham Onions
Graham Onions is an English cricketer. He plays for Durham and England as a right arm fast-medium bowler and a right-hand tail-end batsman. After a successful start to the 2009 cricket season, Onions was selected to face the West Indies in Test cricket, and following success in the series, was...
removed Shane Watson and Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey
Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective...
with the first two balls of the day, before taking the wicket of Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
soon after as the Australian captain tried to hook a quick bouncer. The Australians only added another 30 runs before James Anderson
James Anderson (cricketer)
James Michael "Jimmy" Anderson is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club and since bursting onto the scene in 2002/03, before his first full season of county cricket, Anderson has represented England in over 50 Test matches and over 100 One Day...
took the next wicket, sparking a sequence of four Anderson wickets in four overs for just 10 runs. Anderson and Onions shared the last two wickets between them as Nathan Hauritz
Nathan Hauritz
Nathan Michael Hauritz is an Australian cricketer who has represented Australia in Tests, One-dayers and Twenty20 Internationals. He is mainly noted for his off spin bowling....
and Ben Hilfenhaus
Ben Hilfenhaus
Benjamin William Hilfenhaus is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket. Hilfenhaus plays club cricket for Tasmania University Cricket Club. Prior to turning fully professional, he worked as a bricklayer as well as playing cricket...
put on 34 for the tenth wicket. England opened their innings with the momentum in their favour, but they had to face the same batting conditions as the Australians had, and Alastair Cook
Alastair Cook
Alastair Nathan Cook, MBE is an English international cricket player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket for Essex and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003...
was removed for a duck in the second over. Ravi Bopara was the next to fall as he continued his poor run of form and put on just 23 runs. However, Andrew Strauss
Andrew Strauss
Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots...
and Ian Bell batted until the end of the day to take England into the third day at 116/2.
Heavy overnight rain left the pitch unplayable on Day 3. The umpires examined the pitch at 12:00 and 14:30, by which time large puddles had formed, forcing play to be abandoned for the day.
The fourth day began in the same fashion as the first three had: with a one-hour delay for rain. Play eventually got underway at 12:00, but the partnership only lasted another eight overs, as Strauss was caught behind by Graham Manou
Graham Manou
Graham Allan Manou is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Southern Redbacks in Australian domestic cricket. He is a wicket-keeper and aggressive right-handed batsman who has taken more dismissals than any other South Australian player in One Day domestic cricket.Manou was a successful junior...
off Hilfenhaus. Collingwood was next to fall to Hilfenhaus, caught by Ponting at second slip with the last ball before lunch. Bell reached his half-century just after lunch, but was trapped LBW by Johnson
Mitchell Johnson (cricketer)
Mitchell Guy Johnson is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He was awarded the International Cricket Council's 2009 "Cricketer of the Year" award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.-Career:...
five overs later. Matt Prior and Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
then developed a strong partnership, putting on 89 runs for the sixth wicket. Flintoff and Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad
Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team...
then combined for another 52 runs before Flintoff was caught out by a Nathan Hauritz ball that spat out of the rough and caught him on the glove. The last three wickets went for 66 runs, with Broad top-scoring with 55 to take England to 376 all out, 113 runs ahead of the Aussies. The Australian innings began well, with the openers putting on 47 runs before two quick wickets fell to Onions and Swann in consecutive overs: Katich edged Onions to Prior, and then Swann tormented Ponting before clean-bowling him with the last ball of his over. The day ended with Australia on 88/2.
The final day of the Third Test was the only day on which play began on schedule. Victory was a definite possibility for both sides, but England's 25-run lead gave them a slight advantage despite the time constraints. Australia drew level with England in the 10th over of the day, with both batsmen heading towards half-centuries. Watson was the first to reach 50, but was out off his next ball, edging the last ball of Anderson's first over of the day to Prior. Hussey was next to reach 50; however, he only put on 14 more before himself edging to Prior off Broad, in only Broad's second over of the innings. Australia's fifth-wicket partnership proved largely impenetrable for the remainder of the day, as Clarke and North pushed towards centuries and Australia towards a 200-run lead in the evening session. North looked the most likely to reach his century first, but – when still on 96 – he mistimed a drive that Anderson caught spectacularly at gully. Clarke then took another eight overs to reach his century with a four off Bopara, at which the two captains agreed to end the match as a draw.
Fourth Test
England won the toss and decided to bat first. However, within four overs they were already a wicket down as Andrew StraussAndrew Strauss
Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots...
was caught for just three runs. He was then followed by Ravi Bopara (1), Ian Bell (8) and Paul Collingwood
Paul Collingwood
Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...
(0) before the end of the 19th over. Alastair Cook
Alastair Cook
Alastair Nathan Cook, MBE is an English international cricket player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket for Essex and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003...
had managed to stay in throughout all this, but he was soon caught on 30 runs by Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
off Stuart Clark
Stuart Clark
Stuart Rupert Clark is an Australian International cricketer who plays domestic cricket for the New South Wales Blues. He plays as a right-arm fast-medium bowler...
. After Cook's wicket, only Matt Prior offered any resistance, finishing the innings on 37 not out
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
, while the five bowlers scored just six runs between them, three of them getting ducks
Duck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
. Although England responded well by getting Simon Katich
Simon Katich
Simon Matthew Katich is an Australian cricketer. He is the captain of the New South Wales Blues, and also captained, up until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
out for a duck off series debutant Steve Harmison
Steve Harmison
Stephen James Harmison MBE is an English cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODI's, and 2 T20's. He also plays county cricket for Durham....
, the Australian innings began to gather pace and they were 69/1 off 15 overs by tea. The Australian second wicket partnership reached its century, but then three wickets came in relatively quick succession as Shane Watson
Shane Watson
Shane Robert Watson is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically....
fell for 51, Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
for 78 and Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey
Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective...
for just 10 in the space of three overs. Australia finished the day on 196/4, with Michael Clarke on 34 and Marcus North
Marcus North
Marcus James North is an Australian cricketer, who scored centuries on both his Test and Ashes debuts. He has also played for the Australian Cricket Academy, Western Australia, Australia A, Durham, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Hampshire.He is a left-handed batsman and right arm...
on 7.
Resuming with a 94 run lead Clarke and North extended their partnership to 152 runs before it was broken by Graham Onions
Graham Onions
Graham Onions is an English cricketer. He plays for Durham and England as a right arm fast-medium bowler and a right-hand tail-end batsman. After a successful start to the 2009 cricket season, Onions was selected to face the West Indies in Test cricket, and following success in the series, was...
. After the lunch break, North continued with good support from the Australian tail and reached his century with a six. Clark was the best of the others with three sixes in his score of 32 (22 deliveries), and Australia finished with a total of 445. Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad
Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team...
recorded his best Test effort with figures of six wickets for 91 runs. The English openers started comfortably in the quest to erase the 343 run deficit. But just as it seemed they were in control, Ben Hilfenhaus
Ben Hilfenhaus
Benjamin William Hilfenhaus is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket. Hilfenhaus plays club cricket for Tasmania University Cricket Club. Prior to turning fully professional, he worked as a bricklayer as well as playing cricket...
struck twice in two balls, first removing Strauss with a ball that swung in subtly and then Bopara was dismissed for leg before, despite replays showing a deft inside edge onto his pad. Johnson produced a spell of left arm swing bowling that captured the prime wickets of Bell (3), Collingwood (4) and opener Cook. Nightwatchman Anderson was left with Prior at stumps with England in trouble at 82/5, still 261 runs behind Australia's total.
Hilfenhaus dismissed Anderson with the third ball of the third day, when the batsman nicked a short ball outside off stump and was caught at second slip by Ponting. It came the delivery after Anderson scored a 4. Prior and Broad added a further 34 runs before Hilfenhaus had Prior taken behind by a diving Haddin. Broad and Swann then took the attack to the Australian bowlers, at one point taking 47 off 2.4 overs. Their eighth-wicket partnership of 108 from 79 balls was the second-fastest century stand in Test history, behind Kiwis Nathan Astle
Nathan Astle
Nathan John Astle is a former New Zealand cricketer. He was an attacking batsman who liked to play batting shots such as the cover drive and the pull shot. He also scored the world's fastest Test double century in terms of balls faced. This remarkable innings of 222 was scored in just 168 balls...
and Chris Cairns against England in 2002 (118 from 65 balls). Broad was out with the score at 228/8 attempting to hit a boundary off a wide delivery from Johnson and was caught by Watson in the deep. After lunch, Harmison continued to frustrate the Australian bowlers with 19 from 28 deliveries, until Swann (62) and Onions (0) fell to Johnson, and the innings concluded after 61.3 overs at 263 to give Australia a victory by an innings and 80 runs.
Fifth Test
With a 10-day break between the 4th and 5th Tests, England looked at their squad following their batting performances at Headingley. Many names were thrown up as possible replacements for the failing middle order of Bopara, Bell and Collingwood, including Jonathan TrottJonathan Trott
Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott is a South African-born England Test cricketer. Domestically, he plays for Warwickshire and he has also played in South Africa and New Zealand...
and Robert Key
Robert Key (cricketer)
Robert William Trevor Key is an English cricketer. He is the captain of Kent County Cricket Club, and a former member of the England Test match and One Day International sides....
, as well as Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ramprakash
Mark Ravin Ramprakash is an English cricketer, playing for Surrey and England. A right-handed batsman, he initially made his name playing for Middlesex, and was selected for England aged 21...
, whose last test came in 2002, and Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Trescothick
Marcus Edward Trescothick MBE is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals. A left-handed opening batsman, he made his first-class debut for Somerset in 1993 and quickly established...
, who then ruled himself out of the running. The fitness of Andrew Flintoff was also questioned, as many commentators said that he would have to play if England were to win the Test. Flintoff remained in the squad, the only change being the introduction of Trott for Bopara, with the confirmation that the South African-born batsman would make his Test debut at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
.
England won the toss and captain Andrew Strauss
Andrew Strauss
Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots...
chose to bat on a pitch quite uncharacteristic of what would be considered normal at The Oval. Although they lost Alastair Cook
Alastair Cook
Alastair Nathan Cook, MBE is an English international cricket player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket for Essex and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003...
to an outside edge off Peter Siddle
Peter Siddle
Peter Matthew Siddle is an Australian Test cricketer. He is a specialist right-arm fast-medium bowler who plays for Victoria and the Australia national cricket team.-Early life and career:...
early in the innings, England recovered to reach 108/1 at lunch, with Strauss making his fifty in just 89 balls. However, the captain put on just five more after the break before being caught behind by wicket-keeper Brad Haddin. The next two wickets fell to Siddle in relatively quick succession: Paul Collingwood
Paul Collingwood
Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...
was caught at mid-on by Michael Hussey
Michael Hussey
Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective...
, before Ian Bell – who had reached his half-century off 73 balls – inside-edged onto his own stumps for 72. In came debutant Jonathan Trott, who took 12 balls to open his Test scoring tally, and continued to score slowly as he lost partners in Matt Prior and Andrew Flintoff
Andrew Flintoff
Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...
, who made just seven runs in the first innings of his final Test match to take England to 247/6. Trott himself was next to fall, run out by Simon Katich
Simon Katich
Simon Matthew Katich is an Australian cricketer. He is the captain of the New South Wales Blues, and also captained, up until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
: Trott clipped the ball to the leg side, but Katich made a smart stop and, with just one to aim at, threw the ball at the stumps, catching Trott well out of his ground. The eighth wicket stood for another 39 runs, when Graeme Swann
Graeme Swann
Graeme Peter Swann is an English international cricketer. He is primarily a right-arm offspinner, and also bats right-handed. After initially playing for his home county Northamptonshire, for whom he made his debut in 1997, he moved to Nottinghamshire in 2005. He often fields at slip...
was caught behind off Siddle for the Australian's fourth wicket of the innings, and with that play was closed for the day with England at 307/8.
England added just 25 more runs for their last two wickets at the start of Day 2, Hilfenhaus trapping Anderson
James Anderson (cricketer)
James Michael "Jimmy" Anderson is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club and since bursting onto the scene in 2002/03, before his first full season of county cricket, Anderson has represented England in over 50 Test matches and over 100 One Day...
LBW for 0 in the second over of the day (ending his 54 innings sequence without a duck), before dismissing Broad
Stuart Broad
Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team...
for 37. Shane Watson
Shane Watson
Shane Robert Watson is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically....
and Simon Katich
Simon Katich
Simon Matthew Katich is an Australian cricketer. He is the captain of the New South Wales Blues, and also captained, up until the end of the 2007 season, Derbyshire County Cricket Club...
took Australia to 66/0 before rain forced lunch to be taken three minutes early, with the resumption of play dealyed until almost 14:30. After lunch the Australian openers lasted just two overs before the start of a massive Broad-inspired batting collapse. First to fall was Watson, LBW on 34, then Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
was deceived by a cutter from Broad and played onto his own stumps for just eight runs. Michaels Hussey and Clarke
Michael Clarke (cricketer)
Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler...
were next to go, Hussey LBW for a duck, before Clarke was caught low at short extra cover by Jonathan Trott. After a spell in which Broad took four wickets for just eight runs, Swann returned to the attack and immediately took the wicket of Marcus North
Marcus North
Marcus James North is an Australian cricketer, who scored centuries on both his Test and Ashes debuts. He has also played for the Australian Cricket Academy, Western Australia, Australia A, Durham, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Hampshire.He is a left-handed batsman and right arm...
, although replays subsequently showed that the Australian number 6 got an inside edge to the ball before it struck his pad. Katich reached his half-century in the 37th over of the innings, but was out the very next ball, caught by Alastair Cook at short leg. Broad completed his five-wicket haul in the 39th over, bowling Brad Haddin to give him wicket-to-wicket figures of 5/19 and leave only the Australian bowlers to dismiss. Swann took the next two wickets – albeit that of Stuart Clark
Stuart Clark
Stuart Rupert Clark is an Australian International cricketer who plays domestic cricket for the New South Wales Blues. He plays as a right-arm fast-medium bowler...
was given incorrectly – leaving it to Flintoff to bowl Hilfenhaus and end the Australian innings for 160 runs. The English openers returned to the crease and put on 27 before Cook edged North to first slip for just nine. Mitchell Johnson
Mitchell Johnson (cricketer)
Mitchell Guy Johnson is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He was awarded the International Cricket Council's 2009 "Cricketer of the Year" award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.-Career:...
then combined well with Simon Katich at short leg for the next two wickets, Katich catching Bell low before Johnson thumped a bouncer into Collingwood, looping the ball up for Katich to catch easily, leaving the home side at 39/3. Nevertheless, Strauss and Trott recovered well to take England into the third day at 58/3.
Strauss and Trott built a partnership of 118 before the England captain edged to Michael Clarke at first slip just before the lunch break on day three. With the final ball of the morning session, Prior drove a ball from North to the off side and hit Ricky Ponting at silly point square in the jaw. The Australian captain, looked nonplussed, simply spat out some blood. After lunch, Prior was run out while attempting to sneak a run, despite hitting the ball straight to Katich, who threw down the stumps at the bowler's end. The next man in was Andrew Flintoff, playing in his final Test innings, and he added 22 off 18 before being caught on the long-on boundary. A lofted straight drive from England's most promising all-round prospect, Stuart Broad, brought up the 400 lead, but an attempted slog found his top edge and he was caught by Ponting off North for 29. Meanwhile, Trott progressed towards his maiden Test century, ably supported by Graeme Swann, who reached his half-century in just 44 balls. However, the England spinner was eventually caught behind, top-edging a pull shot off a bouncer from Hilfenhaus. Trott then became the 18th England cricketer to make a century on debut with a four off Hilfenhaus's next over, but he and Anderson only managed to add another 31 before Trott was caught by North at point off Stuart Clark, prompting a declaration from Andrew Strauss. England's score of 373/9 declared meant that in order to win the match Australia would need to make 546 runs in just over two days on a pitch that had not yet produced more than 400 over the course of the match. England, on the other hand, needed only to take 10 Australian wickets. The Australian openers managed to get to 80 without loss by the end of play.
Starting the day at 80/0, Australia lost both Simon Katich and Shane Watson LBW in quick succession within the first five overs. Ponting and Hussey then built an impressive partnership, sharing a stand of 127 runs before Ponting was run out by a direct hit from Andrew Flintoff fielding at mid-off, which marked an important turning point in the match. Michael Clarke was then run out in the very next over following some sharp fielding from Andrew Strauss at slip, while Marcus North was stumped by Matt Prior. Hussey and Haddin steadied the innings as Hussey reached his first century in 28 Test innings after earlier being dropped by Paul Collingwood
Paul Collingwood
Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...
on 55, but Haddin was eventually out for 34 attempting a big shot over mid-wicket, where he was caught in the deep by Strauss. Harmison took the wicket of Mitchell Johnson for a duck in the next over, and then removed Siddle and Clark in consecutive balls. Hilfenhaus survived the hat-trick ball, but the match only lasted another two overs as Hussey was caught by Cook at short leg off the bowling of Swann. England won the match by 197 runs, to claim a 2–1 series win.
Individual
| Statistic | England | Australia | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most series runs | Andrew Strauss Andrew Strauss Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots... |
474 | Michael Clarke Michael Clarke (cricketer) Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler... |
448 |
| Highest innings | Andrew Strauss Andrew Strauss Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots... |
161 | Ricky Ponting Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very... |
150 |
| Most centuries | Andrew Strauss Andrew Strauss Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots... Jonathan Trott Jonathan Trott Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott is a South African-born England Test cricketer. Domestically, he plays for Warwickshire and he has also played in South Africa and New Zealand... |
1 | Michael Clarke Michael Clarke (cricketer) Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler... Marcus North Marcus North Marcus James North is an Australian cricketer, who scored centuries on both his Test and Ashes debuts. He has also played for the Australian Cricket Academy, Western Australia, Australia A, Durham, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Hampshire.He is a left-handed batsman and right arm... |
2 |
| Most fifties | Andrew Strauss Andrew Strauss Andrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots... |
4 | Michael Clarke Michael Clarke (cricketer) Michael John Clarke is an Australian cricketer. He was appointed captain of the Test and ODI teams on 30 March 2011. Nicknamed 'Pup', he is a right-handed batsman, and occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler... |
4 |
| Most wickets | Stuart Broad Stuart Broad Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team... |
18 | Ben Hilfenhaus Ben Hilfenhaus Benjamin William Hilfenhaus is an Australian cricketer who plays for the Tasmanian Tigers in Australian domestic cricket. Hilfenhaus plays club cricket for Tasmania University Cricket Club. Prior to turning fully professional, he worked as a bricklayer as well as playing cricket... |
22 |
| Most five-wicket hauls | Stuart Broad Stuart Broad Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team... |
2 | Peter Siddle Peter Siddle Peter Matthew Siddle is an Australian Test cricketer. He is a specialist right-arm fast-medium bowler who plays for Victoria and the Australia national cricket team.-Early life and career:... Mitchell Johnson Mitchell Johnson (cricketer) Mitchell Guy Johnson is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He was awarded the International Cricket Council's 2009 "Cricketer of the Year" award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.-Career:... |
1 |
| Best innings figures | Stuart Broad Stuart Broad Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team... |
25.1–6–91–6 | Peter Siddle Peter Siddle Peter Matthew Siddle is an Australian Test cricketer. He is a specialist right-arm fast-medium bowler who plays for Victoria and the Australia national cricket team.-Early life and career:... |
9.5–0–21–5 |
| Best match figures | Graeme Swann Graeme Swann Graeme Peter Swann is an English international cricketer. He is primarily a right-arm offspinner, and also bats right-handed. After initially playing for his home county Northamptonshire, for whom he made his debut in 1997, he moved to Nottinghamshire in 2005. He often fields at slip... |
54.2–11–158–8 | Peter Siddle Peter Siddle Peter Matthew Siddle is an Australian Test cricketer. He is a specialist right-arm fast-medium bowler who plays for Victoria and the Australia national cricket team.-Early life and career:... |
21.5–2–71–6 |
| Most catches (wicket-keepers excluded) |
Alastair Cook Alastair Cook Alastair Nathan Cook, MBE is an English international cricket player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket for Essex and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003... |
7 | Ricky Ponting Ricky Ponting Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very... |
11 |
| Most stumpings | Matt Prior | 1 | none | |
Team
| Statistic | England | Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Highest team innings | 435 | 674/6d |
| Lowest team innings | 102 | 160 |
| Tosses won | 4 | 1 |
Other
- Ricky PontingRicky PontingRicky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
reached 11,000 Test runs when he reached 40 in the first innings of the First Test. - Andrew StraussAndrew StraussAndrew John Strauss, OBE is an English cricketer who plays county cricket for Middlesex County Cricket Club and is the captain of England's Test cricket team. A fluent left-handed opening batsman, Strauss favours scoring off the back foot, mostly playing cut and pull shots...
reached 5,000 Test runs when he reached 161 in the first innings of the Second Test. - Mitchell JohnsonMitchell Johnson (cricketer)Mitchell Guy Johnson is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He was awarded the International Cricket Council's 2009 "Cricketer of the Year" award, the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy.-Career:...
reached 100 Test wickets when he took the first innings wicket of Alastair CookAlastair CookAlastair Nathan Cook, MBE is an English international cricket player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket for Essex and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003...
in the Second Test.
See also
- Australian women's cricket team in England in 2009Australian women's cricket team in England in 2009The Australian women's cricket team toured England between 25 June and 13 July 2009, playing one Test match, five One Day Internationals and a Twenty20 International....
External links
- Series Profile: 2009 Ashes from CricinfoCricinfoESPNcricinfo is believed to be the largest cricket-related website on the World Wide Web. Content includes news,articles, live scorecards,live text commentary and a comprehensive and searchable database called 'StatsGuru', of historical matches and players from the 18th century to the present...