2001 Ashes

By 2001, the Ashes had become a bit of an obsession. Winning the urn in 1985 was my beautiful introduction to Test match cricket and retaining the Ashes down under in 1986/87 was the stuff of dreams during a turbulent time for English cricket. But then came 1989.

A series that has entered the hall of shame for the England national team, anything that could go wrong that year did. The 4-0 reverse was shocking, as 29 players were shuffled around in the vague hope that England could compete with the resurgent tourists. To be honest, losing 4-0 flattered us.

From that point on I dreamed of winning back the urn at the start of every Ashes series. But time after time it soon became clear that my initial hopes were ill-founded. Losing became a habit against Australia, but still I hoped that the latest series would be the one. You do it to yourself, you do, and that's what really hurts. 

Soon the Ashes wins in the 80s became a distant memory. As Australia evolved into the best team in the world, England lost five Ashes series after 1989, each following similar templates of missed opportunities, dropped chances, injuries, and the odd win in a dead rubber. Come 2001 I tried my best to be realistic, but the recent form of the England team had drawn me back in.

Under the captaincy/coaching partnership of Nasser Hussain and Duncan Fletcher, England had dragged themselves off the canvas after the 1999 series loss to New Zealand. Winning four series in a row - at home to Zimbabwe and the West Indies, and thrillingly in Pakistan and Sri Lanka - all eyes turned to the forthcoming Ashes series.

Another win came at Lord's at the start of the 2001 summer, in a ruthless display against Pakistan, but regardless of England's improvements there was still a vulnerability to the team. Hussain broke his thumb and would miss the final Test of the two match series. It would be the first crack in the glass jaw.

Hussain had been building a team in his image, and without their skipper England hurtled towards a defeat on the final day at Old Trafford, as an inspired Pakistan - aided by umpire David Shepherd missing a number of no balls - saw England lose eight wickets in the final session. Sky playing Have A Nice Day by the Stereophonics during a montage at the end of that match seemed like a sick joke.

Ever so slowly the cracks widened. And if there was any team that could shatter our jaw then Australia were top of that list. They may have recently lost an extraordinary series in India, suffering defeats in the last two Tests of the series. But before that point they had won 16 matches on the bounce.

It was not hard to see why this Australian team were being talked about in the same breath as the West Indies side from the 80s. Just look at the names. Hayden, Slater, Ponting, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Martyn, Gilchrist, Warne, Lee, Gillespie, McGrath. By the end of the series, Justin Langer would be added to that list.

The day before the Ashes started at Edgbaston, Australia were handed the World Championship trophy for their rise to the top of the Test match arena. By this point, reality was starting to bite. An abysmal ODI series against Australia and Pakistan hardly improved confidence, the nadir arriving when a gleeful Australian team dismissed England for 86 at Old Trafford.

The crisis in confidence was sadly matched on the injury front. Despite losing to Pakistan at Old Trafford, Graham Thorpe and Michael Vaughan had scored hundreds. But both were ruled out for the opening match at Edgbaston, and Vaughan would miss the whole series. 

"Even if Hussain had all his first-choice players, the task of taking on these Australians would be immense," Mike Selvey wrote in the Guardian before the first Test. "Now it has taken on an altogether different dimension." Sadly a statement as accurate as Glenn McGrath.

The opening Test emphasised the gap between the teams. Although a spirited last wicket stand of 103 between Alec Stewart and Andy Caddick dragged England's total to 294, Michael Slater took 18 off Darren Gough's opening over and immediately seized the momentum back. The much vaunted new ball pair of Gough and Caddick leaked 315 runs, as Australia amassed 576.

There had been the slightest glimmer of light when centurion Steve Waugh was dismissed leaving Australia 336/5. But we would soon get used to the scary sight of Adam Gilchrist walking out to the middle. Damien Martyn scored his maiden Test hundred, but after the recalled batsman Mark Butcher starred with the ball, taking four quick wickets, Gilchrist exploded.

Australia's last pair put on 63 - McGrath contributing a single - as Gilchrist justified the pre-series hype. I decided to drink to numb the pain and completely missed Gilchrist smashing 22 of one Butcher over, as I visited the bar again. Gilchrist's innings of 152 from 143 balls left England punch drunk too.

The inevitable defeat on the Sunday followed, but it came at a cost. From 142/2 to 164 out in the blink of an eye, England slumped to an innings and 118 run defeat, and lost Hussain for the next two Tests when a rising Jason Gillespie delivery broke one of his poppadum fingers. All our hopes and dreams were in tatters.

"Australia were a brilliant, inevitable juggernaut; England were a wobbly jelly," Tanya Aldred wrote in the Guardian. The day before, Australia had beaten the British and Irish Lions; shortly before the defeat at Edgbaston, Tim Henman lost another Wimbledon semi-final. What a weekend. Land of hope but very little glory.

It was far from an ideal start to a summer of cricket that Channel 4 were promoting. With big screens showing the cricket in locations such as Brighton and Bristol, the loss did little to boost the sport in a country that was getting dangerously hooked on reality programmes like Big Brother. Screening a Botham's Ashes documentary prior to the Ashes, English joy was limited to looking back 20 years in the past.

The pain just kept on coming. Mike Atherton took over the captaincy from Hussain at Lord's but England had not beaten Australia at HQ since 1934 and there was little hope of reversing that trend. McGrath took 5/54 as England limped to 187. Australia replied with 401, although England dropped so many chances on the third morning that you didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Giving Gilchrist four lives was never a good idea. His 90 took the game out of England's reach and the inevitable defeat followed early on the fourth day. For months I had been looking forward to the fourth day at Lord's; after 16.1 overs we were leaving the ground. We did get half price tickets for the India Test the next year. But it felt like a small crumb of comfort after the eight wicket defeat.

Thorpe would miss the rest of the series after having his finger broken by Brett Lee, and Ashley Giles was also ruled out for the last three Tests, as the Australians circled above us. Physically and mentally battered, somehow England managed to give us a rare moment of happiness at Trent Bridge.

McGrath took 5/49 as England struggled to 185, yet late on day one the tourists were reduced to 102/7 as Australia looked almost human. Sadly any aspirations of a famous win lasted just a day; another Gilchrist half century managed to edge Australia into a narrow first innings lead and when England closed on 144/6 the fat lady was gargling.

Shane Warne was the star with the ball in England's second innings, taking 6/33 as Australia were set just 158 to retain the Ashes. Warne would end the series with 31 wickets, McGrath with 32. How could England or any team compete in a series against two legends of the sport?

At 89/3 and with Steve Waugh retiring hurt due to a calf strain, there were brief dreams. Yet deep down you knew that was not going to happen. Australia's seven wicket win had seen them retain the Ashes in 11 (ELEVEN) days. Simply brutal.

Of course, England being England there was one Test to enjoy during the series. Winning dead matches was part of our DNA during many Ashes defeats and another would arrive at Headingley. In truth the win only came about due to a generous declaration from stand-in skipper Gilchrist - bad weather forcing his hand as Australia strived for the whitewash - and the innings of a lifetime from Butcher.

Butcher had lost his way since an Ashes hundred at Brisbane in 1998/99. But after working on his game with his dad in the winter, injuries gave him another shot. Even then he almost blew it. Spotted out late in Nottingham during the Test, a decision had been taken to drop him, with Kent's David Fulton coming in. But a late change of heart by the returning Hussain set up Butcher's finest hour.

Attending the fourth day in Leeds was not much fun. With the umpires looking at their light meters after just 24.5 overs of play at least it looked like we might get a 50% refund on our tickets. Just one ball later the players left the field. If a moment could sum up the summer then this was it. Or maybe missing day three at the Oval because of food poisoning was a more graphical representation.

Chasing 315 for victory on the last day, England looked in trouble at 33/2. But Butcher, aided by Hussain, weathered the storm as their 181-run partnership broke the back of the innings. It was hard to recall a finer England innings as Butcher entered the zone that players dream of during their careers. His unbeaten 173 was rightly lauded by all who were there to see it.

Yet just three days later the feelgood factor fled at the Oval. The recalled Langer celebrated with a hundred, Mark Waugh also reaching three figures. But the most remarkable century belonged to Steve Waugh. Effectively batting on one leg, Australia's skipper limped his way to 157. The image of him laying on the turf, bat raised as he scored the single to reach his landmark, was iconic.

The returning Phil Tufnell ended with figures of 1/174 as Australia eased to 641/4. A first home test century from Mark Ramprakash, and 50s from Marcus Trescothick, Hussain, and Usman Afzaal - the latter celebrating as if he had won the Ashes - failed to drag England past the follow-on mark and Australia's innings and 25 runs win confirmed their superiority.

During the last rites there was a sad moment. Atherton, appropriately dismissed by McGrath, had played his final Test innings. With Stewart and Gough also ruling themselves out of the forthcoming tour to India, it seemed that the building blocks of England's recent success were slowly being removed. 

Hussain was usually forthright when assessing the 2001 Ashes in his Playing With Fire autobiography. "I'm afraid it was the same old Ashes story. Groundhog day. One good game for us, four good ones for them. Lots of English injuries. Some basic mistakes. Not enough batters getting big runs and lots of dropped catches."

It was hard to be too critical of England. Naturally there were calls to turn to youth again, but that was a typical kneejerk reaction. Injuries did not help, but Hussain had proved that his team could be competitive against anyone but Australia, and they would continue to do so. There was no disgrace in holding your hands up and admitting just how good Australia were.

I didn't think in 1985 that I would be a dad by the next time England would win a home Ashes series. Why would I? I also didn't think in 2001 that I would lose all my hair and reach middle-age before Australia's next series win in England. Beating Australia seemed further away than ever before in 2001. But by 2005 I was ready to believe again.