Why England won the Ashes?

1st Test

As I have said in the past I fully expected England to retain the ashes but I never would have hoped for such a brilliant performance in Australia! We travelled there with a very young and talented squad but we did not start too well as we were bowled out for 260. This was due to Siddle getting six wickets in an innings but there were positives as Cook got 60, Iain Bell got a fifty and Peiterson looked like he was on form getting 39.

In the Australian innings wickets fell in quick succession but suddenly Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin make a record partnership at the Gabba. Hussey fell short of the double ton and Haddin got 132. The English bowler, Finn, who has shown a lot of promise got six wickets as well. Australia posted  a big score of 481.

England came out to bat 221 runs behind Australia but soon this would all change. Strauss after getting naught in the first innings made 110. Then Cook and Trott broke the record partnership that had been set the previous day. Cook ended up with a huge double hundred (not out) and Trott made 132 (not out). Strauss declared on 517-1. They had a session to ball the Australians out.

The opening pair fell very quickly and the higher middle order did not to much to stop the English bowlers but yet again Hussey and Haddin saved Australia. England had managed to take five wickets but the match was drawn. England had managed to turn it around and they had the upper hand over the Australians. They needed to take advantage of this in the next test.

2nd Test


Hopes were high at Adelaide and the English turned up in numbers to see what would happen. England began bowling and got the Australians out for below 300 runs but Hussey had got a very good score.

Cook came out and made runs quickly but Strauss went for a few runs. This was not to perturb Cook as he went on to make 189 and then came K.P. He got his highest ever score of 227 and Australia were left dumbfounded. England declared on 620 runs.

The pitch appeared to have cracks perfect for Swann and the Australians did everything they could to stop this happening. They drove heavy rollers over the pitch for a long time but this proved to no avail as Swann got a five wicket haul and the Australians lost by an innings and 73 runs.The bad news was that Stuart Broad had to pull out of the tour because of a torn stomach muscle. This was the biggest Australian defeat since 1939! England were one up in Australia!

3rd Test

Australia were on the back foot and on the defensive. They were panicking and the fans wanted Shane Warne   back in the squad to see if he could inspire a major comeback to save Australian cricket form utter humiliation. In the end he was not needed.

England looked to have carried on their good form as they bowled the Aussies out for less then 300 runs again but then England returned to the dark ages where collapses were a frequent feature of their game. Strauss and Cook made a 91 run partnership and it seemed plain sailing until Johnson bowled. He managed to swing the ball round corners and took his place by the scruff of the neck after being dropped. England fell apart and Mitchell Johnson took six deserved wickets. Australia were 83 runs ahead, it would seem that England were not completely out of this one.

Australia made around 300 but Hussey had got them there with yet another high score. He had not been dismissed for less than a fifty whole series. If England could turn it around they might just be able to clinch victory and retain the Ashes for the first time in 24 years.

It was not going to turn out that way as England lost wickets quickly and made around 200. The Aussies had turned it around and the English had failed to take advantage when they had Ricky Ponting's team on the ropes. They had lost and the series was all square.

4th Test


90,000 people went to watch the Australians with hope that they could win the test match. It was not worth it as Australia were rolled out for less than 100. England had answered their critics very well and had shown that they were a new England team. They had the resilience to come to a packed Australian cricket ground and on the back foot and performed magnificently. They had got them out in less than two sessions but England had to take full advantage of this awful batting display. Tremlett and Anderson got 4 wickets each.

Andrew Strauss and Cook came out with a skip in their step and completed the best possible day for England. They got to 157 for no wickets down. Another thing that even worse than the performance was the faith of the Australian fans. At the start of the day over 82,000 Australian fans were present. At the end of the day the English outnumbered the Australians by a couple of thousands.

Day 2 of this test match arrived but this time it was the Australians who took wickets as the English openers fell in quick succession but then Trott and Peiterson  made a decent partnership. Peiterson got a fifty and got out but Trott continued and made another huge score of  168. Prior then added just over eighty runs to the English innings and they were all out for 513 runs. This meant that the Aussies were 415 runs behind the high flying English.

Australia started quite well as Shane Watson got fifty but as usual he could not get to sixty. A couple of twenties followed but then a massive wicket was taken. Bresnan had taken Mike Hussey for a duck and this sent the English into ecstasy. Smith and Haddin made a good partnership but when they were gone England dismantled the tail with ease! Australia managed 258 and yet again the middle order was the main failure. England now had retained the Ashes and went 2-1 up in the series. They had nothing  to lose and they were going for the jugular as a win in the final test match would ensure their first win for 24 years in Australia. On the other hand the Aussies were playing for pride and to give their fans something to shout about. They had lost again by an innings and 157 runs.

5th Test


This match was held in Sydney and Australia won the toss and decided to bat. This proved to be a mistake as they were all out for less then 300 runs. Ponting had been injured so Khawaja came in. The first three batsmen got over thirty but then Clarke came and went and wickets fell on a constant basis. Siddle and the tail managed to prolong the innings and take them to 280 all out.

Strauss made 60 off just 58 balls and Cook started slowly but made it count making a massive 189. Apart from 36 from Peiterson the middle order fell. Then Bell came and played terrifically and got 115 runs then Prior continued his brilliant form and made 118. England got 644 all out this meant that this was their fourth score over 500 and their second over six hundred! Australia had almost no chance of saving themselves from series defeat so they came out swinging the bat.

The Aussies did nothing much apart from a fifty from Smith. The batsman had failed to produce and this time it would be the last as they were bowled out for 281. They had been humiliated again and lost by an innings again. They had lost 3-1 and all of their defeats were innings ones. The English had batted to innings less than the Aussies. WHAT A TOUR FOR THE ENGLISH!

The Conclusion


Ricky Ponting had not performed and had not got over fifty once. He did not lead his side and was very angry in his manner towards the umpires. Watson had on almost every occasion got around fifty runs but he was unable to make it into a big score. They relied too much on Hussey and when he lost nick they just could not stop losing. Clarke never got a good first innings score as his highest was 20. Haddin had batted well and so did Siddle alongside Johnson.

The Aussie bowlers were not accurate and didn't reverse the ball almost at all. Siddle gave everything and was rewarded but the rest were not determined at all in the slightest. The Aussie management were not patient and constantly shifted the line-up like England had done previously.

The English were simply more talented than Australia and had better management. The English converted their fifties into big hundreds and double tons.The English bowlers were very accurate and they took advantage of the conditions.
Well done England you were the better team!

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