Mamboblue72
OzCardTrader
My entry for best match ever! I was in England at the time, following the match on cricinfo on the boss's computer!
The Ashes Decider? Adelaide 2006
History will show that Australia regained the Ashes after their victory in Perth in December 2006. But in my opinion the Ashes were decided on the fifth day of the Adelaide test even though there would be 3 more tests to play.
An Ashes Test is special at anytime, Adelaide even more so, with the ghosts of ‘Bodyline’ watching every ball hoping that an ancient wrong will be avenged.
After a lacklustre display in Brisbane the week before, and talk of Steve Harmison’s first ball ‘slip up’ still ringing in their ears, the English Cricket Team’s preparation for the batsman friendly Adelaide pitch was taking shape. An unchanged team showed that the selectors were not in the panic that most press believed they were.
The team line ups had changed little since the first test at Lords 16 months earlier. For the Australians, the prolific Mike Hussey replaced his mate Simon Katich and Jason Gillespie would feel aggrieved to be replaced in the side by Stuart Clark after scoring a double century in his last innings. The fact that Michael Clarke was the only Australian under 30 led a few doubters to believe that it would be very difficult to regain the Ashes with ‘Dad’s Army’. However, England were without the architect of the 2005 win as Michael Vaughan was looking on from the Academy in Perth, Simon Jones was ruled out well before the contest and Marcus Trescothick returned to England after one game on tour. Able replacements in Ali Cook, Paul Collingwood (M.B.E.) and James Anderson had all shown some form on recent tours. The main selection issue; Monty Panesar, was still getting bum splinters despite all his best efforts.
Day 1 - A deafening roar from the Barmy Army rang around the ground as Freddie won the toss and elected to bat. As in Brisbane, Strauss and Cook were dismissed playing loose shots and Ian Bell rode his luck against a pumped up Brett Lee bowling at 153km/hr. Bell and Collingwood shared a hundred run partnership before Lee was rewarded for his efforts. Kevin Pietersen lived up to his hype and promptly dispatched McGrath to the midwicket boundary first ball. Collingwood played with confidence and forged another strong stand with Pieterson to close on 98 at 3/266.
Day 2 - Collingwood quickly completed a well deserved century and with Pietersen in imperious form, they combined to put on 310 runs for the 4th wicket. Pietersen’s drives and pulls were at times majestic and then violent as he completed another score of 158. The shot of the day was a sublime on-drive off Warne. Collingwood aimed a big ‘Up Yours’ to his Yorkshire doubters as he reached his double ton, but he was dismissed soon after. He soaked up the applause from all as he walked from the field. Geraint Jones came and went to a poor shot, as he did in all his innings for the series, and the Captain signalled his intentions when he launched McGrath into the Barmy Army.
It is safe to say that most of the Australian Captains of the last 25 years would not have declared on the second day, but at 551 for 6 and the subsequent wicket of Langer, Freddie’s decision seemed to have merit.
Day 3 - Matthew Hoggard’s good lines had Australia under pressure early on and when the in-form Australian Captain skied a ball to deep square leg, Australia were facing a significant 1st innings deficit and more importantly a confident English team. As the ball flew towards Ashley Giles Australia were 3 for 79. Giles dropped the vital catch and commentators played up its significance at the time, in hindsight he had dropped the Ashes! A few hours later Ponting completed an Australian record by scoring his 33rd test century. Throughout the rest of the day the English performance began to wane as their loose bowling allowed Australia back into the match to finish the day 5 for 291.
Day 4 - Partnerships with Gilchrist and Warne showed Michael Clarke’s increasing maturity and ability to work hard for a result. Clark completed his 3rd test century and with some adventurous batting from Shane Warne, the deficit was reduced to only 44 runs. Many Australian fans conceded that the job was done and defeat was avoided. It was only the Australian team that harboured any thoughts of a win on the final day, slim as it may have been. By the end of the fourth day the English Team must have thought they were in no danger of losing the test with a lead of 97 with 9 wickets in hand. Ali Cook was dismissed to another soft shot but his time would come soon enough.
Day 5 - An indication of England’s Defensive mindset was their first boundary was scored with the total at 5/84. While all the plaudits will go to Shane Warne for his bowling some praise must be directed at Ricky Ponting for his Captaincy. He was able to use his bowlers and field settings to strangle the English for runs and swing the match in Australia’s favour. Ian Bell’s idiotic runout, Kevin (‘I’ll never be bowled around my legs’) Pietersen, and Collingwood’s defend at all costs attitude, all helped Australia’s charge. A disappointing shot from the clearly troubled captain was followed by a typical dismissal from Jones. Giles looked like a rabbit in headlights, as was Hoggard, also undone by Shane Warne. By the time McGrath had dismissed Harmison and Anderson only two results were possible. The thought of Australia being bowled out in 36 overs on a perfect Adelaide pitch were dismissed as quickly as Hoggard’s first ball in the Australian innings. The target of 188 at 4.5 runs per over turned the match into a one day run chase with the Aussies as favourites.
Hayden, Langer and Martyn came out blasting and were all dismissed playing big shots. Ponting, Hussey and Clarke played intelligently and paced the run chase until 40 runs were required from 8 overs. Flintoff was toiling hard and was on the verge of a priceless maiden over when Clarke punched a ball into the midwicket outfield. Harmison relayed the ball to Pietersen who fired the ball to Jones. Both batsmen stood bemused, safely in their creases, while Jones didn’t even attempt to catch the poor throw from Pietersen and left the ball to race away to score a 7! Australia soon completed the stunning comeback win that Ponting and Warne have agreed was their best test victory.
From the second Hussey hit the winning run, the Ashes were all but regained, even though there were 3 tests to play. It would always be difficult for England to both win the final three tests and to retain The Ashes. After losing a keenly contested 3rd Test Match in Perth a week later, England capitulated in the final two tests to suffer the dreaded series whitewash. As with the series in 2005, the best team won – Australia scored over 3000 runs at 50/wicket with 11 centuries and took 94 wickets, England scored 2370 runs at 24/wicket with 3 centuries and they took 60 wickets.
While Australia said goodbye to three legends in Warne, McGrath and Langer; the team welcomed the return to form of Michael Clarke, continued success of Mike Hussey and the unearthing of the outstanding Stuart Clark. England can be happy that Cook and Pietersen improved their standing in the international game and Collingwood flourished despite calls from Shane Warne to post back his M.B.E. Monty Panesar should be first picked from now on and with improvements to the selection process, England may retain their position as the second best Test Match nation behind Australia.
Dan Grant 2007
The Ashes Decider? Adelaide 2006
History will show that Australia regained the Ashes after their victory in Perth in December 2006. But in my opinion the Ashes were decided on the fifth day of the Adelaide test even though there would be 3 more tests to play.
An Ashes Test is special at anytime, Adelaide even more so, with the ghosts of ‘Bodyline’ watching every ball hoping that an ancient wrong will be avenged.
After a lacklustre display in Brisbane the week before, and talk of Steve Harmison’s first ball ‘slip up’ still ringing in their ears, the English Cricket Team’s preparation for the batsman friendly Adelaide pitch was taking shape. An unchanged team showed that the selectors were not in the panic that most press believed they were.
The team line ups had changed little since the first test at Lords 16 months earlier. For the Australians, the prolific Mike Hussey replaced his mate Simon Katich and Jason Gillespie would feel aggrieved to be replaced in the side by Stuart Clark after scoring a double century in his last innings. The fact that Michael Clarke was the only Australian under 30 led a few doubters to believe that it would be very difficult to regain the Ashes with ‘Dad’s Army’. However, England were without the architect of the 2005 win as Michael Vaughan was looking on from the Academy in Perth, Simon Jones was ruled out well before the contest and Marcus Trescothick returned to England after one game on tour. Able replacements in Ali Cook, Paul Collingwood (M.B.E.) and James Anderson had all shown some form on recent tours. The main selection issue; Monty Panesar, was still getting bum splinters despite all his best efforts.
Day 1 - A deafening roar from the Barmy Army rang around the ground as Freddie won the toss and elected to bat. As in Brisbane, Strauss and Cook were dismissed playing loose shots and Ian Bell rode his luck against a pumped up Brett Lee bowling at 153km/hr. Bell and Collingwood shared a hundred run partnership before Lee was rewarded for his efforts. Kevin Pietersen lived up to his hype and promptly dispatched McGrath to the midwicket boundary first ball. Collingwood played with confidence and forged another strong stand with Pieterson to close on 98 at 3/266.
Day 2 - Collingwood quickly completed a well deserved century and with Pietersen in imperious form, they combined to put on 310 runs for the 4th wicket. Pietersen’s drives and pulls were at times majestic and then violent as he completed another score of 158. The shot of the day was a sublime on-drive off Warne. Collingwood aimed a big ‘Up Yours’ to his Yorkshire doubters as he reached his double ton, but he was dismissed soon after. He soaked up the applause from all as he walked from the field. Geraint Jones came and went to a poor shot, as he did in all his innings for the series, and the Captain signalled his intentions when he launched McGrath into the Barmy Army.
It is safe to say that most of the Australian Captains of the last 25 years would not have declared on the second day, but at 551 for 6 and the subsequent wicket of Langer, Freddie’s decision seemed to have merit.
Day 3 - Matthew Hoggard’s good lines had Australia under pressure early on and when the in-form Australian Captain skied a ball to deep square leg, Australia were facing a significant 1st innings deficit and more importantly a confident English team. As the ball flew towards Ashley Giles Australia were 3 for 79. Giles dropped the vital catch and commentators played up its significance at the time, in hindsight he had dropped the Ashes! A few hours later Ponting completed an Australian record by scoring his 33rd test century. Throughout the rest of the day the English performance began to wane as their loose bowling allowed Australia back into the match to finish the day 5 for 291.
Day 4 - Partnerships with Gilchrist and Warne showed Michael Clarke’s increasing maturity and ability to work hard for a result. Clark completed his 3rd test century and with some adventurous batting from Shane Warne, the deficit was reduced to only 44 runs. Many Australian fans conceded that the job was done and defeat was avoided. It was only the Australian team that harboured any thoughts of a win on the final day, slim as it may have been. By the end of the fourth day the English Team must have thought they were in no danger of losing the test with a lead of 97 with 9 wickets in hand. Ali Cook was dismissed to another soft shot but his time would come soon enough.
Day 5 - An indication of England’s Defensive mindset was their first boundary was scored with the total at 5/84. While all the plaudits will go to Shane Warne for his bowling some praise must be directed at Ricky Ponting for his Captaincy. He was able to use his bowlers and field settings to strangle the English for runs and swing the match in Australia’s favour. Ian Bell’s idiotic runout, Kevin (‘I’ll never be bowled around my legs’) Pietersen, and Collingwood’s defend at all costs attitude, all helped Australia’s charge. A disappointing shot from the clearly troubled captain was followed by a typical dismissal from Jones. Giles looked like a rabbit in headlights, as was Hoggard, also undone by Shane Warne. By the time McGrath had dismissed Harmison and Anderson only two results were possible. The thought of Australia being bowled out in 36 overs on a perfect Adelaide pitch were dismissed as quickly as Hoggard’s first ball in the Australian innings. The target of 188 at 4.5 runs per over turned the match into a one day run chase with the Aussies as favourites.
Hayden, Langer and Martyn came out blasting and were all dismissed playing big shots. Ponting, Hussey and Clarke played intelligently and paced the run chase until 40 runs were required from 8 overs. Flintoff was toiling hard and was on the verge of a priceless maiden over when Clarke punched a ball into the midwicket outfield. Harmison relayed the ball to Pietersen who fired the ball to Jones. Both batsmen stood bemused, safely in their creases, while Jones didn’t even attempt to catch the poor throw from Pietersen and left the ball to race away to score a 7! Australia soon completed the stunning comeback win that Ponting and Warne have agreed was their best test victory.
From the second Hussey hit the winning run, the Ashes were all but regained, even though there were 3 tests to play. It would always be difficult for England to both win the final three tests and to retain The Ashes. After losing a keenly contested 3rd Test Match in Perth a week later, England capitulated in the final two tests to suffer the dreaded series whitewash. As with the series in 2005, the best team won – Australia scored over 3000 runs at 50/wicket with 11 centuries and took 94 wickets, England scored 2370 runs at 24/wicket with 3 centuries and they took 60 wickets.
While Australia said goodbye to three legends in Warne, McGrath and Langer; the team welcomed the return to form of Michael Clarke, continued success of Mike Hussey and the unearthing of the outstanding Stuart Clark. England can be happy that Cook and Pietersen improved their standing in the international game and Collingwood flourished despite calls from Shane Warne to post back his M.B.E. Monty Panesar should be first picked from now on and with improvements to the selection process, England may retain their position as the second best Test Match nation behind Australia.
Dan Grant 2007
