A Look at England’s Best Ever Ashes Victories

The Ashes are usually a celebration of cricket on both sides of the world – an eagerly anticipated meeting of two great test teams.

This year’s event has been anything but that. On one side of the world, it has been a celebration of cricketing excellence, with Australian players doing their nation proud. The tourists have not had such a good time; in fact, it has been thoroughly humiliating for England.

They abysmally lost the first test, trailing the hosts by wickets. The second test was marginally better; The Guardian describes how they lost by 275 runs and faced defeat in the series as early as the third test. That would see Australia open a two series gap in the competition’s history; a Bwin infographic on the Ashes highlights how they’ve won 33 to England’s 32. They have been more emphatic in those wins, though; they’ve now won 138 tests compared to England’s 108.

Whilst it’s all doom and gloom for the tourists this winter, England cricket fans do have some wonderful memories to look back on. Instead of tuning in to the third test for more misery, perhaps England fans will be better revisiting these moments from history instead.

1981 – Botham’s Ashes

Ian’ Beefy’ Botham is still revered as one of the all-time English greats, and much of that reputation comes from his performance in the 1981 Ashes. It hadn’t started well; he was stripped of the captaincy after two defeats in the series, but he was then unburdened and kicked into top gear. In the third test, he managed 149 not out to get back on track, and his bowling ensured a win at Edgbaston in the fourth test. In the fifth test, he hit six sixes, thirteen fours and finished with 108. That set Australia 506 runs to win, and they finished 103 short.

2005 – Freddie’s Ashes

England appeared on the ropes in 2005, when Australia romped to a 239-run victory in the first test. The second test was a nail-biter, England winning by just two runs before the third test was drawn. In the fourth test, Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff emerged as the hero. He was the player of the match in a thrilling contest that saw England win by three wickets; he was a winner with the ball and the bat. His late partnership with Kevin Pietersen produced 46 runs, helping to secure a victory which meant the series could only be tied. In the final game, bad light stopped play. England had won the Ashes 2-1, and Flintoff became a household name.

2009 – Monty’s Ashes

It was called the Great Escape, and the first test in 2009 ended up being crucial. England were facing defeat at the hands of the tourists, having been thrashed 5-0 in 2007. They were close to defeat Australia, declaring at 674/4, their largest total against England since 1934. Before the day ended, England were 219 runs behind. They resumed on 20/2 and quickly lost three more wickets. It seemed to be game over, but Monty Panesar and James Anderson had other ideas. They were the last partnership and batted until 18.40 pm to secure a draw. Eventually, England took the series 2-1, courtesy of a 197-run win in the fifth test as The Oval.