This page is about the men's cricket contest. See here for more information on the Women's Ashes series contested the same year.
The 2005 Ashes 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 final result was a 2-1 series win for England, who succeeded (for the first time since 1987) in their biennial attempt to regain the urn.
This series was the most eagerly-anticipated Ashes contest for over a decade. Since 1989, when Australia started their current winning Ashes streak, the contests have been mismatches: Australia were the pre-eminent side in the world, whilst England had dropped from being top-rated in 1981 to 6th for much of the 90s. They reached a low point in 1999 with a series loss to New Zealand leaving them bottom of the Wisden rankings. However, since the previous series in 2002-03, England had drastically improved. Australia was still top-ranked, but England had moved up to second, having won 14 and drawn 3 of their 18 previous test matches since March 2004. Before the first test Australia were perhaps rather braggardly indicating that a 5-0 win in the series was a serious possibility.
By common consent, the series has lived up to the hype: it is already considered a classic, with three of the five matches decided by razor-thin margins under very tense circumstances.
England won the series 2-1, with the other two tests drawn. Australia won the first Test comfortably, but the Second Test saw England level the series with a two run victory that was the narrowest win in Ashes history. The third Test ended in a draw (with England one wicket away from a win), and England narrowly won the fourth Test in Nottingham by three wickets after England enforced the follow on after a poor first innings by Australia.
The fifth and final Test started on 8 September at the Oval in London. It entered its final day evenly balanced with all results still possible and the destination of the urn still in doubt. Australia needed to win to force a 2-2 series draw and retain the Ashes; any other result would give them to England, ending 16 years and eight series of Australian dominance. After a day of fluctuating fortunes, England established an unbeatable lead, and the resulting draw ensured the Ashes were returned to England.
England v Australia 21-25 July 2005 England v Australia 4-8 August 2005 England v Australia 11-15 August 2005 England v Australia 25-29 August 2005 England v Australia 8-12 September 2005
Records
Individual Records
| Most Runs | Kevin Pietersen | 473 Runs |
| Most Wickets | Shane Warne | 40 Wickets |
| Most Catches (Excluding Wicket Keepers) | Matthew Hayden | 10 Catches |
| Best Innings | Michael Vaughan | 166 |
| Best Innings Bowling | Shane Warne | 6/48 |
| Highest Match Total | Michael Vaughan | 180 |
| Best Match Bowling | Shane Warne | 12/246 |
Team Records
| Best Innings | England | 477 |
| Worst Innings | England | 155 |
| Tosses Won | England | 3-2 |
Other Records
- Shane Warne became the all time leading wicket taker in The Ashes series having taken a total of 172.
- He also passed the 600 wicket mark having 623 by the end of the series.
- Glenn McGrath passed the 500 wicket milestone ending up with 518.
- Andrew Flintoff became the first Englishman to claim over 20 wickets and 400 runs (24 wickets and 402 runs) in a series.
Post-Series
Reactions
Immediately following the final match, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II sent a congratulatory memo to Michael Vaughan and the team, saying: "My warmest congratulations to you, the England cricket team and all in the squad for the magnificent achievement of regaining the Ashes...both sides can take credit for giving us all such a wonderfully exciting and entertaining summer of cricket at its best."
Political leaders like Prime Minister Tony Blair, Conservative leader Michael Howard and Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy also sent their congratulations, Blair stating that "By bringing the Ashes back after so long you have given cricket a huge boost and lit up the whole summer", Howard added "...Vaughan, his team, and all involved, should be proud of this achievement and the manner in which they have played during this extraordinary summer of excitement and tension", while Kennedy chimed in with "England's victory is historic, and I send hearty congratulations to the team...It has been impossible not to get caught up by the excitement and sense of good will in the past few days."
On the other end of the ledger, Australia's Prime Minister John Howard (who was in New York for a UN summit and was given the bad news by an aide during a luncheon with the Asia Society) was gracious in his congratulations to England.
"Look, there's natural disappointment but it's a situation where you give credit to the team that won," Howard stated, noting that there would not be a national day of mourning. "They will no doubt celebrate and that will be difficult for some, but that's the nature of these contests and we should not take anything away from England...They played very well. It's the best team that England has had for a very long period of time."
QEII press release to Michael Vaughan
England team parade
On Tuesday 13 September, England, along with their Women's Ashes winning counterparts, were feted with a 90-minute bus tour from Mansion House to Trafalgar Square, where they were greeted by tens of thousands of Londoners and cricket fans in a celebration of their momenteous achievements.
Thousands of people also lined the streets along the parade route as the two buses made their way to Trafalgar Square, as the team soaked up the feteing. While the rest of the team simply enjoyed the sights, 5th test Man-of-the-Match Kevin Pietersen sprayed champagne from the bus onto joyous revelers on the street side, while wicketkeeper Geraint Jones held onto a Dalek doll with the words "Australians exterminated" attached to it.
At Trafalgar Square, the crowd was treated to a victory celebration for both sides, and before the ceremony closed the square broke into a rendition of "Jerusalem", which has become an unofficial hymn for the team during the 5th test. Afterward, the side returned the urn to its sacred home at Lord's Cricket Ground for safekeeping, and was entertained by the Prime Minister as guests of honour at 10 Downing Street.
Australia post-mortem
Almost immediately sharp, pointed criticism of Australia began back home; the Sydney Morning Herald immediately took issue with the fact that not only was captain Ricky Ponting outstrategised by his opposite Vaughan, but the side in itself was too old and simply did not score the runs when they were needed.
The Age of Melbourne criticised the team for opening their big mouths once too often, hitting at Australia's earlier claim that they would whitewash this series 5-0. Psychological warfare, The Age goes on to state, is great when it works, but when it backfires those who are responsible ought to be brought to account.
Others were less kind, like former fast bowler Dennis Lillee. Writing in Perth's West Australian, he stated that all who perpetrated this "disaster" must be sacked, and Shane Warne be appointed the captain in the place of Ponting (because of his long series of clutch performances that delivered time and again in this series) Losing to other sides is not the end of the world, stated Lillee, but losing the Ashes is.
Former captain Steve Waugh defended the side, calling it "a very good side, a really experienced side. They will be disappointed but they will move on from it," he said, but also conceding that the selectors were likely to ponder a few changes given that only three of the Australia team at The Oval were aged under 30. "They'll have a couple of players in mind which they will bring in the side over the next couple of years,"
Along with Waugh, selector and former batsman David Boon defended their selections. "Sometimes you're going to have to make a hard decision to keep a subtle rotation going through so you don't have mass retirements...But you've also got to pick the best cricket team you possibly can to represent your country." He stated. "If we keep producing cricketers who are 25 plus, they're mature, they're ready to play, they've still got a seven or eight-year career, then we're doing OK."
References
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