1st Test, Lord's: Australia won by 239 runs

We will never know what possessed the ECB to stage the first game at Lord's, a ground that so inspires Australia that they remain unbeaten there since 1934. The decision played into Australia's hands as they completed a comprehensive victory. Not only was history against England, there was also Glenn McGrath angling the ball down the Lord's slope, and bowling with inhuman control to settle the game with match figures of 9-82. Only Kevin Pietersen mastered him with innings of 57 and 64, getting a big stride in to negate the effect of the slope, while most of his colleagues were caught on the crease. But the margin of victory flattered Australia a little and the seeds of their later downfall in the series were sown on the dramatic first day when England skittled them for 190. Although Australia made 384 in then second innings, England had taken 20 wickets in the match. Having got that part of the equation right they knew that if they found a way to make more runs they could compete.

2nd Test, Edgbaston: England won by two runs

England won a monumentally exciting game by the narrowest margin in Ashes history as cricket fever swept the nation. The win was built around the 407 runs they scored on the first day as they put into action a post-Lord's gameplan of all-out aggression. They were helped by Ricky Ponting's bizarre decision to put them in, probably influenced by the flooding that had hit the ground days before the match. But not only had sun baked the pitch hard and made it good for batting, Australia were without Glenn McGrath. He had trodden on a ball warming up for the game and turned his ankle, and with it, the series. Marcus Trescothick (90) was free to blaze away at will, and Kevin Pietersen (71) and Andrew Flintoff (68) proved they could bat together. Flintoff came to the fore in this game, striking a total of 11 sixes in the match, and taking seven wickets. But England so nearly failed to get over the line after dominating the game. Australia were 175-8, needing another 107 runs to win going into Sunday. Nobody imagined they had a chance, but Shane Warne (42), Brett Lee (44*) and Michael Kasprowicz (20) almost won it for them in the face of sustained aggression from Steve Harmison and Flintoff. Flintoff had tried to knock Lee's head off all morning, but in an unforgettable moment of sportsmanship commiserated with him at the end. A distraught Kasprowicz said his dismissal to Harmison, caught behind off his glove down the leg side, would haunt him for the rest of his life.

3rd Test, Old Trafford: Match drawn

A match which ended in a draw was nevertheless the middle one of the three in a row that would be contenders for an all-time top 10 of Ashes Tests. By the fourth innings England had built a lead of 422 and Australia had to bat out the last day to survive after a day had been lost to rain. A packed house, with 25,000 more locked out of the ground, watched another thriller go down to the wire as, with nine wickets down, Glenn McGrath (5*) and Brett Lee (18*) somehow kept out the last 24 balls from Flintoff and Harmison. Australia were kept alive by Ricky Ponting's seven-hour chanceless epic 156, a truly great innings. But the fact was that Australia had once again been dominated from the first session to the last in a game that had begun well for them with the news that Lee had recovered from a knee infection and McGrath was fit enough to play. England had won the toss and Michael Vaughan played a lovely attacking innings of 166, demonstrating remarkable self-belief considering his run of low scores. Another one of the endlessly intriguing what-ifs in the series was the question of what might have happened in the game if the McGrath ball that bowled Vaughan early in his innings had not been a no ball. The match was also notable for the devastating reverse-swing of Simon Jones, who took 6-44 in the first innings. His absence with cramp at the end of Australia's second innings probably cost England the win they richly deserved as much as Saturday's washout.

4th Test, Trent Bridge: England won by three wickets

Another almost unwatchable drama unfolded when England collapsed to 116-7 chasing only 129 to win on the fourth day. They were simply mesmerised by Shane Warne who took 4-31 in the innings and spread panic until tailenders Ashley Giles (7*) and Matthew Hoggard (8*) saw England through. Giles admitted to not being able to feel his legs before he went out to bat, and Hoggard claimed he always shut his eyes when facing Brett Lee, who took 3-51. But Hoggard actually looked confident at the crease and even drove Lee in the middle of a hostile spell majestically through cover for four. The game should not have been so close after England had built a score of 477 around a measured, classical hundred by Andrew Flintoff (102) and a lovely innings from Geraint Jones (85), then dismissed Australia for 218. But it became close for two reasons. Firstly, Michael Vaughan felt he had to enforce the follow-on in case of bad weather disrupting play later on, allowing Australia a glimmer of hope of pressuring England with Warne in the last innings, then England lost Simon Jones to injury. Jones' reverse-swing had again been England's most potent weapon in the first innings when he took 5-44, but he had bowled only four overs in the second innings when he went off injured. It left England's attack somewhat toothless and Australia cashed in with a score of 387. It could have been worse, however, had substitute fielder Gary Pratt not run out Ricky Ponting (48) in full flow with a direct hit from cover. Ponting reacted with an outburst about England's use of substitute fielders that cost him most of his match fee.

5th Test, The Oval: Match drawn

Kevin Pietersen's almost insane brilliance ensured that England kept the Ashes when he rescued England's tottering batting on the final day with an innings of 158 that included seven sixes. England had been in trouble when four wickets fell to Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in the morning session to leave them 126-5 with plenty of time left for Australia to chase a total down. But Pietersen ensured the draw England needed, helped by the stoical gifts of Ashley Giles (59), who has never batted better and never will. The tension gradually eased from the game and Pietersen had some fun by hitting sixes off his old mucker Warne. By the end the draw was achieved comfortably, but England had been up against it for much of the game. After winning the toss their total of 373 was well below-par and left them vulnerable. It would have been even fewer but for a timely century by Andrew Strauss (129), and another marvellous contribution from Andrew Flintoff (72). Australia looked like building a big lead when Matthew Hayden (138) and Justin Langer (105) got them off to a great start. But the glorious British weather rescued England. Without the injured Simon Jones they were struggling until the fourth day, when Flintoff turned yet another match, this time with the ball. He bowled a magnificent unchanged spell of 16 overs to take 5-78 in humid, cloudy swinging conditions. Matthew Hoggard also revelled in the conditions to take 4-4 in a near-unplayable spell, as Australia lost their last six wickets for 44 runs to trail by six runs. But a lot of overs were lost and, on the final day, it became a race against time to save the Ashes. Pietersen did the rest, but all Australians will have forever to ponder what might have been had he not been dropped three times early in his innings.

15 Sep, 2005