From Root's Cardiff century to Broad's Trent Bridge rampage...
Sunday 23 August 2015 15:33, UK
England have regained The Ashes.
After their whitewash down under in 2013-14, Alastair Cook’s side claimed back the urn at the first time of asking, with a thumping victory at Trent Bridge handing them an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series before this week's fifth and final Test at the Oval.
But which moments were key to England securing a fourth straight Ashes triumph on home soil? We’ve picked out five below – but tell us yours on Twitter via @SkyCricket #myashessummer
Root punishes sloppy Haddin in Cardiff
Australia’s batting has let them down considerably in The Ashes but it was a costly drop on the opening morning – and a subsequent hundred for England’s golden boy – where their grip on the urn perhaps started to slip. Having won the toss at the SSE Swalec, the Baggy Greens reduced England to 43-3, with Adam Lyth, Alastair Cook and Ian Bell back in the shed.
That should have been 43-4 two balls later but wicket-keeper Brad Haddin inexplicably shelled Root – sorry, ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT – on nought while diving to his right. How Joe made him pay. Root would go on to make 134 and share stands of 153 with Gary Ballance and 84 with Ben Stokes as England, thanks also to Moeen Ali’s brisk 77, registered a score of 430. The home side were in the ascendancy form there on out, with Root notching a second-innings fifty and then taking the match-winning catch.
Anderson and Finn are electric at Edgbaston
Having been absolutely pulverised at Lord’s and seen Australia square the series, England needed a response in Birmingham. They got it through their most senior seamer as well as a rejuvenated one. Australia batted after winning the coin flip – a tad surprising, perhaps, after skittling England for 103 at HQ – and were blown away for 136, Anderson unleashing the "wobble ball" to seize his Ashes best figures of 6-47 and Finn, playing in his first Test for two years after replacing a jaded Mark Wood, nabbing the prized scalps of Messrs Smith and Clarke.
Finn’s best was yet to come, though, as the Middlesex man – once deemed “unselectable” by former England coach Ashley Giles – rampaged his way to 6-79 second time around. Some lower-order resistance from Australia meant the Test extended into a third day but the shell-shocked Baggy Greens never really recovered.
Blistering Broad runs amok at Trent Bridge
The only dampener for England at Edgbaston was Anderson picking up a side strain and being ruled out of the Trent Bridge Test – but how Broad stood up in his great mate’s absence. In a quite frankly barmy morning session, the 29-year-old scooped 8-15 in 9.3 overs as Australia crumbled to 60 all out. Broad dismissed Chris Rogers and Smith in his opening over to move past 300 Test wickets and then knocked off Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges and Michael Clarke to secure his five-for in 19 deliveries, the joint-fastest in Test history.
Broad proceeded to off Mitchells Johnson and Starc as well as last man Nathan Lyon to collect the third-best figures by an Englishman against Australia, only Jim Laker (10-53 and 9-37) is ahead of him. Records tumbled like trainers in a washing machine – an Alan Partridge reference for you there – with Australia’s 111-ball effort the shortest first innings in Tests. The Ashes were all-but England’s.
Catches win matches – and The Ashes
Broad’s bowling was exemplary in Nottingham but you could argue that England’s grabbing was even better. Ben Stokes took a quite stupendous one-handed take at fifth slip to account for Voges – the ball was behind him as he stretched – while Alastair Cook and Ian Bell also pouched splendidly in the cordon.
Cook’s boys looked like they couldn’t catch a cold during various times of their spring tour to the West Indies, as well as when they welcomed New Zealand in May and June, but whatever new coach Trevor Bayliss said or did during the team’s pre-Ashes tour of Spain, it certainly paid off. It wasn’t just at Trent Bridge were England shone either, with Root plucking expertly above his head at Edgbaston to dismiss Josh Hazlewood and Cook snaffling a fine chance at silly mid-on in Cardiff to send Smith on his way.
Wood bowls the winning ball
The Durham connection worked a dream for England in the closing stages at Trent Bridge. Stokes, after taking that ludicrous catch, rattled through Australia in their second innings, snatching a second Test five-for by ousting Rogers, David Warner, Marsh, Peter Nevill and Johnson as well as pouching Smith off the bowling of Broad at cover. Stokes' burst left the Baggy Greens 241-7 – and trailing by 90 – heading into the final morning and the 24-year-old did not take long to strike again, having Starc caught at slip by Bell.
Then, though, it was over to the always-cheerful Wood, who shattered the timbers of tailenders Hazlewood and Lyon to wrap-up a convincing victory by an innings and 78 runs. England's disintegration down under in 2013-14 looked a world away as the players underwent a lap of honour, guzzled ample alcoholic beverages, masqueraded as Bob Willis and doused Sky Sports' Ian Ward in champagne!
Watch England's limited overs series against Australia live on Sky Sports Ashes - starting with a Twenty20 international at Cardiff from 2.30pm on August 31.
