Author Description

It had been 18 years since England had last won the Ashes. Since then, Australia, their fiercest rivals and the world's best test team throughout this time, had prevailed. But this time, England were on a roll. They had been unbeaten for two years and had a crop of young, talented players. That the series would be closer and more competitive than usual was the general view, but no-one could have predicted that it would end so dramatically. At the end of the first test at Lords, English optimism had nose-dived. Australia were supposed to be an ageing team in the twilight of their careers, but Glenn McGrath destroyed England's batsmen, save for the new kid on the block, Kevin Pietersen. Yet, at the second test, England took command, first batting with carefree abandon, then setting a target that looked beyond Australia's capability when, with just two wickets left, they still needed 120 runs. On the last day of the second test, England finally won by just 2 runs. During this test match a new hero was born. Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff scored two fifties, and would star again with the ball in the third test at Old Trafford which, once again ended in high drama. survived the final 24 balls as a watching nation sat gripped. Unperturbed, England made no mistake at Trent Bridge, this time winning in four days, but even here there was more high drama. When Australia were bowled out in their second innings, England needed only 129 runs to win. They got there, but lost seven wickets in doing so. Now it was official. This really was the greatest Ashes series of all time. No previous series could match this for drama, tension and excitement. England went to the Oval knowing that a draw would be enough to take home the Ashes after nine consecutive defeats to Australia. The eyes of the sporting world fell on a corner of south-east London to watch the drama unfold. Ashes Fever relives the incredible story of how England brought the best cricket team in the world down on their knees.