The third and final part of the Ashes memories is about two of the fanciest Test series of all time.
Botham’s Ashes
(Source: Adrian Murrell/Getty Images)
The 140 plus years of England-Australia Test cricket history have seen mixed results; some one-sided ones and some close encounters. But the 1981 Ashes will be always etched for truly rising from the Ashes and winning. ‘Botham’s Ashes’, as it is called is one of the greatest Test series ever played in cricket history.
The first Test saw Australia clinching their first victory at Trent Bridge since 1948. Next match saw Botham scoring two golden ducks and being replaced by Mike Brearley for the captain’s role after a draw.
The third Test match of the series was played at Headingley, Leeds. Despite a 6/95 from Botham Australia scored 401 in their first innings. England’s first innings was wrapped up for 174; Botham was the top scorer with 50 runs. England were asked to follow on and at the end of day three were 6/1 looking down the barrel. After a rest day, England returned and were soon 135/7 as Graham Dilley joined Botham. Apparently, Botham welcomed him saying ‘Let’s give it some humpty’. Then their partnership of 117 runs for the 8th wicket with Dilley scoring 56 and Botham adding an unbeaten 148-ball 149 changed the picture. England took a lead of 129 which was well defended by Bob Willis (8/43). This was only the second instance of a team winning a Test match after follow-on.
Australia required 151 runs in the second innings to win the fourth Test match. Botham delivered a devastating spell of 5/11 to win the match for England. But practically he took those five wickets for just one run in 28 balls to seal it for England.
In the fifth Test, Botham came in with 104/5 on board and added 118 runs that helped England to put a 400 plus score in the second innings and set a target of 506 for the Aussies. He scalped five wickets as well. The last fixture saw Botham picking up 6/127 and 4/128 in two innings. The last match at The Oval was drawn but eventually, England won the series 3-1.
When England crafted history
(Source: Reuters)
If the 2001 Test series against India is one of the nightmares for Australia, the 2005 Ashes had to be another one. It saw England triumph over their fiercest rivals for the first time in nearly 19 years.
The campaign began with Australia winning the first Test at Lord’s by 239 runs. Australia, from every angle, were on the better side from the beginning and this massive win added to their advantage. But they were soon in trouble after their leading fast bowler Glenn McGrath was out of the match due to injury as he twisted his ankle by stepping on a cricket ball during practice. Psychologically it did hit the Aussies.
In the second Test, Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bowl first. The absence of McGrath was evident and England started to take control. England were all out for 407 runs and Australia replied with 308 runs. England could only add 182 runs in the second innings with Andre Flintoff saving them from a massacre with 73 runs. Flintoff was the top scorer with the next highest score being 21. The star-studded Aussie line up was confident to chase down 282 runs in their second innings. But Flintoff was magnificent even with the ball. He ended with 4/79 although Steve Harmison recorded the most important delivery for England. Australia required only three runs to win with the two set batsmen Bret Lee (43*) and Michael Kasprowicz (20) on the crease. Harmison dismissed Kasprowicz to win a historical match for England by a mere two runs.
The third Test saw some miraculous performances from both team players. McGrath, coming back proved his worth again with a 5-wicket haul. Lee and Shane Warne were deadly and took four wickets each in England’s first innings. But thankfully the match was drawn and one again Flintoff put up a brilliant show with 4/71 in Australia’s second innings.
Flintoff set the momentum of the fourth Test by hitting 102 runs and England’s total of 477 in the first innings was well defended by Simon Jones (5/44). Australia were following on with 218 on board and eventually put up 387 in the second innings. This was their first follow on since 1988 after 190 Tests, a world record. A target of 129 runs was easily chased by England and they took a lead of 2-1 in the series.
England were now looking for just a draw in the final Test for a historical climax. They were focused and even Warne’s 6-wicket haul couldn’t stop them from posting 373 runs. But the Aussies were determined. Two hundred from Justin Langer (105) and Matthew Hayden (138) helped them to score 367 while Flintoff (5/78) took care of others. England, in the second innings, were struggling from a top-order collapse and were in danger of defeat on the last day when Kevin Pietersen’s breathtaking 158 and Ashley Giles’ 59 rescued them.
A draw was managed. The Ashes was won by the hosts, finally.