Flashback: The last time Australia won an Ashes series in England
The Ashes is a historic Test series played between two of the oldest rivals England and Australia. The first-ever match of the Ashes took place way back in 1882 in Melbourne. Since then, the rivalry has just gone to another level as both teams try to beat each other to claim the famous urn. In recent years, Australians have found it difficult to win the series on England soil, with their last one coming 22 years back.
The Kangaroos haven’t cracked the code to claim a series victory over their arch-rivals in their den in recent years. The Aussies have enjoyed a lot of success down under but when it comes to beating England in England, they have not managed to do the same, with their last win coming in 2001.
The Australians toured England for a five-match Ashes series and also for a one-day international Tri-Series which also included Asian giants Pakistan. The tour turned out to be a memorable one for them as they defeated the English side 4-1 in the Ashes and also emerged victorious in the tri-series by defeating Pakistan in the final at Lord’s.
Talking about the Tests, the rivals locked horns in the series opener at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Adam Gilchrist stole the show with his splendid knock of 152 in Australia’s first innings and also won the Player of the Match award as the visitors sealed the contest by an innings and 118 runs to take a 1-0 lead. The action then moved to Lord’s for the second game. Seamer Glenn McGrath was the standout performer for the tourists as he picked up eight wickets in the match as his side claimed a victory by eight wickets to go 2-0 up.
The third encounter took place at Trent Bridge in Nottingham with the Aussies looking to seal the deal. And they did it by winning the Test by a seven-wicket margin with spinner late Shane Warne bagging eight wickets in two innings. With this, Steve Waugh’s side won the Ashes with two games remaining. The home side finally bounced back to snatch a victory in the fourth Test at Headingley in Leeds.
The fifth and final clash took place at The Oval in London where the Aussies looked in no mood of winning the series 3-2. Warne snared 11 scalps as they won the Test by an innings and 25 runs to win the series 4-1. It was the last time when they won it on England soil and with the ongoing series being 2-1 in favour of the Aussies, they would like to end the 22-year drought.
