Sport
Top five Ashes tests of all time
Australia took a 1-0 lead in this summer’s Ashes series thanks to a scarcely believable finale at Edgbaston on Sunday.
The Aussies will certainly claim that was one of the best Ashes tests of all time, but where does it place in our rankings?
We analyse the (subjective) top five Ashes tests of all time below.
The Oval – 1968
England had the chance to level the 1968 series despite Australia retaining the Ashes earlier in the summer. The hosts were defending a target of 352 runs and had Australia at 13-2 by the end of day four. By lunchtime, Australia had further slumped to 86-5, making an English victory seem likely.
However, heavy rain poured down for half an hour, turning the outfield into a waterlogged field. With only 75 minutes remaining, England needed to take five wickets, setting the stage for the brilliant off spin of Derek Underwood.
David Brown made low catches to dismiss Ashley Mallett and Graham McKenzie, then Underwood bowled John Gleeson with only 10 minutes remaining. Australia’s hopes now rested on opener John Inverarity, who had held his ground for over four incredible hours. It took another five minutes, but Underwood eventually trapped Inverarity LBW with his renowned arm ball, completing his outstanding performance with figures of 7-50.
Edgbaston – 2023
Fair enough Australia – we’ll give you this one. Not especially renown for winning the tight, pressure-filled games, Pat Cummins’ men must have thought they were down and out when Joe Root caught Alex Carey off his own bowling, with the tourists still 71 runs off their target with only three wickets in the tail remaining and a football-like Edgbaston support roaring England home.
Captain Cummins had other ideas, however, hitting Root for 14 the very next over before he and number 10 Nathan Lyon saw Australia home in front of a disbelieving crowd, sparking wild scenes of celebration.
That 40-minute period only really tells half the story of an unbelievable Test. Joe Root’s dazzing first-innings century, England’s sub-400 declaration on the flattest of wickets, Ben Stokes’ absurd fields, Usman Khawaja racking up over 200 runs in five days of batting. If the rest of the series lives up to those standards and levels of drama, it will surely end up being one of the best six weeks in the history of the sport.
Edgbaston – 2005
Arguably the most iconic English Test match of all time came in the second match of the equally iconic 2005 series in Edgbaston. This match belonged to Andrew Flintoff, who made scintillating contributions with both bat and ball, but will always be remembered for the eighth, ninth and tenth wicket partnerships in the Australian fourth innings – and of course that Steve Harmison delivery down the leg side.
Having amassed a first-innings lead of 99 thanks to 65+ scores from Marcus Trescothick, Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen, a Shane Warne-inspired Australia skittled England for 182 in the third innings, setting a target of 282 to take a 2-0 series lead. England however reduced the tourists to 137-7, and victory seemed a procession.
What followed defied all sporting logic. Numbers 9 and 10 Warne and Brett Lee blasted scores of 42 and 43 respectively to leave Australia needing 3 runs to win in the 65th over of the innings. In the third ball of the over, Harmison bowled one of his poorest deliveries of his spell, only for Michael Kasprowicz to agonisingly clip the ball round the leg side and into the hands of the diving Geraint Jones to send Edgbaston into ecstasy.
Headingley – 2019
Such was the nature of Ben Stokes’ sensational knock to win the third Test of the 2019 series that much of what occurred in the previous days gets forgotten. England would have thought they were easily on track for levelling the series 1-1 when they skittled Australia for 179 in the first innings, with Jofra Archer continuing his remarkable start to Test cricket by taking 6-45 under the clouds.
Joe Root’s side however produced one of England’s worst ever batting performances in response, amassing a poultry 67 all out to somehow gift Australia a 112 run lead – with only Joe Denly scoring double figures. Australia replied with a comparatively respectable third-innings score of 246, setting England a record 359 runs to win the third Test and keep the Ashes alive.
England were arguably favourites when they reached 245 for the loss of just four wickets, but a collapse of 5-27 swung the pendulum in favour of the Aussies. In walked Jack Leach to partner Ben Stokes.
What transpired was arguably the best individual innings in the history of the format. Needing another 73 runs to win, Stokes single-handedly dismantled the Australian attack, hitting eight sixes and 11 fours to carry his side to an exhilarating one-wicket victory in front of a raucous and emotional Leeds crowd.
Headingley – 1981
Our top three in this list could have been easily interchangeable, but, whilst Ben Stokes’ individual innings probably outweighs that of Ian Botham, the 1981 match itself just about takes the accolade as the greatest Ashes match of all time.
Simply put, this game was a work of art, with England all-rounder Botham holding the paint brushes. England’s dire first innings total of 174 gave the Australians a massive 227 lead at the halfway mark, with the hosts forced to follow on by Kim Hughes’ men. Defeat seemed imminent when England found themselves 135-7 against a relentless Aussie bowling attack.
However, a extraordinary return of 221 runs for the last three wickets, with Botham blasting 149* off 148 balls, saw England past the Australian total, though their target of 130 runs to win should have been relatively easy. Despite reaching 56-1, the Australian batting card unbelievably collapsed to 111 all out, giving England a ridiculous 18-run win against all odds.
