Ricky Ponting's parting gift for Gary Pratt

The epilogue to the major flashpoint of the greatest Test series this century came not with a terse exchange of words, but with a gift.

More than two weeks after one of the most famous run outs in Ashes history, Ricky Ponting finally came face-to-face with the man who played an unexpected role in handing Australia their first Ashes defeat in 16 years.

"Gary Pratt came into our rooms after the last Test at The Oval ... and I wanted to grab him by the throat and throw him off the balcony!," Ponting recalled with a laugh to cricket.com.au last year.

"Obviously, I say that tongue-in-cheek. It was all part of what had happened. It was all done and dusted and over."

Pratt had shot to fame during the fourth Test of that unforgettable series when, as a substitute fielder, his pinpoint throw ran Ponting out in Australia's second innings of the nail-biting Trent Bridge Test.

The 23-year-old Pratt was regarded as one of the better fielders in England and despite not being part of his county Durham's first XI at the time, he was one of a handful of players who were drafted into the England squad as specialist fielders for the series.

Ponting and the Australians had been aware for some time that England's Test side had been tactically deploying their substitute fielders to replace fast bowlers during a game, allowing the quicks to have longer stints at the bowling crease with the promise of an extended break in the rooms to follow.

It was a move from the hosts that while not against the rules of the game, had riled up the Australians, particularly Ponting.

And when Pratt made his decisive play on that day at Trent Bridge, weeks of frustration that had been bubbling beneath the surface finally boiled over.

"I'd talked to the referee before the first Test match about the way we knew they were going to be handling their fast bowlers," Ponting remembers.

"We'd been watching them for two years beforehand and we knew what they were doing; they'd bowl an eight-over spell, go off the field for a while, come back and in time would be ready to bowl their next spell.

"I wasn't comfortable with the way they were playing their cricket like that so I let the referee know and made sure I monitored it where I could.

"They would just bring their best fielders in from anywhere in the country. It wasn't just their 12th man fielding, it wasn't the big quick who they didn't pick out there fielding. They had their best fielders from anywhere in the country doing their fielding for them.

"And it wasn't unusual to have two or three (substitute) fielders on the field at the same time in that series.

"It was getting to all of us."

The fallout to Pratt's run out is part of Ashes history; Ponting's verbal spray at England coach Duncan Fletcher as he walked off Trent Bridge that day led to the Australian skipper copping a fine as the home side won the match by three wickets in a nail-biting finish.

But despite his frustration at series end, Ponting made sure his Trent Bridge conqueror walked away from the campaign with more than just happy memories.

"I actually signed a pair of my shoes and gave them to him and said 'well done'," Ponting said.

"And that's the last I've seen of him."