2005 Ashes series

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The 2005 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Starting on 21 July 2005, England and Australia played five Tests, with the Ashes held by Australia as the most recent victors. The final result was a 2–1 series win for England, who succeeded (for the first time since 1986–87) in their biennial attempt to win the urn. In March 2005, Australia captain Ricky Ponting said this Ashes series would be the closest since Australia's dominance began in 1989. Since 1989, when Australia started their winning Ashes streak, England had lost by more than one match in all but one of the series played, that of 1997. During that period, Australia were the pre-eminent team in the world, while England had dropped from being the top-rated in 1981 to sixth for much of the 1990s, reaching a low point in 1999 with a series loss to New Zealand leaving them bottom of the unofficial Wisden Cricketers' Almanack rankings. However, since the previous series...

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