Ashes 2005 Report - Sports

Well well, it's that time of the year and Australia have taken the long trip all the way to England to compete in one of cricket's most celebrated, yet most intense rivalries of all times. England have put together a formidable team to face the mighty Australians, unlike the past. Before we get to the actual series, let us discuss a little bit about the Natwest series which preceded the commencement of the much awaited Ashes.

The Natwest series pitched three international teams against each other, namely: England, Australia and Bangladesh. Most people were dumbfounded as to why Bangladesh had been selected to play against two of the world's strongest sides however, their skepticism was soon proven wrong when minnows, Bangladesh comprehensively chased a respectable total of 249 by 5 wickets. Mohammad Ashraful, the stylish and extremely talented Bangladeshi youngester smashed 100 off 118 deliveries, sending a shock wave within the Australian dressing room. This was a deafening blow to the Australians adding to their woes from their defeat at the hands of the English county team, Somerset and their prior defeat to England in a Twenty20 match.

Soon after, Australia were once again beaten by a young and powered up English side. This defeat finally woke up the Australians who then went on to win every match thereafter, apart from the final which ended up in a tie against England. The two teams shared the trophy and even though it seemed like the Australians had returned to their habitual ways of expecting nothing less than a victory, the English had put up a strong show; this finally made the Australians realize that the English were in no mood for complacency.

The series may have ended in a tie, but England emerged as the moral victors, having chased a target of 196 and scoring two runs off the last over to secure a draw; just when everyone thought Australia had all but sealed the series at the home of cricket, the Lord's cricket stadium. The Natwest series came to an end and both Australia and England had a considerable amount of time to prepare for the upcoming Ashes 2005.

Test cricket is an entirely different ball game, in comparison to One Day cricket. Test cricket is the most holistic form of game amongst all versions of the sport. It draws out every aspect and talent of a true cricketer while testing their endurance over a period of five whole days. Of course, the game does not necessarily stretch that long at times, as was witnessed in the 1st test of the Ashes 2005 cup. The match ended on the fourth day when England were set a mammoth target of 420 by the ever-resilient Australians, which was always a tad bit too difficult to achieve against the powerful Australian bowling line-up.

Ricky Ponting was fortunate enough to win the toss and consequently elect to bat on a pitch that seemed to degrade later on during the course of the match. The Australians started off steadily with Justin Langer scoring the team's highest score at 40. Matthew Hayden scored a disappointing 12 off 38 balls when he was emphatically bowled by a marvelous outswinger by Hoggard. Ricky Ponting and the rest of his batsmen failed to contribute with the willow, ending their first innings at a measly 190, giving England the perfect opportunity to build a huge total which would be unachievable in days to follow.


Vaughan - Failed to to make
an impression with his
batting or his captaincy

Image courtesy: Telegraph.co.uk
England got off to a dreadful start when they lost Trescothick to a magnificent delivery from Glenn McGrath which turned away from the batsman at the last moment to produce an outside edge in to the safe hands of Shane Warne. This wicket also marked McGrath's staggering 500th test wicket, only the fourth man to accomplish such a monumental feat after team mate Shane Warne, Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan and former West Indies captain and pace bowler, Courtney Walsh. From that point on the England batting line-up was completely dominated by some ferocious pace bowling from McGrath and Lee, and as always, Warne working up his magic to reduce the English side to a humble 155.


McGrath - Getting better
with age

Image courtesy: BBC
Australia had to capitalize on the second chance that came their way and recuperate from their first innings downfall by amassing a respectable total. The Australians bounced back by scoring 384 before being bowled out by a fired up English bowling attack. There were all round contributions from the Australian batting order with Ponting, Hayden, Clarke and Katich scoring 42, 65, 91 and 67 respectively. The English were set a massive total of 420 with two entire days remaining; the perfect opportunity to turn the game around. As always however, the Australians did not go in to the field to beat the English by time or watch the match culminate in a tie. England started off very wellTrescothick and Strauss playing some flamboyant strokes around the ground, placing themselves in a comfortable position, in terms of morale and scoring rate. The two batsmen were well on course and they didn't seem to falter the least bit initially, but Lee and Warne had other ideas. Lee removed Strauss seizing a brilliant caught and bowled opportunity while Warne got rid of Trescothick who was beginning to look dangerous.


Warne troubled the English
batsmen with his magical spin

Image Courtesy: BBC
Warne and Lee sent the two incoming batsmen back in to the pavilion soon afterwards with Vaughan being left dumbfounded by a lightening fast delivery from Lee. The only resistance from the miserable English batting side in either innings came from Test debutant, Kevin Pietersen. The selection committee's gamble of selecting between Thorpe, a veteran of 100 Tests and Pietersen paid off. Pietersen scored a patient 57 off 148 balls in the first innings and 64 not out in the second innings, a valiant effort from a youngster who was new to the Test arena and when the rest of the team was in simple words, crumbling down at the other end.


Pietersen - A brave Knight amongst
the trembled peasants

Image Courtesty: Sportinglife.com
The English side ended their innings at a pathetic 180, suffering a heavy defeat by 239 runs at not only their home ground, but the home of cricket. All is not lost as England will play four more Tests against an extremely determined Australian side in the forthcoming days. The next Test beings Edgbaston on the 4th of August. For a listing of the Ashes schedule, please follow the link below:

'Australia in England' Schedule and results