HUW TURBERVILL: Australia's old guard go out in style in a 5-0 whitewash as an injury-hit England fall apart, after losing the key second Test at Adelaide
“Still to this day I do not understand what happened. I do know, however, that the result of the second Test changed the lives and careers of quite a few people, especially me.”
England coach Duncan Fletcher watched in horror on the fifth day at Adelaide as his batsmen fell into Shane Warne’s web of wondrous bowling and verbal trickery. It was a Test England, trailing 1-0 in the series, should never have lost.
Andrew Flintoff, the controversial choice as captain ahead of Andrew Strauss, had declared with England on 551 for 6 in the first innings of the second Test.
Although Australia, utterly determined to avenge their 2005 Ashes defeat, had responded with 513, England should still have managed a draw. They had ended day four on 59 for 1 from 19 overs. But the next day, it was as though they were fixated by a cobra’s stare.
Warne, at 37 and enjoying one final series against his favourite opponents, used every ounce of his skill and cunning to take 4 for 49, as England were dismissed for 129 in 73 overs.
Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen had scored 206 and 158 respectively in the first innings, but both failed to prevent the capitulation.
The key wicket was that of Pietersen. His aggressive approach against Warne had proved effective in the series; this time, though, he was bowled around his legs by his big mate.
Collingwood, meanwhile, was criticised when he was left unbeaten on 22 from 119 balls. Time was precious for Australia, and a few more boundaries (England struck only three in the last four hours) might have allowed them to crawl to safety.
Australia had just enough time to make 168 for 4, with Mike Hussey, the run-hoarding left-hander known as Mr Cricket, steering them over the line with 61 not out.
By now Flintoff had realised fully that being the captain on such an arduous tour was a thankless task, and tears ran down his cheeks as he defied an injured ankle to pound in, attempting to deny the hosts a 2-0 lead. The Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack called it “one of the most painful matches of all time for England”.
Michael Vaughan had been captain in 2005, when England ended an 18-year wait to reclaim the Ashes. Results had been patchy since, though, and critics suggested that the English players’ new fame and fortune had gone to their heads.
Vaughan’s knee injury was also casting doubt over his future. He missed the first Test in Pakistan in 2005/06 (England lost 2-0), and the whole of the Test series in India after Christmas.
When Marcus Trescothick developed depression and flew home, Flintoff stepped in. England drew in Nagpur and lost in Mohali, and a series-levelling win in Mumbai looked unlikely until Flintoff inspired his side to a famous victory with a fine all-round display.
He retained the captaincy for three Tests at home against Sri Lanka, a rubber England were seemingly in control of until Muttiah Muralitharan spun them to a series-levelling defeat at Trent Bridge.
Fletcher and Flintoff didn't always see eye to eye (Tom Shaw/Getty Images)
Even more worryingly, however, Flintoff was forced to have ankle surgery in July, ruling him out of the second half of the summer.
With Vaughan and Flintoff injured, and Trescothick still recovering, England turned to Strauss.
He started inauspiciously, Sri Lanka winning the one-day series 5-0, but he impressed against Pakistan, leading England to a 3-0 Test win, and taking a back seat as Australian umpire Darrell Hair and the tourists clashed over alleged ball-tampering.
England drew 2-2 with Pakistan in the 50-over series, leaving Strauss hopeful he had done enough to be appointed for the Ashes, with Flintoff concentrating on leading the attack and making key runs.
However, Flintoff let it be known he wanted the job, and, after 2005, when he bowled brilliantly, especially to Australia’s left-handers, and batted aggressively, he had become a national hero. That gave him considerable clout.
It left Fletcher with a difficult decision, as he admitted in his autobiography, Behind the Shades. He had doubts about Flintoff’s “tactical nous and man-management skills under pressure” and “his self-discipline”.
But he was also unconvinced by Strauss. Although he had “tough disciplines and a strong character”, Fletcher wrote, he had “not quite established himself as a commanding-enough player”. He “agonised and agonised… my brain was saying Strauss, my heart Flintoff”.
Trescothick, in his autobiography, Coming Back to Me, revealed that Fletcher sounded out senior players. “You’ve got to go with Strauss,” Trescothick said, “because Fred [Flintoff] is the key to us winning and if you make him captain the pressure on him will be massive.
"If we are going to win in Australia or at least draw, everyone is going to have to play out of their skins. To me, he will not be able to bat as he did in 2005, or bowl like he did if he is captain as well. It will be far too much for him.”
Trescothick also reflected, presciently: “I also had my doubts as to whether Fred’s individual way of going about things would necessarily be the best example for the players to follow.”
He also expressed uncertainty that Flintoff and Fletcher worked well together – “Duncan always had his difficulties with Fred” – and he thought the coach agreed that Strauss was the correct choice.
Despite those warnings, though, Fletcher was edging towards Flintoff when a motivational DVD helped him decide.
A message, ‘The team has to be together to beat Australia’ appeared on screen, and Fletcher concluded: “It had to be Flintoff… I was not confident we were making the right decision, but I also knew that if Flintoff was not captain he would be a huge hindrance to the side.”
Vaughan, in his autobiography, Time to Declare, also admitted: “I am not sure when it came down to it that Straussy at that stage really wanted to be skipper of a potentially disgruntled Flintoff.
"Fred had made his ambitions clear and I think that is what swung it for Duncan, who was given the casting vote. Chairman of selectors David Graveney was for Fred and [selector] Geoff Miller was for Strauss, so it was Fletch who had to make the final decision.”
Graveney said at the time: “We had two outstanding candidates in the absence of Vaughan. It was a decision that did take a long time and a number of meetings.
Andrew Strauss, typically of him, was very quick to point out, “Be assured, you have my 110 per cent support for Freddie”. Everybody has to pull together because it’s going to be a hard battle, but I believe we can still retain the Ashes.”
A key factor, in Fletcher’s mind, was that he thought Flintoff would be able to get the best out of his friend, Steve Harmison. Ian Chappell agreed, saying: “So much depends on how Harmison bowls. It may be a reason why they gave Flintoff the captaincy.”
Glenn McGrath usually took any opportunity to cast doubts about England’s tactics, ability and mindset. He said: “It’s a massive ask. He’s such a key player.” Captain Ricky Ponting agreed: “Freddie is going to have a lot on his plate now. It will all mount up on him.”
They were correct. It proved too much. Flintoff had started the campaign in an optimistic frame of mind, though.
Just before leaving Heathrow, he said: “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about what it will be like leading out England in those matches – the attention, spotlight, rivalry and history. It gives me a tingle. I’m chomping at the bit to get started.”
Results did not pick up after the Adelaide Test, however, and England lost 5-0, the first time the Ashes had ended in a whitewash since 1920/21.
England didn’t win a game on the tour until they beat New Zealand in their second meeting in the triangular one-day series, and, taking into account the subsequent World Cup in the West Indies, no wonder Fletcher called it the ‘Winter from Hell’.
“Expectations heaped upon us were far too optimistic,” he wrote, and “sadly, I was soon to discover [Flintoff] was unsure of what true leadership is”.
For Ponting, however, who in 2005 had been the first Australian skipper to lose the Ashes since Allan Border, it was sweet revenge. Despite a back injury, Ponting was player of the match in the first two Tests.
Although Vaughan returned as captain for the one-dayers, he injured his hamstring. Flintoff resumed the captaincy and helped England regain some pride, leading them to an unexpected triumph.
Many felt Flintoff had unnecessary pressure placed upon him by the decision to base Vaughan in Australia to undergo his rehabilitation work.
For his part, Vaughan “felt very uncomfortable” with the decision and was “frustrated some of the media seemed to be quick to get on my case about it”.
Flintoff’s task was also made harder by the absence through injury of paceman Simon Jones, who took 18 wickets in the first four Ashes Tests of 2005 before damaging his ankle, and the decision by Trescothick to fly home.
“From the success of 2005, we had a squad of bowlers who were capable of taking 20 wickets all the time, and all of a sudden, when you lose key players, like Jones and Trescothick, it’s always going to be a tough fight,” Ian Bell told me.
Australia's legends were given a fitting send-off (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Picked for his first Ashes tour in 2006/07, he added: “As a junior player, whoever was the leader, you follow. What Fred has as a person, as a character, and the way he plays his cricket, he leads from the front anyway.
“It was a massive tour for him. To lead with the ball, and to have to score runs, and captain, it was a huge task. In hindsight, maybe if he’d had a bit of help, someone else taking over, you just don’t know…
“Vaughnie had an impact when he came on board, but in terms of being a leader, in the way Fred bowls and bats, and as a character, he doesn’t necessarily need to be captain to be a leader… hindsight is always an easy thing, though.
“The tour was certainly an eye-opener for me. It was enjoyable, but really, really tough… although it was weird, coming away from it; I remember feeling quite confident, because I felt, this is as tough as it gets. And if you can get through that, mentally, and improve again…”
Trescothick had said he did not want to play in the Champions Trophy in India as that was where his depression had begun in 2005 but was confident he would be ready for the Ashes. The toughest tour, though, proved unmanageable.
He said he felt that the team had been nervy at the start, and wrote: “Australia is a demanding and challenging place to play at the best of times but, from the moment we arrived, it seemed like everyone wanted to fight us. Even the hotel staff and the restaurant waiters would say things like, ‘You know you’re going to get your arses kicked, don’t you?’”
The selectors also gambled on the fitness of Ashley Giles and James Anderson. Giles was a handy member of the 2005 side, if not rated highly by some Australians, but had not bowled all year because of a hip problem.
“So much depends on how Harmison bowls. It may be a reason why they gave Flintoff the captaincy.”
Anderson had a stress fracture in his back. Consequently, the selectors were accused of making the same mistakes as in 2002/03, when they took the injured Darren Gough and Flintoff to Australia, only for the players to never regain fitness for the Tests.
Vaughan agreed with the decision in 2006/07, though, saying: “It was one of the easiest Ashes touring parties you could possibly pick. There weren’t really any tough decisions and the selectors would not have taken any risks on fitness.”
Fletcher and Flintoff certainly had close calls to make when it came to picking the starting XI for the first Test at Brisbane, however, and the decision to recall Geraint Jones and Giles in place of Chris Read and Monty Panesar caused a public outcry and was undoubtedly instrumental in the coach losing his job.
Fletcher clearly felt that the 2005 team deserved to have a chance to defend the Ashes, but it had been said when the party had been announced that Jones, who had grown up in Queensland, would be the back-up wicketkeeper. He had played a key role the year before but had subsequently lost his place to Read.
Graveney and Miller were Read fans, while Fletcher, Vaughan and Flintoff, who had batted well with him in the past, favoured Jones. In the opening matches of the tour, it became clear that Fletcher planned to revert to him. He said he and Flintoff had also consulted “four or five senior players” and they all preferred Jones.
Former England wicketkeeper Jack Russell reportedly told Fletcher that he felt Read’s ‘“keeping channel was too narrow” and Fletcher said publicly, and – rather unhelpfully – that he felt he “could not handle the pressure” because of “technical deficiencies with his batting”.
Indeed, he was horribly exposed in the Tests, making only 63 runs in six innings, with some of the Australians cruelly calling him ‘the club pro’. Read regained his place after three Tests, but ultimately Matt Prior, who Fletcher had wanted on the tour, established himself as Test No.1.
The decision to omit Panesar at Brisbane resulted in an even bigger furore. He had taken 17 wickets in the four Tests against Pakistan, including eight wickets at spin-friendly Old Trafford and – even more impressively – another eight at spin-unfriendly Headingley.
The unremitting accuracy of his brisk left-arm spin was impressing everyone it seemed, except for Fletcher, who could not overcome misgivings about his batting and fielding. Fletcher felt that England needed Giles at No.8, and Flintoff also favoured the senior man.
An illustration of this was when Flintoff turned to Giles rather than Panesar in the opening tour match – the humiliating 166-run defeat to an inexperienced Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra – when the “flak was flying”. He also argued that Panesar was “ineffective” in the draw against South Australia.
“I could have taken the easy route and played Read and Panesar, but I did what I thought was best for the England team,” said Fletcher.
However, Nasser Hussain, with whom Fletcher had worked so productively as captain and coach between 1999–2003, advised him: “You’ve got to go with Panesar. It might not be the right decision, but you must do it for your own good.”
While the composition of the tourists’ line-up provoked vigorous debate, Australia selection was also dividing opinion. Ian Botham and Dennis Lillee questioned the durability of Australia’s experienced line-up. Were there too many aging greats? Warne, McGrath and Justin Langer’s decision to carry on, recapture the Ashes and then bow out, proved spot-on, though.
Australia left nothing to chance in their preparation, using GPS satellite tracking systems to measure their players’ physical activity, for example. They had also appointed Troy Cooley as bowling coach, after he had performed the same role with such distinction for England in 2005.
A Svengali of reverse swing introduced to the England and Wales Cricket Board by Rod Marsh, this would be his first series in his new job.
Marsh said: “How they didn’t wrap Cooley up is beyond comprehension. The ECB is an organisation that has a hell of a lot more money than almost anyone else in world cricket and so you have to wonder why it was haggling over a contract extension. If Cooley was the reason England’s bowlers performed so well in 2005 – and I think he was – then I simply don’t understand the ECB.”
A feature of the Fletcher era was the lack of warm-up games, leaving England ‘undercooked’, even if he insisted: ‘We prepared better than for any other tour.”
After the loss to the PM’s XI, Fletcher said they should have had a net instead, as there was no point playing one-dayers ahead of Tests. Following that, the tourists drew with New South Wales in a three-day game that saw the tourists – tackily – use 14 players. At least Pietersen found his form, making 122 against an attack that included McGrath, Brett Lee and Stuart Clark.
It was at this point Trescothick was forced to concede he had suffered a relapse of his illness, and returned to England, with Ed Joyce called in to replace him.
Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen were two of the few England batter to emerge with credit (Hamish Blair/Getty Images)
Bell boosted his confidence – after struggling in 2005 – with 132 in the three-day draw against South Australia.
Those English players who had toured Australia before knew that the warm-up games would only give them a hint of what was to come from home crowds in the Tests.
Cricket Australia, meanwhile, ruled that the term ‘Pom’, or ‘Pommie’, was acceptable when directed at the tourists after taking advice from Australia’s Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission.
Graeme Smith warned England they could accept far worse, anyhow. Members of his South Africa side alleged that they had been racially abused in Australia the winter before, and it was reported that Panesar had been called ‘a stupid Indian who can’t speak English’ during the New South Wales game.
At least England could expect their customary level of support from the Barmy Army, although they complained that they had their trumpet confiscated during the first Test.
Meanwhile, the Ashes urn had arrived in Australia for only the second time in 123 years, for a tour of six cities.
As the first Test approached, Border called for the hosts to be less chummy with England, echoing the approach he adopted in 1989.
It was also now a ritual for McGrath to predict a 100 per cent success rate for Australia. “I reckon it will be 5-0,” he said. “If we’re going to win 2-1, or 3-2, which games are we going to lose?” This time he was right.
It took about an hour of the first Test to highlight the gulf between the sides. After Australia won the toss, England looked as nervy as they had done in 1994/95.
Even more embarrassingly, the first ball, bowled by Harmison, was so wide it went to Flintoff at second slip. His first two overs cost 17, and he admitted: “I froze. I let the enormity of the occasion get to me. My whole body was nervous. I could not get my hands to stop sweating.”
Flintoff fought hard, but the contest was dreadfully one-sided, as Australia racked up 602 for 9 declared. Ponting made 209, Langer 82 and Hussey an unbeaten 86. “It didn’t have anything to do with the last series or anything,” Ponting said. ‘“It was all about getting off to a good note in the series.”
England’s response looked feeble, as they mustered just 157, with only Bell showing much resistance with 50. McGrath dispelled any doubts about his age, finishing with 6 for 50. He had not played a Test since January after taking time out to care for his ill wife.
Australia did not enforce the follow-on, instead making 202 for 1, with Langer scoring his first Test century since The Oval in 2005, and Ponting becoming the seventh player to pass 9,000 Test runs, as he made an unbeaten 60.
Australia set England an unfathomable 648 to win in 172 overs. They reduced the tourists to 293 for 5 at the end of the fourth day, and finished the job off on day five, dismissing them for 370. Collingwood (96) and Pietersen (92) put on 153 for the fourth wicket.
“We made a fight of it,” said Bell. “It was a fantastic wicket, and Australia batted very well, but all of a sudden on day two there were huge cracks, and McGrath kept pitching it on a perfect length and hitting them.
Damien Martyn retired after two troubling Tests (Hamish Blair/Getty Images)
"I remember one to KP that pitched on off stump and went so far down the leg side that Gilchrist didn’t even move. So it obviously became very hard to bat on such a worn wicket, after Australia had posted so many runs.”
Pressure was mounting on Fletcher, with Geoffrey Boycott the most vocal of the former England players calling for him to resign. The coach found further reason to criticise Flintoff, feeling he had become too friendly with Lee and Warne.
“The Australians seemed to have a plan and that was to suck Flintoff in,” Fletcher wrote. “They had identified him as a player who should not be sledged because then he will come back hard at you.”
He said that Australia’s sledging was “so foul-mouthed as to be a disgrace to the game”, and was disappointed that only Collingwood, and occasionally Pietersen, talked back.
Flintoff remained upbeat, saying: “The mood in the dressing room is fine. We’ve gone 1-0 down, but there are some characters in that room, real tough lads. As disappointed as we are, we can’t mope around. We’ve got to learn from it – it’s four games to go.”
Steve Bull, the team psychologist, told Fletcher that England should “get into the space of the Australians”, ahead of the second Test. Fletcher prompted Flintoff to relay this to his team, but the captain reportedly said, “No, no, Duncan, we’re having too many meetings”. Finally, Flintoff did acquiesce, however, although it was with the bat that England asserted themselves after winning the toss.
Collingwood and Pietersen put on 310 for the fourth wicket on a slow track, with Collingwood becoming the first Englishman to score a Test double-hundred in Australia since Wally Hammond in 1936/37. When Flintoff declared on 551 for 6, he had hopes that England could square the series.
Ponting hit 142 in Australia’s reply, though, and was dropped by Giles at deep square-leg off Matthew Hoggard when on 35. Hoggard finished with seven wickets, however, to earn England a slender lead of 38.
They did not take advantage, folding to 129 all out on a dismal fifth day, to lose by six wickets. Ponting said: “To turn a Test around like that, it doesn’t happen. Our cricket over the last three days has been as good as you’ll ever see from any team.”
Warne commented: “In 140 Tests this was the greatest I’ve played in. Everyone played their part. To go 2-0 up with three to play is a big advantage for us.”
Vaughan thought Panesar should have played at Adelaide, where “you needed your best spinner”, and Fletcher argued that he had wanted him and Giles to play there, with Sajid Mahmood also picked instead of Harmison, for his “skiddy pace”. The coach said he had been overruled by Flintoff.
After England’s collapse, Fletcher alluded to this when he said: “I’m not the sole selector”. People interpreted this as an attempt to deflect the blame, and Warne said: “It’s great to hear him contradict himself all the time – it can’t be helping England.”
Fletcher also said he was displeased with Flintoff and Harmison for drinking until midnight in Australia’s dressing room. He told his captain that their relationship was at the “crossroads”. Marsh said the tour had so far been a “shambles”.
Boycott summed up England’s despondency, saying: “I don’t think they can pick themselves up. The batsmen are making too many mistakes. You can’t keep depending on Collingwood, Pietersen and Bell. Flintoff and Jones are not making enough runs. And I don’t see how England are going to get 20 wickets.”
Even three and half years later, Bell’s disappointment over that fifth day lingered, and he said: “We had opportunities to get back in it at Adelaide but that stuffed us for the rest of the series. We dominated for three and a half days so we didn’t really feel nervous at the start of the fifth day.
"It was only after everything happened that we realised it was the most deflating moment of the tour and it took a while to get our confidence back; in fact, probably not until the one-day series. It was very disappointing considering we bossed the game for so long.”
At least he was winning over some of his critics. In particular, he stood up to Warne, who nicknamed him the Shermanator, because of his so-called resemblance to a comical character in the film, American Pie.
Talking about sledging from the Australian players and the crowds in general, Bell said: “It was quite simple barracking, it’s not particularly well thought out. When you go to a place like New Zealand you can get quite witty banter, but in Australia, it can be aggressive, and in your face.
"You have to sit back and laugh because it was pretty basic abuse. You come to deal with it. Wherever you’re playing in the world, you’re going to cop some… you just have to do it in the middle – score some runs, take some wickets …”
England fielded a curious line-up against a Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI at Lilac Hill. Alec Stewart captained a side that included Robin Smith, Adam Hollioake and England’s one-day specialists. They were beaten with nearly 10 overs of the 50-over match remaining, and learned little from the experience.
Damien Martyn provided one chink of light for the tourists, though, when he announced his retirement after two unproductive Tests.
Alastair Cook, England’s young left-handed opener, had also been struggling to make an impression. His technique had not previously looked problematic, but then he had never faced McGrath before. The veteran had troubled him with a probing line outside off stump. So Cook was particularly pleased to make 106 in a two-day draw with Western Australia at Perth.
Read also pressed his Test claims, with an unbeaten 59. Vaughan was asked to play, but then, strangely, did not get a bat, and he said: “I did not enjoy the intense spotlight on my presence in the team. The whole thing seemed to be badly thought out.”
Still, Flintoff tried to sound positive as the third Test at Perth approached. “This match is huge,” he said. “We’re very much aware we would be creating history if we did come back into the series.”
Giles received distressing news from home, however: his wife had a brain tumour. Thankfully she recovered, but with Giles now back in England, Panesar was finally given his chance.
Fletcher’s critics could not have been more thrilled when he struck with his seventh ball, bowling Langer. He went on to take 5 for 92 as Australia, who won the toss, managed only 244, Hussey top-scoring with 74 not out.
Even then, Fletcher could only say: “Let us be honest, this was a pitch that was very responsive to spin”, ignoring the fact this was only the fourth time a spinner had taken a five-wicket haul in a Perth Test. At least he highlighted Panesar’s “magnificent control”. Harmison also shone, at last, taking 4 for 48.
The tourists failed to take the chance to hit back in the series, however, compiling just 215, Pietersen top-scoring with 70. Panesar and Harmison highlighted England’s profligacy, as they added 40 for the last wicket.
Australia did not fail a second time, making 527 for 5. Hussey, Michael Clarke and Gilchrist all scored centuries to bury English hopes.
Andrew Strauss was overlooked as captain - but his time would come (Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Gilchrist’s unbeaten 102 came from only 59 balls, with four sixes and 12 fours. It included 24 off one Panesar over, avenging his first-ball dismissal to the slow-leftie in the first inning. The innings burying English hopes. Only Viv Richards, who took 56 balls to reach three figures against England in 1985/86, had made a quicker Test ton.
Set 557 to win, England did at least manage 350 second time around, with Cook making a calm 116 and Bell a fluent 87.
Pietersen scored 60 not out (although criticism was increasing that he was too low at No.5) and Flintoff 51; Warne took 4 for 115.
“We had an opportunity again there to go big in the first innings and we didn’t take it,” said Bell. “When you play Australia, you need to bat well in your first innings. We scrapped it out in the second, but we lost the Test in the first… I was disappointed not to score a hundred. This was one of my opportunities, the other was at Sydney, but I came away with confidence.”
Jones completed a pair at Perth (he had gone a record 51 innings without recording a duck before this match) and the manner of his dismissal in the second innings was humiliating. Stretching forward in defence, he over-balanced and was run out by Ponting. “The media had got to him,” said Fletcher, who admitted he had reached “the end of the line”.
The 206-run win confirmed that the Ashes were back in Australia’s hands (after only 462 days, the briefest ownership in Ashes history), but Flintoff was still upbeat.
Asked if he wanted to assume the captaincy permanently if Vaughan’s comeback proved unsuccessful, he said: “If the job’s available, of course, I still want to do it. I’m still proud to be England captain, proud to represent my country, and as long as I get the opportunity, I always will be. Stick with us, we’re trying, and we’re going to continue to do so.”
England’s fortunes failed to improve in the fourth Test at Melbourne, though, as, humiliatingly, their bowling plans got into the hands of the media, earning them more ridicule.
The arrival of wives and families was also said to be a distraction, and the fact attendance at the Christmas party was not compulsory again invited further, and, equally predictable, criticism. An announcement that Fletcher’s position would be reviewed after the World Cup confirmed he was under enormous pressure, but he maintained: “I have the respect of the players.”
Ponting had no intention of making his old rival’s life any easier (the pair famously clashed at Trent Bridge in 2005) and said: “I won’t be happy if we lose a Test here and I’m sure the other players are in the same boat.”
Ahead of the match, Warne and McGrath announced they would retire from Test cricket after Sydney, although the latter’s one-day international career extended until the World Cup.
Australia then ruthlessly crushed England at Melbourne, in a match billed as the ground’s 100th Test (overlooking the abandoned Ashes match in 1970/71). The tourists could muster only 159 on Boxing Day, with Strauss making 50 before becoming Warne’s 700th Test victim, falling to a flighted leg-break that pitched in the rough before hitting off stump. He took 5 for 39, his 37th five-wicket haul in Tests.
“There are some special days that happen in your life and that is definitely one of them,” said Warne, who was player of the match on his home ground. “That has to be one of the best days I’ve ever had.”
Australia initially struggled, reaching 84 for 5, but then burly Queenslanders Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds (who was born in Birmingham and had been asked to play for England) made 153 (Hayden’s fifth century in his last six MCG Tests) and 156 respectively. Their stand of 279 hauled Australia to 419. Mahmood enjoyed some success with 4 for 100.
England could only manage a dismal 161 second time around to lose by an innings, with Lee taking 4 for 47 and Clark 3 for 30. An accurate seamer viewed as the successor to McGrath, Clark took 26 in the series, the highest tally on either side, ahead of Warne (23), McGrath (21), Lee (20), Hoggard (13), Flintoff (11), and Panesar and Harmison (both 10).
After Warne departed on the shoulders of Hayden and Symonds, Flintoff said: “It’s been a tough three days. Australia have played very good cricket and we’ve been outplayed. We’ve not had too many answers and it doesn’t feel too good. But we’ve got one game left, and we don’t want to leave this country having been turned over 5-0.”
Bell admitted to me: “It was a proper thumping and another real low on the tour.”
The team again found themselves criticised for not celebrating together on New Year’s Eve; some players went on a boat with Flintoff, while others attended a party on the water’s edge.
Shortly before the fifth Test, Langer announced he, too, was bowing out.
Bell again looked good on the opening day at Sydney with a mature 71 before being bowled by a beauty from McGrath that nipped back. England once more failed to take advantage of a good pitch after winning the toss, and only Flintoff’s 89 guided them to as many as 291.
Although England were without the injured Hoggard, they did reduce Australia to 190 for 5, but the hosts rallied to 393, thanks to Warne, who made 71, and Gilchrist, who scored 62.
Warne insisted he was inspired by remarks made by Collingwood at slip. He retorted by telling Collingwood again that he should return the MBE he received after playing in only the Oval Test of 2005.
Fletcher criticised Read for not joining in and failing to make eye contact with Warne. Maybe the Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper realised what most other people were thinking: that such behaviour was counter-productive against a cricketer who could not be more confident of his ability to humiliate the English.
England then made a feeble 147, and Australia knocked off the 46 required without loss. The retiring Lee and, fittingly, McGrath taking three wickets each. He joined Warne and Langer on a lap of honour on an outfield that had ‘Thx Shane’, ‘Thx Glenn’ and ‘Thx Justin’ painted on it.
The series batting averages of the Australians illustrated their supremacy – Hussey (91), Ponting (82), Clarke (77), Symonds (58), Hayden (51), Warne (49), Gilchrist (45) and Langer (43). Only Pietersen (54) and Collingwood (48) proved a match.
“We scrapped a bit,” said Bell, “but after Adelaide, we were still deflated. The first-innings scores were just not enough. You got the vibe that it was the end of an era – and even after 2005, you felt that those players would have one more go at it. There was a huge build-up for those key players, who had been there for 10 years, so you felt they were looking for something special as it was their last opportunity.
“It was the final time we were going to see such greats in action. It’s something I’ll never forget, to have played against McGrath and Langer; not many people can say they have played against one of the greatest teams in any sport. Playing against them was a pleasure.”
Australia's fans were in England's faces from the outset (Michael Wilson/Getty Images)
Vaughan said: “I felt for the whole team because when that Australian team were as rampant as they were then and fired up by the memories of 2005, they were simply an unstoppable force.”
Boycott claimed England had been “absolutely annihilated”, but Hoggard was looking ahead when he said: “We need to not get mentally scarred, saying Australia are unbeatable, because it’s going to be a different story in 2009 and different personnel.” Even though he had been discarded by then, his assessment proved correct.
The debate about where the Ashes urn should be kept was reopened at an unlikely source. Virgin Atlantic had been contracted to take it back to London, but the airline’s founder Sir Richard Branson said Australia should be allowed to keep it.
His argument was diluted somewhat, however, by referring to the ‘MMC’. Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Botham and Border all backed him. “The space at Lord’s should be left empty until we get them back,” Botham said. “There’s no excuse not to move them around.”
For the one-day series, Vaughan rejoined the England party and noticed how much strain Fletcher was under. He wrote: “Duncan was beginning to react to what the media wanted him to do rather than doing things his own way.” Fletcher said that Vaughan’s return helped Flintoff, however. “When he’s not captain he feels a little bit freer, his bowling is a lot more confident and there’s a weight off his shoulders.”
Vaughan played only three out of 10 games because of a hamstring injury, and Flintoff led England to a pride-regaining victory in the Commonwealth Bank Series. He had requested time to make up his mind about reassuming the leadership as the Flintoff versus Strauss debate opened up again.
England managed to pip New Zealand to a place in the final (the last time the triangular format was used).
“The start of that one-day series was not particularly great, and then something clicked – the guys started enjoying their cricket more."
Vaughan began the campaign by having one-on-one conversations with the players, and he said he “quietly lobbied” for the inclusion of wicketkeeper Paul Nixon at the expense of the unlucky Read. The hyper-active Nixon was known as The Badger, and his behaviour irritated the Australians.
“It was difficult to control the players because they had been beaten up so badly in the Tests,” said Vaughan, who encouraged them to enjoy themselves again. He admitted there was “too much partying” as he opened up the captain’s suite at their hotel “as a kind of free bar”, but the approach – reminiscent of 1986/87 – worked.
England lost their first three encounters with Australia. The hosts won by eight wickets, four wickets and, on Australia Day, by nine wickets in a defeat that Vaughan called the ‘nadir’ of the winter. England had lost even before the lights came on, and Fletcher apologised to English fans.
They were also struggling against New Zealand, but beat them at Hobart by three wickets – their first win on the tour – thanks to Flintoff’s 72 not out.
They had to win their final two qualifiers, and achieved the first, trickier, part of the double by beating Australia at Sydney by 92 runs, with Joyce making an excellent 107. Vaughan had returned for this game only to get injured again, as Australia rested Ponting, Lee and McGrath – “arrogantly”, according to Fletcher.
There was still time for another Flintoff run-in with the coach. The allrounder had not returned to the team hotel until 7am after a night out with Botham, and was in no fit state for the coach’s fielding practice later that day. “He and Duncan were at the end of the road with each other,” said Vaughan, who revealed that Flintoff was given a “major slap on the wrist”.
England then clinched a 14-run win over New Zealand (who lost all four of their meetings with Australia) at Brisbane thanks to Collingwood’s 106.
Australia coach John Buchanan said England and New Zealand were not sufficiently testing his side, and those comments came back to haunt him in the best-of-three finals. Flintoff was captain again, with Vaughan fearing “it was the end of his one-day career”, although he did lead the World Cup campaign.
England sprung a surprise with victory in the ODI tri-series (Tony Ashby/AFP/Getty Images)
England won the first final by four wickets with three balls to spare at the MCG, the resurgent Collingwood making 120 not out and Bell 65.
Then they took the second final at the SCG, Collingwood scoring 70 and Flintoff 42 in a total of 246 for 8, and Australia could only make 152 for 8, chasing a rain-revised target of 187.
England had won the World Series Cup for only the second time, and the first since 1986/87.
Flintoff thanked Fletcher, saying: “Throughout the trip he has kept taking the knocks for us, but has kept backing us.”
Bell told me: “The start of that one-day series was not particularly great, and then something clicked – the guys started enjoying their cricket more. We scrapped it out, won a few tosses and batted first, with New Zealand and Australia having to bat under lights when the ball zipped about.
"It was an enjoyable end to the tour. It was a long tour but a good finish. Having Vaughnie as a leader and as a person, after the success he’d had in Australia, was just what we needed.
"We had injuries, but other people took their opportunities, so hopefully when we go to Australia this time it will be a chance for others to do the same.”
Although England’s one-day win was memorable, no one could forget the Ashes whitewash, and the ECB set up a committee to review the poor performance, led by golf administrator Ken Schofield. “It smacked of a public-relations gimmick,” said Vaughan.
Fletcher bore the brunt of the blame, and after the equally dismal World Cup campaign that followed, when Flintoff again found himself in trouble for falling off a pedalo late at night after drinking, a new coach was sought.
Fletcher helped the batsmen greatly, improving their techniques against spin, but the bowlers were less impressed with his methods. Most of them enjoyed success when working with Cooley.
Fletcher had worked well with captains Hussain and Vaughan, and there were memorable Test series wins, particularly at home to the West Indies in 2000, in Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 2000/01, and, of course, the Ashes in 2005.
He argued that England’s Test win rate under him was better than at any time since the 1950s, but he was still sacked. Flintoff never captained England again. When Fletcher had preferred him for the 2006/07 tour, he said to Strauss: “You might thank me for this one day.” Now it was clear what he meant.
Our coverage of the Ashes is brought to you in association with Cricket 22
RELATED LINKS (APP OPENS IN EXTERNAL WINDOW)
Ashes Chronicles - Part 1: The hastily arranged tour of 1946/47
Ashes Chronicles – Part 2: Bedser carries struggling England as Close has a nightmare in 1950/51
Ashes Chronicles – Part 3: Typhoon Tyson blows Australia away in 1954/55
Ashes Chronicles – Part 4: England find series a drag in 1958/59
Ashes Chronicles – Part 5: Illy blasts ‘The Sussex Tour’ – 1962/63
Ashes Chronicles – Part 6: Air travel spooks England in 1965/66
Ashes Chronicles – Part 7: Illingworth shows bottle at Sydney in 1970/71
Ashes Chronicles - Part 8: Denness encounters Lillee-Thomson firestorm in 1974/75
Ashes Chronicles - Part 9: Packer defections allow Brearley to call the shots in 1978/79
Ashes Chronicles - Part 10: England forced into swift return to face Lillee's heavy metal
Ashes Chronicles - Part 13: Gower’s flighty nature leaves Gooch fuming in 1990/91
Ashes Chronicles - Part 15: MacGill the destroyer as Headley inspires Melbourne moment in 1998/99
Ashes Chronicles - Part 16: Greatest Australia side deflate Hussain's resurgent England in 2002/03
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