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Edgbaston
05 - 09 July 2001
Australia won the toss and elected to field first.� While they succeeded early by dismissing Trescothick (0) they spent a frustrating session in the field as they dropped a few chances before Butcher (38) fell just before lunch at 2 for 106.� Australia tore though the middle order in the afternoon session dismissing Atherton (57), Hussain (13), Ward (23), Afzaal (4) and White (4) to have England 7 for 197 at tea.� Immediately after tea the formality continued as Giles (7) and Gough (0) fell at 9 for 191.� However, Caddick (49*) and Stewart (65) added 103 runs for the final wicket to take the total to a respectable 294 runs at 4.5 runs per over. �Warne was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 71 off 14 overs.� Australia began their reply and scored at six runs per over until stumps while losing Hayden (36) and Ponting (11) to be 2 for 133.
England struck in the second over on the second day by bowling Slater (77). However, this was their only success given a number of missed opportunities in the field. The Waugh twins powered on for the rest of the session and Australia went to lunch at 3 for 238. England only managed to remove Mark Waugh (49) in the afternoon session while Steve posted his 26th Test century just before Australia went to tea at 4 for 332 with a lead of 38 runs. No play was possible after tea due to bad light and rain.
England struck early on day three to dismiss Steve Waugh (105) to have Australia 5 for 336. However, following a rain delay and early lunch, England dropped both Martyn and Gilchrist in consecutive overs. These two misses cost England the Test. Australia powered on to 5 for 486 at the tea break. After tea, Martyn (105) posted his maiden century before being dismissed at 6 for 496. Butcher then took the wickets of Warne (8), Lee (0) and Gillespie (0) during a mini collapse. This brought specialist number 11 McGrath (1*) to the crease while Gilchrist was in the 90s. The pair added 63 for the final wicket as Gilchrist (152) power hit the Australians to a total of 576 and a lead of 282 runs. Butcher was the most successful of the bowlers with 4 for 42 off 9 overs. England lost Atherton (4) and when bad light stopped play England was 1 for 48 needing another 234 runs to force Australia to bat again.
England added another 51 runs on the fourth morning before Butcher (41) was caught behind at 2 for 99. Hussain (9) retired hurt shortly after and the inevitable English collapse occurred soon afterwards. Ward (3) fell at 3 for 142 followed by Stewart (5), Afzaal (2), White (0), Trescothick (76), Gough (0) leaving Caddick on 6 not out. In all, England lost their last seven wickets for 22 runs and an innings total of 164 runs. Gillespie (3 for 52 off 11 overs) and Warne (3 for 29 off 10.1 overs) shared the bowling honors. Australia won the Test by an innings and 118 runs.
2nd Test
Lord's
19 - 23 Jun 2001
Rain and bad light had a heavy impact on the first day's play in the second Test. Australia won the toss and sent England to the crease. After a much shortened first session, England went to lunch at 11 without loss. During the afternoon session Australia claimed Trescothick's wicket after he added 15 to have England 1 for 55 at an early tea break. England then lost Butcher (21), Atherton (37) and Ramprakash (14) to take the first day honours as England slumped to 4 for 121 when bad light stopped play.
Australia wrapped up the remaining six English wickets for the addition of 66 runs to dismiss England for a total of 187 runs just before lunch on the second day. The most significant contributions came from Cork (24) and Ward, who remained not out on 23. McGrath was the best of the Australian bowlers with 5 for 54 off 24 overs. Australia started their reply in the afternoon session by losing Hayden (0), Ponting (14) and Slater (25) to be 3 for 105. However, the Waugh brothers consolidated the innings and they went to tea at 3 for 187. England struck twice in the extended evening session first running out Mark Waugh (108) and then catching brother Steve (45). At stumps, Australia was 5 for 255 with a 68 run first innings lead.
England dropped four routine chances from Gilchrist's bat on the third morning allowing Australia to mount a match willing first innings lead. England did manage to dismiss Martyn (52) and Warne (5) to have Australia 7 for 378 with a lead of 191 runs. After the Break England finally caught Gilchrist (90) and then ran through Gillespie (9) and Lee (20) to dismiss Australia for 401 runs. Caddick was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 101 off 32.1 overs. England began wiping off the 214 run deficit by losing Trescothick (3) to be 1 for 8. However, England steadied until Atherton (20) and Thorpe (2) fell to be 3 for 50 at tea time. England began a fightback in the evening session for the first time in this Test. They took the total to 146 before Ramprakash (40) fell shortly before the end of play. At stumps England was 4 for 163 needing 51 more runs to force Australia to bat again.
The resistance of the previous afternoon crumbled on the fourth morning. England took the total to 188 before losing Stewart (40), Ward (0) and Butcher (83) without adding another run. From that point Australia had the ascendency and although England struggled to be all out for 227 the result was never in doubt. Gillespie was the most successful bowler with 5 for 53 off 16 overs. Australia made a meal of the 14 runs needed for victory losing Slater (4) and Ponting (4) before Hayden (6*) hit the winning runs to go two nil up in the series.
3rd Test
Trent Bridge
02 - 06 Aug 2001
England won the toss and elected to bat first.� Acting captain Atherton was dismissed for a second ball duck and Butcher (13) fell at 2 for 30 shortly before a brief rain delay.� When play resumed England when play resumed, England scored at four runs per over but lost Ramprakash (14) at 3 for 63 before batting through to lunch to be on the back foot at 3 for 93.� England took the total to 117 before the dismissal of Trescothick (69) triggered a disastrous collapse.� Stewart (43) was the only batsman to offer further resistance as England was bundled out for 185 in 52.5 overs when tea was taken.� McGrath was the best of the bowlers taking 5 for 49 off 18 overs.� The Australian openers took the total to 48 before Hayden (33) was dismissed.� Slater (15) fell five overs later at 2 for 56 and then England created an uncharacteristic collapse by Australia to lose the next 5 wickets for 46 runs.� At stumps Australia had limped to 7 for 105 with Gilchrist (4*) and Lee (3*) at the crease.
England started the second morning with an advantage, but needed to turn this into a dominating position by dismissing the Australians with a reasonable first innings lead. The succeeded in dismissing Lee (4) early but Gilchrist (54) and Gillespie (27*) took the Australians total to 190 giving them a slender five run first innings lead. Tudor was the best of the bowlers with 5 for 44 off 15.5 overs. The English openers survived a ten-minute session before lunch to be 0 for 11. England moved to 57 in the afternoon session before losing Trescothick (32) when an ealy tea was called due to rain. When play resumed Butcher (1) fell two runs later and after another hour Australia removed Atherton (51) for England to be 3 for 115. To have any hope in the Test, England needed to play conservatively for the rest of the session. However, as has so often been the case, the Atherton wicket opened the floodgates. Warne snared the wickets of Stewart (0), Ramprakash (26) and White (7) as Australia moved back into contention having England 6 for 144 at stumps.
Australia claimed the final three wickets for the addition of another 18 runs on the third morning. Warne was the best of the bowlers with 6 for 33 off 18 overs. This left Australia with a victory target of 158 to win the Ashes. England removed Slater (12) and Ponting (17) to have a sniff of hope at 2 for 72 and then Hayden (42) at 3 for 88. Stephen Waugh then retired hurt after injuring his calf while taking his only run to have Australia effectively 4 for 89. However, Mark Waugh (42*) and Martyn (33*) tied the score for the Australians before umpire Venkataraghavan surprisingly no balled Gough to give the Test to Australia by seven wickets as well as the Ashes for a record seventh consecutive time.
4th Test
Headingly
16 - 20 Aug 2001
Overnight rain and morning showers conspired to prevented any play in the morning session. When play was possible after lunch, Australia won the toss and elected to bat. England dropped catches from both openers that could have proved costly. However, England managed to break through to remove trap both Slater (21) and Hayden (15) in front of their stumps to have Australia 2 for 42. Ponting benefited early when he edged a ball low to slips and was given not out by the third umpire before scoring. He and Mark Waugh stabilised the innings and at tea Australia was 2 for 86. Ponting (144) finally fell at 3 for 263 half an hour before stumps and when Waugh (72) was caught players left the field for the day with the score 4 for 288.
England struck twice during the second morning session to send Katich (15) and Gilchrist (19) back to the pavilion. At lunch Australia had moved the score to 6 for 408 with Martyn closing on a century. England was able to blast out the Australian tailenders in the afternoon session with Martyn (118) the last man out leaving McGrath stranded on 8 not out for a total of 447 runs. Gough was the pick of the England bolwers with 5 for 103 off 25.1 overs. Atherton and Trescothick batted through to tea to be 0 for 50 at the break. However, Trescothick was extremely luck to receive a similar decision from the third umpire as Ponting received when there was far less doubt involved than in the first decision. After losing Atherton (22) and Trescothick (37) when play resumed, England started the long process of pulling themselves back into the Test by adding 105 runs in the session to be 2 for 155 at stumps needing only another 93 runs to avoid the follow on.
Australia broke through to remove both Hussain (46) and Butcher (47) in the first 20 minutes of the third morning to have England 4 for 158 still 89 runs short of the follow on target. Afzaal (14) then fell before the morning drinks session but then England steadied to go to lunch at 5 for 232 and needing only 16 runs to reach the follow target. England passed the follow target before the inevitable collapse saw Ramprakash (40) dismissed at 6 for 252 and England dismissed for 309 giving Australia a first innings lead of 138 runs. Stewart was left stranded on 76 while McGrath was again the best of the Australian bolwers with 7 for 76 off 30.2 overs. Australia's attempt to extend their lead was cut short by poor light and then rain, but not before Slater (16) played on and Ponting was dropped in slips. At the end of day's play Australia was 1 for 69 with an overall lead of 207 runs.
Australia made their intentions clear on the fourth morning by scoring at over five runs per over during the rain shortened morning session. England managed to slow the scoring down slightly by taking the wickets of Ponting (72) and Hayden (35) just before lunch when Australia was 3 for 146. England dismissed Martyn (6) shortly after lunch but then the rain stopped play after only 30 minutes and Australia was 4 for 175 with an overall lead of 314 runs. With the weather limiting opportunities to get on the field after tea, Australia declared without further addition to the score with the not out batsmen Mark Waugh (24*) and Katich (0*). Gough was the best of the bowlers with 2 for 68 off 17 overs. When they finally made it onto the field England faced a total of 15 balls and was 0 for 4 before the weather again interupted and play was abandoned for the day.
Australia began the final morning in devestating fashion by removing Atherton (8) and Trescothick (10) to have England 2 for 33. However, Butcher and Hussain dropped anchor and managed to bat through to lunch to be 2 for 109. The Australians finally managed to dismiss Hussain (55) just before the tea break but the damage had been done as England were 3 for 214 and had the scent of victory. Ramprakash (32) fell just short of the victory target at 4 for 289 leaving Afzaal (4*) and Butcher (173*) to claim a remarkable victory by six wickets during the evening session. Gillespie was the most successful bowler with 2 for 94 off 22 overs.
5th Test
Kennington Oval
23 - 27 Aug 2001
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first. The openers batted through to lunch after a short 15 minute rain interuption in the second hour to take the score to 0 for 66 at the lunch break. The scoring rate then climbed dramatically during the afternoon session. England made their first breakthrough of the day to remove Hayden (68) just after drinks when the score was 1 for 158. However, they were unable to slow the Australians who went to tea at 1 for 203. Langer brought up his century after tea and then retired hurt on 102 after being hit hard in the helmet by a Caddick bouncer with 232 runs on the board. England caught Ponting (62) when the score was 2 for 292 before the Waugh twins batted through until bad light stopped play with the total 2 for 324 and Australia back in total control.
The Waugh twins continued to mount a mammoth total on the second morning. They batted throughout the morning session to take Australia to 2 for 440 at lunch. England claimed the wicket of Mark Waugh (120) during the hour after lunch with the score 3 for 489. The Australians continued to plunder the bowling with Stephen Waugh also passing his century while Gilchrist fell for 25. At tea when Australia was 4 for 580. England seemed to be just waiting for a declaration as Stephen Waugh moved past his 150 and Martyn passed his 50. The declaration eventually ended England's misery at 4 for 641 with Waugh 157 not out and Martyn 64 not out. All of England's main four bowlers conceeded over 100 runs and the wickets were shared one a piece between Gough, Ormand, Tuffnel and Afzaal. England batted through the remaining hour of play losing only Atherton (13) at be 1 for 80 at stumps.
England resumed on the third morning by losing Trescothick (55) in the first over and Butcher (25) before drinks. England then batted through to lunch to be 3 for 158. Australia removed Hussain (52) shortly after lunch and Afzaal (54) later in the session as England crept toward the follow on target and at tea England was 5 for 259. Australia turned the screws during the evening session by dismissing Stewart (29), Caddick (0) and Ormand (18) to have England 8 for 350. However, Ramprakash (124*) finally brought up his century and added 59 runs with Gough (17*) to end the day at 8 for 409 needing only 33 more runs to avoid the follow on target.
England moved steadily toward the follow on target on the fourth morning before losing Ramprakash (133) at 9 for 424. When England had inched to the point of needing only ten more runs, Gough (24) was dismissed and England was all out for their highest score of the series of 432 runs. Warne was the most successful bowler with 7 for 165 off 44.2 overs having passed 400 Test wickets when he dismissed Stewart the day before. Australia enforced the follow on under cloudy skies and imediately had Atherton (9) caught when the score was 1 for 17. England moved the total to 1 for 40 when bad light stopped play with 20 minutes remaining before lunch. The rain started soon afterwards and no further play was possible.
Australia started the final day of the series in the same emphatic way as they began the series. Australia crashed through the England batting to dismiss Butcher (14), Trescothick (24), Hussain (2) and Afzaal (5) before England had added more than 15 runs. From there it was only a matter of time and when Ramprakash (19) fell the writing was on the wall. England added some respectability when Gough (39*) and Ormond (17) added 58 runs for the eighth wicket and took England to within 25 runs of making the Australians bat again. However, McGrath returned to the attack and took the final two wickets to give Australia the Test by an innings and 25 runs. McGrath finished the innings with 5 for 43 off 15.3 overs.
