On this day in 2014 – Australia complete an Ashes whitewash
If you are an Australian cricket fan, then the events that took place on 5th January 2014 will be etched in your memory forever. As Boyd Rankin edged Ryan Harris into Michael Clarke’s hands at second slip, a sea of humanity at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) erupted in unison. The Australian side had inflicted a crushing 281-run victory on England to complete a 5-0 whitewash and regain the Ashes.
Steve Smith, the batting hero
With the series already lost, England won the toss and put Australia in to bat. The Australian top-order was rattled by the England pacers and the hosts were reduced to 94/4 at the stroke of lunch on Day one.
That is when Steve Smith decided to take matters into his own hands. Till that Test against England, Smith had averaged an ordinary 34.64 with the bat. But on that day, the batting maestro scored a splendiferous 115 off just 154 deliveries in the first innings to allow the Aussies to post a challenging total of 326 on the board.
In reply, the fast-bowling trio of Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle took three wickets each as England were shot out for just 155. As many as six England willow-wielders were dismissed for single-digit scores in a disappointing batting display.
In the second innings, Chris Rogers tore into the England bowling attack and scored an attacking 119 at a strike rate of 70.41, and the kangaroos ended their second innings with 276 runs on the board.
A target of 448 in the fourth innings in front of a partisan Australian crowd was always going to be challenging. And once again, the England batting line up came a cropper. Ryan Harris was the wrecker-in-chief as he took 5/25 to clean up the England side for just 166. And, that meant that Australia had inflicted a 5-0 whitewash on their famed rivals.
But most importantly, this series was the advent of a batting colossus called Steve Smith. After that fifth Test in Sydney, Smith has scored 23 more hundreds in Australian colours and has become the fastest batsman in world cricket to 7000 Test runs. And, it would be safe to assume that Smith’s road to everlasting greatness started in that Ashes series against England in the summer of 2013-14.
