Reflections on a remarkable Ashes

Australia’s win in the fifth and final Test at The Oval wraps up on of the more bizarre Ashes series in the history of the 133-year history of the battle for the little urn.

Every match has been a blow out and the toss has meant nothing and everything and the pre-match favourites lost every Test.

It’s only the second Ashes series of five matches or more that’s had a result in every fixture, and not one Test has gone into the fifth day.

And if you look purely at the stats, Australia should have won the series in a canter, dominating both the batting and bowling leader boards.

First Test, Cardiff: England won by 169 runs

Full match wrap here

Image Id: ~/media/B2F8B118423A4958941EE21861BD0029

England got off to a perfect start in Cardiff // Getty Images

The series started off on the wrong foot for Australia captain Michael Clarke, as his England counterpart Alastair Cook won the toss and chose to bat. 

The home side went on to compile 430 in quick time, thanks largely to a sparkling 134 from No.5 Joe Root, who benefited from a dropped catch by Brad Haddin before he had scored his first run of the series.

Root's masterful Cardiff century

Mitchell Starc, playing with a crook ankle from the first day onwards, claimed five wickets, while Mitchell Johnson delivered statistically his worst innings in Test cricket.

In reply, Chris Rogers extended his record run of half-centuries but fell five short of a fifth Test ton, however the veteran was a lone pillar in an underwhelming batting effort.

Image Id: ~/media/752D43E23B4B488A87BCA419FDA9F63C

Rogers led from the top // Getty Images

Moeen Ali, the maligned off-spinning allrounder, claimed the wickets of Australia’s leadership party and two best players of spin in Clarke and world No.1 Test batsman Steve Smith as England secured a 122-run first innings lead.

Root and Ian Bell each scored 60 in England’s second dig, with Nathan Lyon spinning out four wickets as the hosts set the guests 412 to win with two days to play. 

It turned out to be mission impossible, and if not for a couple of fifties from David Warner and Johnson, Australia would have been beaten by much more. Inside four days, England had thoroughly outgunned Australia, playing the aggressive brand of cricket Clarke’s men were known for to hand new head coach Trevor Bayliss a win in his first Test at the helm.

Second Test, Lord’s: Australia won by 405 runs

Full match wrap here

Image Id: ~/media/E2AD633717454A20BADC6912B95906A2

Johnson was fiery on a Lord's featherbed // Getty Images

Bayliss warned his players of an Australian backlash and that’s just what they got at the Home of Cricket. Off the back of some advice from former skipper Ricky Ponting, Clarke called ‘heads’ at the toss for the first time in his captaincy career. It worked, and he elected to bat on a pitch Michael Holding described as a “featherbed”. 

Australia made two significant changes from the first Test; Brad Haddin was omitted due to family reasons, with his fellow NSW Blues gloveman Peter Nevill debuting, while Shane Watson was dropped after an extended lean patch with the bat and two more lbw dismissals in Cardiff, replaced by Western Australian allrounder Mitchell Marsh. 

Under brilliant sunshine and on a benign pitch, Smith plundered 215 and Rogers 173 in a partnership worth 284 as Australia racked up 8-566 declared. 

Smith, Rogers demolish England

Any hope of an England retort was dashed when Johnson and co ripped open the top order, reducing the home side to 4-30 inside 11 overs. 

Cook and fiery allrounder Ben Stokes provided staunch resistance before Marsh nipped them both out as England were dismissed for 312. Rogers was amongst the runs again in the second innings after Clarke declined to enforce the follow-on, but on 49 the opener slumped to his knees from a bout of dizziness and left the field under the care the Australian medicos. 

Johnson hit back hard at Lord's

Quick-fire half-centuries from Warner and Smith set England a mammoth 509 to win, but the chase never got going as Johnson reopened the scars of the 2013-14 Ashes series with a ferocious spell of fast bowling on a similar surface to that which had muffled his thunder only a Test earlier. 

England lasted only 37 overs, and as both teams went their separate ways, the series was level at one-all.

Third Test, Birmingham: England won by eight wickets

Full match wrap here

Image Id: ~/media/CD029A63EB854506ADE0DC736CD766C2

Finn returned with a bang // Getty Images

With the momentum in his back pocket, Clarke had no hesitation batting first under cloudy skies when he won the toss (reverting back to ‘tails’) at Edgbaston. 

Less than 37 overs later, Australia were bowling. Coming from Lord’s where he went wicketless for only the sixth time in his record-breaking career, James Anderson reminded the world why he’s arguably the best new-ball bowler going around, claiming Ashes-best figures of 6-47 to rout the bamboozled Australians for 136. 

Anderson rips through Australia

By stumps on day one, England were trailing by three runs with seven wickets in hand. 

Root and Bell again made half-centuries, while Moeen’s 87-run partnership with Stuart Broad extended England’s lead to 145. A resurgent Steven Finn, who replaced Mark Wood, then matched Anderson’s first-innings haul with six of his own in the second, gutting Australia’s middle-order with 6-79. 

Rear-guard fifties from Warner, Nevill and Mitchell Starc elevated Australia’s total to 265, and despite the latter bowling one of the balls of the series to castle Cook, England reached the required target of 121 shortly after lunch on the third day for the loss of only two wickets.

Fourth Test, Nottingham: England won by an innings and 78 runs

Full match wrap here

Image Id: ~/media/4189FDC9792A4C3C8F4C0C50F9E332E3

The moment the Ashes were regained // Getty Images

Nobody saw this coming. Both sides made one change for the fourth Test: for Australia, Mitchell Marsh made way for brother Shaun, while for England, Wood returned in place of an injured Anderson, who strained his side in the second innings in Birmingham. 

Anderson was meant to be a huge loss for England at Trent Bridge – the right-armer’s most successful venue in England. 

It didn’t matter. 

In 18.3 overs, after being sent in on a gloomy Nottingham morning, Australia were bundled out for 60 and the Ashes were lost. 

Broad the Ashes destroyer

Broad, on his home ground, annihilated the tourists, taking career-best figures of 8-15. 

There was still enough time on the first day for Root to score his second century of the series as England finished the day at 4-274. Moeen and Broad combined for a plucky 58-run stand to push the total to 9-391 declared on day two. 

There would be no repeat of the first innings, as Warner and Rogers combined for their eighth century stand, but once the opening pair fell, so too did the fragile middle order. 

Smith was out driving a full ball to point to go for his fourth single-figure score in a row. Marsh was brought in to provide some much needed starch in the batting order, but he made only two runs in the match. 

And Clarke’s poor series with the bat continued, out for 13. Adam Voges survived the collapse with an unbeaten 51 as Ben Stokes became the fourth straight English bowler to claim at least six wickets in an innings, bending the ball both ways to dismiss Australia for 253 and see England regain the urn on the on the morning of day three. 

Clarke announces his retirement

The aftermath was just as dramatic – in a post-match interview with close friend Shane Warne, Clarke announced he would be retiring from international cricket at the conclusion of the series.

Fifth Test, The Oval: Australia won by an innings and 46 runs

Full match wrap here

Image Id: ~/media/244A661345804A25B800B3AEAF659DE6

To the victors go the spoils // Getty Images

With the Ashes gone, the final Test had a strange feel to it. For Australia, it was a chance to send Clarke and fellow retiree Rogers out on a winning note. 

For Cook’s men, it was a chance to become the first England team to win four Ashes Test matches in a series on home soil. 

England went in unchanged, while Australia swapped Marsh brothers again (Lehmann had conceded they had erred in making that change in Nottingham) and recalled Peter Siddle for young quick Josh Hazlewood. 

Cook sent Australia in, but the move backfired as Rogers and Warner made it Test century stand No.9, laying a solid foundation for Smith to score 143 as Australia racked up 481. 

Smith's superb 143 at The Oval

It was then Siddle’s turn to show what may have been, striking with his second ball and removing Bell with a beauty to ignite an England collapse that saw Marsh and Johnson claim three scalps each and bowl the hosts out for 149 early on day three. 

Leading by 332, Clarke enforced the follow-on for the first time in his career and Siddle, Marsh and Lyon answered the captain’s call by picking up five scalps as the end of the third day drew nearer. 

While his batting might not have been up to its usual high standard throughout the Ashes, Clarke’s nous as captain never wavered, pulling one final trick out of his hat, watching on from first slip as Smith’s friendly leg-breaks accounted for the key wicket of Cook for 85 late on day three. 

Rain stalled the conclusion on day four, however two wickets either side of a two-hour delay gave Australia a consolation victory as Clarke and Rogers were sent out as winners. 

Image Id: ~/media/2027C8E735F847569D0E6F5C5F460808

A legend bows out // Getty Images