On this day: Flintoff and Lee complete a heart-touching finish
The Ashes rivalry brings out the best of both England and Australia. On 7th August 2005 – The world witnessed another Ashes encounter which was filled with excitement and thrill to its brim. It has been labelled as one of the greatest ever Test encounters. The Test’s finish was one-of-a-kind and the post-match scenes also involved an upright Andrew Flintoff consoling a shattered Brett Lee.
The prelude
It all started with Australian skipper Ricky Ponting surprising everyone by electing to bowl first on a batting-friendly wicket. The dominant Aussies, after winning the first Test, came out all guns blazing to clinch the second too and, anticipating another Ashes triumph. But it all boiled down to the cricket fraternity witnessing a nail-biting thriller between two heavyweights.
England, after being put to bat first, piled on 407 runs to indicate that the drubbing in the previous Test hadn’t affected them. Marcus Trescothick (90), Kevin Pietersen (71) and Andrew Flintoff (68) flaunted their class to put the hosts in the driving seat. In response, the Australian side was restricted to a 308-run total, with Flintoff and Ashley Giles scalping three wickets each.
However, the twist in the tale was yet to unfold as England witnessed a batting debacle in their second innings. The Warne-Lee duo dismantled the Poms by picking six and four wickets respectively. England was skittled for a meagre 182, giving Australia a 282-run target to clinch the Test.
The finishing chapter
Sportsmanship. Fred consoles Brett Lee, 2005 after maybe the greatest test match in Ashes history (c) AFP/GettyImages pic.twitter.com/70T0EubzJp
— Lancashire Cricket (@lancscricket) May 30, 2014
Australia kept losing wickets in their run-chase and it all came down to the final day, with the visitors needing 107 runs to win with two wickets in hand. To plunge more misery on Australia, Warne was dismissed hit-wicket for 42 and they seemed nearing the defeat. But Lee, along with Michael Kasprowicz, was glued in the middle to sail the side’s ship. And just when the Aussies were three runs short of the target, Steve Harmison bowled a short delivery and Kasprowicz gloved it to keeper Jones as England snatched a 2-run narrow triumph.
The world witnessed a disappointed Lee on his haunches after failing to cross the finishing line. The agony of the Aussie quick was evident from his body language when the England side was lost in their euphoric celebrations. It was at that moment when Flintoff won many hearts by his gesture. The all-rounder went up to shake hands with a devastated Lee and flaunted a brilliant display of sportsmanship.
The sight of one stalwart consoling the other one is still etched in the mind of every cricket fanatic. “We’d just beat them and he’d done really well and I like Brett Lee and he was crying,” said Flintoff about his move to go and console the speedster. “I said, ‘Mate, this is embarrassing … you’ve lost, it’s cricket, nobody cares, the trophy’s (tiny), f***ing get over it – it really does not matter’,” said Flintoff to help Lee get over the defeat’s trauma.
