| Series: | 2006–07 Ashes series |
| Partof: | the English cricket team in Australia in 2006–07 |
| Date: | 23 November 2006 – 5 January 2007 |
| Place: | Australia |
| Result: | Australia won the 5-Test series 5–0 |
| Player Of Series: | Ricky Ponting (Aus) Compton–Miller Medal: Ricky Ponting (Aus) |
| Captain1: | Ricky Ponting |
| Captain2: | Andrew Flintoff |
| Runs1: | Ricky Ponting (576) Michael Hussey (458) Matthew Hayden (413) |
| Runs2: | Kevin Pietersen (490) Paul Collingwood (433) Ian Bell (331) |
| Wickets1: | Stuart Clark (26) Shane Warne (23) Glenn McGrath (21) |
| Wickets2: | Matthew Hoggard (13) Andrew Flintoff (11) Monty Panesar (10) |
| Previous: | 2005 |
| Next: | 2009 |
The 2006–07 cricket series between Australia and England for The Ashes was played in Australia from 23 November 2006 to 5 January 2007. Australia won the series and regained the Ashes that had been lost to England in the 2005 series. The five Tests of the series were played at Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. In winning, Australia completed a 5–0 "whitewash", the first time this had happened in an Ashes series since 1920–21. The series was also notable for the retirement of four significant Australian players, namely Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. Ricky Ponting was named Player of the Series.[1]
Ricky Ponting found himself criticised by journalists on his captaincy and performances in the 2005 series during the run-up to the first Test. When questioned in a press conference on this subject, he said "We didn't perform the way we would have liked and probably I didn't score the runs I would have liked to during the Ashes ... It's important for us to move on, to move forward from that; that is me as a player, me as a captain and the rest of the team as well ... We have managed to do that very well, we've actually played better cricket as a result of that."[2]
Andrew Flintoff, England's captain, called the series "the reason we play ... we are going over there to play in what could be the biggest series ever so there is an excited group of lads ... it is going to be tough. We know that 2005 was something special and whether that can be recreated I am not quite sure ... in England each Test match got bigger and bigger and we got a real feeling of what the Ashes was about."[3]
The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper described the series as "the most anticipated Ashes series ever",[4] and tickets were sold out within days of being available for all the games.[5]
Bookmakers were heavily favouring an Australian series victory, with best odds, as at 10 November, being listed on one site as Australia 1–3 to win, England 11–2 to win, and the draw 9–1.[6]
Cricket Australia made the first tickets available on 1 June, selling only to the registered members of the Australian Cricket Family, who were able to register in the months before the ticket sale. 182,000 of 635,500 available tickets were sold on the first day and a number of buyers immediately put their tickets on eBay at inflated prices.[5] Telephones and internet systems were delayed to such an extent that CA chief executive James Sutherland wrote a letter of apology to the Australian fans, but was still criticised by Brett Judd, the organiser of 1.5 million tickets for the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Judd called their approach "farcical".[7]
On 19 June, the remainder of the tickets went for sale to the general public and were sold out within two hours.[8] Cricket Australia later cancelled 1,300 tickets, which they believed had been sold on eBay at inflated prices, as the tickets had "breached conditions of sale".[9]
On 29 December, Cricket Victoria had announced that an excess of 47,000 pre-purchased tickets for the fourth day of the Boxing Day Test were to be refunded, as a result of the Test reaching its conclusion on the third day. Despite the Test lasting only three days, bumper crowds over the duration of the Test ensured that sales had generated over A$8 million in takings.[10]
Both England and Australia went into the series with concerns about the fitness, form and availability of key players: Michael Vaughan, England's successful captain in the 2005 Ashes series, and Simon Jones, England's lowest-averaging bowler during the 2005 series,[11] were unavailable due to injury. Australia selected Glenn McGrath for his first first-class match since he left the game in April for personal reasons. Other former Australian players such as Jason Gillespie were not selected.
The England squad for the tour of Australia was announced on 12 September 2006. Andrew Flintoff was selected over Andrew Strauss as the captain, in the absence of Michael Vaughan through injury. Marcus Trescothick left the squad on 14 November due to a "recurrence of a stress-related illness", after making 10 runs in two tour matches.[12] Ed Joyce was called up as his replacement on 15 November.[13] The Australian 13-man squad for the first Test was announced by Cricket Australia's National Selection Panel on 16 November 2006. Michael Clarke was called up on 18 November 2006 as cover for injury doubt Shane Watson.[14]
On 8 December 2006, a week before the third Test, Damien Martyn announced he was retiring from all forms of cricket.[15] Adam Voges and Andrew Symonds were called up to the squad to replace him.[16]
On 16 December, Ashley Giles left the tour to be with his wife, who was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He was replaced by Jamie Dalrymple.[17]
As with other recent Ashes series in Australia, this series was played at the main cricket grounds in Australia's five largest cities.
| Test | Location | Stadium name | Capacity | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brisbane | The Gabba | 42,200 | 23–27 November | |
| 2 | Adelaide | Adelaide Oval | 53,000 | 1–5 December | |
| 3 | Perth | WACA Ground | 24,000 | 14–18 December | |
| 4 | Melbourne | Melbourne Cricket Ground | 100,000 | 26–30 December | |
| 5 | Sydney | Sydney Cricket Ground | 48,000 | 2–6 January |
In the afternoon, Flintoff unexpectedly removed Justin Langer, who had looked set for a century but holed out to Kevin Pietersen at cover point. Ashley Giles, bowling in his first first-class match for 12 months, took the wicket of Damien Martyn but was innocuous, if inexpensive (unlike many of his colleagues), claiming no more wickets during the day. Ponting and Michael Hussey survived the final session of the day to close at 3/346. During the session, Ponting passed 100 runs in a near-faultless display, offering up only one potential lbw shout (given not out by umpire Billy Bowden) when he missed a sweep on a straight ball from Giles. The century took him level with Steve Waugh as Australia's leading century-maker, with 32 each. England's bowling was generally criticised, most notably Harmison, who was given only 12 overs out of the 90 overs bowled during the day. Andrew Flintoff was the only bowler to finish the day with his reputation enhanced, having been England's cheapest and most effective bowler. The pitch, however, was flat and not conducive to either pace or spin bowling and as England failed to use the new ball well at both the beginning and end of the day, it proved to be one of the most frustrating days in the field English cricket had endured in modern Ashes series.[20]
England had to negotiate the 17 overs remaining in the evening. After a reasonably solid start, England lost Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook in consecutive balls to Glenn McGrath. Strauss was lambasted for his dismissal, top-edging a pull on a ball too full to be suitable for the shot. Clark removed Paul Collingwood, edging an off-cutter to Gilchrist. This dismissal left England on 3/53 at the close, leaving England in a perilous position, Australia having reached a total more than 200 runs higher in any Test of the 2005 Ashes series before taking three cheap wickets before the close. Ian Bell and Pietersen were the not out batsmen, with scores of 13 and 6 respectively.[21]
Ponting chose not to enforce the follow-on and put his team back in to bat, a decision which surprised the majority of spectators and media personnel. Australia's lead of 445 going into the second innings was one of the largest ever held by a team which had then decided not to enforce the follow-on. This decision was in contrast to Michael Vaughan's decision in the 4th Test of the 2005 series, where he had enforced the follow-on with Australia just 259 runs behind. As on the opening day, England's bowling attack was again barely able to penetrate Australia's defences, and the home side were able to end the day on 1/181, the only loss being Hayden who was run out on 37 by Anderson while attempting a risky second run. Langer and Ponting ended the day unbeaten, with Langer on 88, and Ponting on 51 having scored his 9,000th Test run during the innings. The day was the third in a row which had gone badly for England and with the pitch showing wide cracks, offering encouragement to Warne in particular, an Australian victory was widely expected at the close of play.[22]
England began their second innings shakily, with Strauss out for 11 off Clark in a similar fashion to his first innings dismissal, this time hooking the ball to fine leg, the dismissal owing more to poor execution than the poor shot selection witnessed in England's first innings. Warne dismissed Cook for an industrious 43, caught by Hussey off his pads, and Bell for a duck, lbw to a slider, leaving England struggling at 3/91. Collingwood and Pietersen then rebuilt their team's innings in the second session, sharing a 153 run partnership. Collingwood was eventually stumped for 96 off the bowling of Warne, charging down the pitch while looking to reach his third Test century, and his first against Australia, and missing his shot by nearly six inches. Flintoff soon followed after scoring 16 runs, perishing to an ill-judged pull shot off the bowling of Warne. Pietersen and Jones were the not out batsmen at the end of the day, with 92 and 12 runs respectively, with England needing a further 355 for victory. Pietersen's innings was notable because of the manner in which he had suppressed legendary leg spinner Warne.
At one point at the end of a delivery, Warne picked up the ball and threw it to Gilchrist behind stumps albeit badly. The ball veered and headed to Pietersen, who was forced to defend himself with a reflexive hookshot. He could be seen mouthing the words, "Fuck off!" on conclusion of the stroke. The fourth day was a break from the norm of the Brisbane Test, which until then had gone entirely in Australia's favour. The partnership between Collingwood and Pietersen was the first of any substance in the Test for England and allowed some hope of an unlikely draw, with reports from some sources of an approaching storm.[23]
In a similar fashion to 2005, England named an unchanged XI for the second Test, despite Cricinfo and others suggesting that it was "almost certain" that Monty Panesar would replace James Anderson.[25] Australia also named an unchanged team after Glenn McGrath passed a late fitness test. He was earlier rated as a 50/50 chance to play due to a heel injury.[26]
Andrew Flintoff won the toss and elected to bat first. Early on, the dry flat wicket offered little for the Australian bowlers who toiled in the first hour for no wicket. Stuart Clark took the first wicket, with Andrew Strauss being caught by Damien Martyn for 14 runs. This was the third time in the series that Strauss had been caught attempting to play on the leg side. Clark then took the wicket of Alastair Cook for 27 runs, having him caught behind by Adam Gilchrist. The periods before and just after lunch were dominated by Shane Warne, who bowled with consistent line and length to keep both Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood restricted to about two runs per over. Bell continued his struggle against Warne, who beat Bell's bat on several occasions. Despite a slow scoring rate, the batsmen made a good fightback in the afternoon session, despite some persistent Australian bowling. Both batsmen reached their half-centuries in the last over before the tea interval, which England reached with the score at 144/2. After tea, England came out looking to increase the scoring rate. Soon, however, Bell was caught and bowled by Brett Lee as he skied an attempted pull to the leg side. Kevin Pietersen was aggressive from his first ball, going on to make his half-century off just 70 balls. The scoring rate increased somewhat in the evening session as England increased their score to 266/3 at stumps. Collingwood was not out on 98 runs, tantalisingly close to a maiden Ashes century. The day's honours were roughly even. Australia would have liked more than three wickets, but they did keep England's scoring rate low on a flat, dry wicket.[27]
The Australian bowling was generally ineffective during the England innings, despite keeping the run rate low. McGrath conceded his first analysis of 0/100 or worse in Test cricket, and was targeted by Pietersen in particular, who took three fours off his first over of the second day. It was speculated that while McGrath had declared himself fit for the game, he was still struggling with his sore heel. Despite his defensive bowling, Warne conceded his worst innings figures of 1/167.
Australia had to face nine overs before the close of play. Flintoff, who opened the bowling with Matthew Hoggard, took the wicket of Justin Langer during this short period. The Australian score at stumps was 28/1, making day two the first day of the series which clearly belonged to England.[29] However, the question remained as to whether England's bowling attack would perform any better than Australia's on a good batting pitch in the days ahead.[30]
At times England's fielding was inept, however. In the morning session, Ricky Ponting survived a dropped catch by Giles and a run out chance missed by Collingwood when on 35 and 43 respectively. Ponting reached his half-century just before lunch, taking his side to 3/105 at the interval.
Following the lunch break, Ponting returned to build a solid partnership with Michael Hussey. The Australian batsmen remained at the crease throughout the afternoon session. Ponting reached his 33rd Test century in the 62nd over, just before tea. This score saw him become Australia's leading century-scorer in Test history and took the home side to 3/185.
After tea, Australia continued to settle into their batting rhythm as Hussey reached his 50 in the 64th over. England began to lose the advantage they had established early in the day, with runs coming more easily to Australia. In the 73rd over Hussey survived a dramatic run out chance which had to be referred to the third umpire as he slid his bat back into his crease a fraction of a second before Jones broke the stumps off an Anderson throw. It was not until after the new ball had been taken in the 83rd over that England got a breakthrough. Hoggard was again the successful bowler, claiming Ponting for 142 and later Hussey for 91 in the 91st over. After the fall of Hussey's wicket, Michael Clarke and Gilchrist established themselves at the crease to end the day on 30 and 13 respectively. The Australian score was 312/5, 40 runs short of the follow-on target.[31]
Clarke and Warne put on 100 runs between them in the afternoon session, with Clarke making a century. It was late in the afternoon before England finally made some inroads, with Hoggard striking either side of the tea interval. Warne was out leg before wicket just prior to the break. Clarke was caught by Giles after tea, having made 124 runs, and with the score at 505/8. Hoggard and Anderson took a wicket each to clean up the tail within eight overs, so that Australia were all out for 513 runs off 165.3 overs.
Hoggard bowled very well to take 7/109 on an unresponsive pitch.[32] His figures were his third best in Test cricket[33] and his best against Australia.[34] Meanwhile, Clarke's third Test century had helped Australia pass the follow-on target and put the game into a position in which the draw was the most likely result.[35]
In their second innings, England passed 19 overs to reach the close on 59/1. Cook was the man to lose his wicket, caught by Gilchrist off the bowling of Clark for nine.[36]
England continued to lose wickets after the break. Jones swung his bat at a wide delivery and edged to Hayden in the gully in the second over after lunch. Giles made an eight ball duck, edging to Hayden, this time at slip. Hoggard was able to block for a while, but was eventually bowled off the inside edge by Warne. Harmison and Anderson each held up an end for periods before tea, but both were trapped leg before wicket by McGrath, Anderson's wicket ending the innings. Collingwood was the not out batsman, scoring only 22 runs, but crucially occupying the crease for 119 balls and approximately three hours. England lost their last nine wickets for 60 runs. Tea was taken at the change of innings with the result of the game finely in the balance. Australia required 168 runs to win the game, while England could only hope to prevent this from happening in the remaining 36 overs and obtain a draw.
With a target to chase, Australia started their final innings aggressively, taking 13 off the first two overs. England hit back, as Langer was caught in the gully off Hoggard in the third over. Hayden was caught by Collingwood after top-edging Flintoff. Hussey was promoted up the batting order to join Ponting, putting Australia's two in-form batsmen at the crease. The pair steadied the innings while continuing to score runs above the required rate. Again, progress stuttered in the 22nd and 23rd overs, as Ponting was caught off Giles at short extra cover for 49, and Martyn was caught off Flintoff at point for five. However, Hussey and Clarke were able to continue Australia's progress.
Hussey saw his team home, scoring 61 not out and hitting the winning runs with three overs to spare. This set off jubilant celebrations among the Australian players and the crowd, who had poured into the Adelaide Oval during the afternoon, as news spread of England's second innings demise, and the chance of an Australian victory in the afternoon/evening session. Australia won the Test by six wickets, and led in the series by two matches to none. The official attendance over the five days was announced as 136,731. Members of the Nine Network commentary team noted that it was indeed a remarkable victory, perhaps one of the greatest in Test history. Simon Barnes argues that "a match that should have been drawn was won by Warne's overwhelming nature; by the powerful outpouring of his chi or life force."[37]
In reply, Australia's second innings began shakily with Justin Langer bowled on the very first ball by Matthew Hoggard. Australia recovered well though through Matthew Hayden and captain Ponting, who were each on an unbeaten 57 at stumps with Australia at 119/1.
Ian Bell started aggressively against the Australian pace bowlers while Cook took his time, and when Shane Warne came on he found himself being battered for a 4 and a 6 by Bell off his first over. Bell continued to bat positively and posted his 10th half-century. England managed to add 80 runs for no loss, going into lunch at 99/1. Coming into the afternoon session, Bell and Cook played positively, attacking the Australian bowlers. Cook managed to post his half-century and soon England were starting to think about a victory. However, Warne got Bell caught by Justin Langer for a well composed 87. That left England on 170/2 with Collingwood coming in, looking to continue the good work. There was a period where Collingwood seemed so intent on staying in, he forgot to score. England went into tea at 170/2, having scored 81 runs for 1 wicket in the session.
England came out to the evening session hoping to bat through losing one wicket maximum. Just a few overs in, Collingwood edged one through to the keeper, out for 5 off 36 balls. After that partnership in which 15 runs were scored for 75 balls, England had to bat more aggressively and Pietersen seemed the perfect man to do that for the team. Cook started looking much more confident against Warne and soon he was one run away from his maiden Ashes century, not made easy by Warne but eventually, Cook got the run to bring up a 257-ball 100. The day had belonged firmly to England, but with just three overs left, McGrath took the wicket of Cook, edging behind to Gilchrist, and bowled nightwatchman Hoggard for a second-ball duck. McGrath proceeded to beat Flintoff with the remaining two balls, including an unsuccessful appeal for caught-behind. Flintoff and Pietersen, saw out the remaining overs, leaving England on 265/5.
Pietersen was unusually reserved and was almost run out by some quick reaction fielding from Hussey in the first hour, but was given the benefit of the doubt by the third umpire who eventually gave it not out, much to the delight of the Barmy Army.
After that huge scare for England, Pietersen charged down the pitch and smacked Warne through mid wicket for four, bringing up yet another half-century. Soon after that, Flintoff brought up his half-century with an inside edge and Ponting was starting to look nervous, perhaps considering England could pull off the impossible.
Australia finally broke through when Flintoff misjudged the length of a straighter ball from Warne and was bowled. He was quickly followed by Jones; his dismal tour continued when he was run out in astounding fashion. Having failed in an attempt to sweep Warne, Jones was struck on the pad, resulting in an unsuccessful appeal for lbw from the Australians. Jones, however, was too preoccupied waiting for the umpire's verdict to notice that his back foot was out of his batting crease. This fact did not escape an alert Ponting, however, who swooped in from silly point and underarmed the ball into the stumps. Jones was out for a duck – his second of the match.
The remaining English batsmen, Harmison, Mahmood and Panesar, offered the Australian bowlers no trouble, with the last man, Panesar, being dismissed by Warne two balls after the lunch break, leaving Warne with 699 career Test wickets leading into the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Pietersen continued a fine tour with relatively subdued 60 not out.
Attendance for the five days was 103,440, breaking the 1970 record of 84,142.[40]
The victory gave Australia an unbeatable 3–0 lead in the best-of-five series.
England subsequently collapsed and finished all out for 159 with Warne taking a further four wickets. England had lost their final eight wickets for a mere 58 runs. When Australia commenced batting it appeared that Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden might run away with the match, and England's frustration was compounded by the rejection of a number of creditable lbw appeals. However, Flintoff restored considerable confidence when he had Langer and nightwatchman Lee caught behind on successive deliveries in the 10th over. Australia finished the day at 2/48.
Although Hayden fell late in the day for 153, swiftly followed by Adam Gilchrist (for one run), the match appeared close to irretrievable for England. At the close of play, Australia had recovered from 5/85 to reach 7/372 (a lead of 213) with Symonds and Warne still at the crease.
This was the 100th test match to be played at the MCG. Attendance over the three days totalled 244,351 fans, which is the largest Test crowd for a match of less than five days duration. This included a crowd of 89,155 fans for day one of the fourth Test, a record for the Ashes and also a record for a Boxing Day match at the ground, just shy of the official all-time mark of 90,800 (set at the MCG when Australia played the West Indies during the 1960–61 season).[41]
The fifth Test at the SCG was the 300th Ashes Test. England made one change to their side from the fourth Test, with James Anderson coming in for Matthew Hoggard, who had suffered a side-strain. Australia named the same side that won in Melbourne. To recognise the careers of retiring Australia players Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, "Thx Glenn" and "Thx Shane" were painted on the ground in place of the "mobile" part of the 3 logos. When Justin Langer also announced his retirement during the match, a "Thx Justin" sign was painted on the ground also.
Kevin Pietersen then joined Ian Bell at the crease and the two batted for nearly all of the middle session, for a partnership of 108 including 70 from Bell. Shortly after tea, with England on 2/166, McGrath took Pietersen's wicket for 41 when he top-edged a pull for a Michael Hussey catch. After Paul Collingwood came to bat, Bell only lasted one more run before McGrath clean bowled him in his next over, leaving England at 4/167. Collingwood (25) and Flintoff (42*) then steadied matters until bad light forced an early end to the day's affairs.
Less than a half-hour in, shortly after Flintoff got his half-century, McGrath took Collingwood's wicket off an edge to Gilchrist. Within 20 minutes, Lee took the wickets of Chris Read for two and Sajid Mahmood for a duck off consecutive balls, reducing England to 257/7. Flintoff and Steve Harmison stayed at the crease for 25 runs before Harmison was given out lbw to Clark. Just before the lunch break, Flintoff fell for 89 after trying to slog Clark but edging to Gilchrist. A clearly out-of-sorts Warne was able to pick up his 1,000th international wicket to end the England innings on 291, trapping Monty Panesar lbw for a duck.
The Australian openers Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden started confidently, but Langer faltered on 26, gloving an Anderson ball to Read. Ponting and Hayden found batting easy against a defensive field setting until Hayden played a foolish stroke and top-edged a Harmison ball to Collingwood. Ponting appeared supremely confident against the bowling, but was undone by the fielding when an Anderson throw found him well short of his ground, and he departed for 45. Clarke was then caught behind off a sharply rising Harmison delivery. Symonds and Hussey then batted very defensively during the rain-interrupted remainder of the final session.
Symonds and Gilchrist added a steady 70 runs before Symonds saw his stumps tumble to a superb Panesar ball. Warne then joined Gilchrist at the crease and put England's bowling to the sword, with a 58 run partnership in only seven overs, including a four and six off the first two balls Warne faced. Gilchrist was given out caught behind, although replays indicated the decision was a bad one. Lee joined Warne at 7/317 but departed quickly, and Clark then delivered a sparkling tail-ender innings of 35. Warne's fairy-tale dream of a maiden Test century in his final match ended when he was easily stumped after swinging wildly at a Panesar ball, but he had earned the top-scorer mantle with 71, and England found themselves with a deficit of 102.
The English second innings began dismally with Cook edging to Gilchrist off Lee with the score only at 5. Hopes were faintly restored when Strauss and Bell appeared to be settling in, but after Clark trapped Strauss lbw and Bell edged Lee to Gilchrist, England were looking fragile at 3/64. Collingwood soon departed cheaply, and Flintoff was sent to the pavilion after an agonizingly close—but fair—stumping decision by the third umpire. Flintoff's dismissal would later prove to be the final wicket of Warne's illustrious Test career. Panesar was then sent in as nightwatchman, and survived to the end of the day.
At the end of the day, England were facing the grave prospect of a 5–0 Ashes whitewash after closing a mere 12 runs ahead of Australia with only five wickets remaining.[42]
Australia's brief second innings was paradoxically the time that England delivered some of the finest bowling of the series. Langer was given a guard of honour by the English team as he walked out to his final innings, but he was then clearly tested by a series of superb rising deliveries from Harmison. Regardless, the match outcome was inevitable, and it was Hayden who lofted a six, followed by a single, to conclude the innings, the match and the series 5–0 whitewash, the first since 1920/21.
The series produced some notable records.
The series was notable for the retirement of Australia's Shane Warne, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn and Glenn McGrath. Additionally, the Australian coach John Buchanan along with McGrath had announced prior to the Ashes series that his retirement would be effective after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 series (of one-day internationals), so that the Ashes was his last Test series as coach.
Major concern was raised in England after a dramatic capitulation just 15 months after winning the coveted urn. As a result, many criticised Andrew Flintoff's captaincy and the resultant pressure placed on him following Michael Vaughan's injury and his own performances in 2005.
Coverage of the 2006–07 Ashes series was broadcast as follows:
Nine Network (Live) WIN (Live) NBN (Live) Fox Sports (Highlights)
Sky Sports (Live) BBC Two (Highlights)
ESPN Star (Live)
SKY Sport (Live) ABC Radio BBC Radio 4 BBC Five Live Sports Extra Radio Sport| Preceded by: 2005 in England | Ashes series 2006–07 Ashes series | Followed by: 2009 in England |