England Defeats Australia Ahes 2009
Victory at Oval Seals Series, England Reclaim Urn in Dramatic Ashes
Sep 7, 2009
It will be a long time before a cricketing series lives up the showcase of test match cricket that the remarkable 2005 Ashes was, however the 2009 Ashes certainly provided more than its fair share of drama and intrigue as England reclaimed the Ashes for the second time in four years. After the disappointing 5-0 whitewash down under had somewhat over-shadowed the superb triumph of 2005, Strauss’ England proved that it was no fluke after a back and forth tightly contested series.
The two sides could hardly have changed more in the four years as only Ricky Ponting, Simon Katich and Michael Clarke returned from the Australian side that lost to England for the first time in over a decade. While only Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen returned from that historic English side, while Steve Harmison did also feature in the last two tests. This was not the clash of the world’s two best team’s fighting for the #1 ranking in the world, but a match between two young flawed teams competing in the age old conflict.
England Cling On In Cardiff
A flat, slow track in Cardiff made for a poor advert of test cricket as bowling was arduous and wickets largely hard to come by. England batted first and scored 435 despite the fact that no batsman went on to score more than 70, Australia demonstrated the batting potential of the track as Katich (122), Ponting (150), North (125no) and Haddin (121) all scored centuries in a huge score of 674-6 declared. Australia bowled well but England disappointed in making a meal in trying to survive the final days play, eventually it was left to Anderson and Panesar who saw out 88 balls between them to ensure that England secured the draw.
England Break Lords Curse
After defeat at Cardiff improvement was clearly needed for England and Captain Strauss led the way with a superb 161 in an England total of 425. England really took control of the game when they then dismissed Australia for just 215 led by four wickets from Anderson, and then proceeded to pile up 311-6 declared in their second innings to set Australia an imposing 508 to win. Excellent batting on the fourth day did provide the Australians with a glimmer of hope but a supreme spell of aggressive pace bowling from the retiring Flintoff finally ended their innings at 406 and secured England their first victory against Australia at Lords since 1934.
Result Not Possible At Edgbaston
A rain affected match at Edgbaston rarely had a chance for a result even after Anderson (5 wickets) and Onions (4 wickets) bowled well to dismiss Australia for 263. Despite then securing a 100-run first innings lead, England never really looked likely to claim victory with Clarke scoring a second imperious century of the series and Australia losing just five wickets.
Australia Dominate At Headingly
After being bettered in the previous two matches the Australians emerged at Headingly as a different side, Peter Siddle (5 wickets) and Stuart Clark (3 wickets) tormented the English batsman on the first morning of the test as England were dismissed for just 102. North (110no) and Clarke (93) continued their good series as Australia racked up 445 all out in reply and established an imposing lead. Broad and Swann hit entertaining fifties on the fourth morning but defeat was never in doubt for England as Australia completed a dominant and deserved victory to tie the series up at 1-1 heading into the final test at The Oval.
England Regain Ashes At The Oval
Batting first England only managed a somewhat disappointing score of 332 all out, again without a significant score being registered and Australia looked comfortable at 61-0. However, a devastating spell of bowling from Stuart Broad securing five wickets after lunch on the second day all but secured the Ashes for England as his bowling toppled the Australians for just 160. Jonathan Trott scored only England’s second century of the series to help them set an unattainable target of over 500, Mike Hussey scored a stubborn century but Swann’s four wickets and two remarkable run outs saw England claim victory by nearly 200 runs and with it the 2009 Ashes series 2-1.
