The result of the third Test match, at Headingley had altered the trajectory of the 1981 Ashes, with England seemingly dead and out only to be rescued by the batting heroics of Ian Botham and an inspired spell of bowling from Bob Willis.
The fourth Test, at Edgbaston, was almost as dramatic in its own way, although the complexion of the match was completely different, on a pitch where both sides found runs hard to come by.
England won the toss and chose to bat, but with Terry Alderman tying them down with his length bowling, they failed to impose themselves. Captain Mike Brearley top-scored with 48, but Alderman’s 5-42 restricted them to just 189.
Australia did not find it much easier themselves when it came to their turn to bat. Although captain Kim Hughes made 47 and Martin Kent 46, their score of 258 had given a healthy boost of 44 by the extras, which totalled 44.
Ray Bright then took 5-68 to bowl out England for 219, Mike Gatting’s 39 the highest individual score.
That left Australia needing just 151. Although the pitch was still proving difficult, the odds heavily favoured them.
They had reached 105/5 when Mike Brearley tossed the ball to Botham and invited him to bowl.
Botham had endured a poor match up until that point. He had scored just 26 and 3 with the bat, and in Australia’s first innings, he returned figures of 1-64, poor in such a low-scoring match.
However, having conceded 10 runs initially, be produced an inspired spell in which he took five wickets for just a single run, accounting for the wickets of Rod Marsh, Bright, Dennis Lillee, Kent, and Alderman.
Australia collapsed to 121, giving England victory by 29 runs, amidst wild celebrations from the crowd.
England were now leading the series and Botham, already a national hero, had burnished his legacy even further.