The 2nd Test at Edgbaston will go down as one of the greatest in the game's history, as much for the margin of two runs as for the excitement it brings in keeping the Ashes alive.

The game had so many twists that spectators were left punch-drunk, and the finale was as tense as any in Ashes history, bringing the narrowest ever margin of victory. Australia's tailenders showed enormous courage in taking England to the brink of defeat and showed just what it takes to snatch a Test match against this team of champions.

Chief among them, with the bat this time, was the great Shane Warne, whose innings of 42 inspired hopes of an unlikely victory and demonstrated his extraordinary reserves of self-belief. He inspired Brett Lee (43*) to play the gutsiest innings of his life, carrying on defiantly despite being hit a nasty blow by Andrew Flintoff.

With Michael Kasprowicz (20) also showing rare skill with the bat under pressure, the game seemed lost - then Harmison produced a rasping bouncer that was gloved down the legside. Australia were bowled out for 279, having added 104 runs for the last two wickets. If they had managed just three more runs, it would have killed off the series.

As it stands it is 1-1 and England go to the 3rd Test at Old Trafford on Thursday knowing that it could be only Warne standing between them and winning the Ashes back for the first time since 1986-87.

A measure of his enormous influence is that Warne took 10 wickets at Edgbaston, even though Australia ended up losing. With pressure mounting in their second innings, England were caught in two minds between defence and attack, and played him hesitantly. It is probable that his extraordinary delivery to Andrew Strauss on the second evening put doubts in their minds, but, ironically, there were few signs of such prodigious turn on the third day and most of his six wickets came through guile, kidology and luck.

It is likely that, at Old Trafford, where conditions will favour his wrist-spin, England will attempt to impose themselves on Warne as they did in the first innings here. But every batsman will have his own strategies and there were encouraging signs that Flintoff, Strauss and Ian Bell, all of whom were bamboozled at Lord's, were coming to terms with Warne and developing their own methods counter him.

Flintoff adapted cleverly from all-out aggression in the first innings, to measured defence in the second innings, Strauss worked on attacking him in well-defined areas, mainly straight back over his head and over midwicket, and Bell worked on playing him studiously from the crease.

Australia need Warne to perform at Old Trafford, with Glenn McGrath out of that Test match and a major doubt for the whole series. His ankle is still so swollen that doctors cannot inspect it.

Warne is still Australia's trump card and tilts the balance in their favour, though England have their own world-class player in Flintoff, who rose to the challenge of Australia thrillingly in this match. There could yet be videos of the 2005 series entitled Flintoff's Ashes.

The two-run margin of defeat shows how close the sides are. A current composite team would probably contain five English players and six Australians, with Flintoff evening things up because he is worth two players.

This is how I think the side would look: ME Trescothick, JL Langer, RT Ponting, DR Martyn, KP Pietersen, A Flintoff, AC Gilchrist, SK Warne, B Lee, SP Jones, SJ Harmison.

In the batting, Australia still have the edge. Trescothick gets in ahead of the out-of-form Matthew Hayden, but Australia have a major advantage at numbers three and four. Both Ricky Ponting and Damien Martyn have made half-centuries in the series and looked more convincing at the crease than either Michael Vaughan, technically out of sorts, and Ian Bell, struggling for self-conviction.

Kevin Pietersen has made half-centuries in every innings bar one when he was unlucky to be given out and so wins a place ahead of Michael Clarke, and Flintoff gets in ahead of Simon Katich because of his dual role. The only real debate is between Pietersen and Clarke and between Langer and Strauss.

The seam bowling is more in England's favour because of the absence of Glenn McGrath. Simon Jones bowled a magnificent spell of reverse-swing at Edgbaston and deserves inclusion ahead of Michael Kasprowicz and Steve Harmison has far more penetration than the ailing Jason Gillespie. Brett Lee has bowled some fantastic spells in both Tests and has obviously been far more dangerous than Matthew Hoggard. With due respect to Ashley Giles, who bowled well at Edgbaston, Warne remains Australia's trump card and, along with Flintoff, is the big player in the composite XI.

In the last Ashes series, only Vaughan would have earned a place, so the fact that there are firm grounds for including five, is a measure of how the gap is closing. With McGrath, it would be a 7-4 split in favour of Australia and his absence could prove crucial in deciding the series.

7 Aug, 2005