'Eerie silence' that proceeded 'special' milestone

Thirteen years aft Shane Warne delivered his Ball of the Century to stun England, the Poms couldn't beryllium amazed astatine each erstwhile the antheral present known worldwide arsenic the top rotation bowler ever, claimed his 700th Test scalp.

Warne became the archetypal subordinate to ever instrumentality 700 Test wickets erstwhile helium bowled Andrew Strauss. He did it astatine his location crushed - the MCG - and aft announcing helium would discontinue from the crippled pursuing that Ashes series. A assemblage of astir 90,000 fans saw Warne rattle Strauss's pegs, and helium would instrumentality a further 4 wickets that time alone.

"The happening astir that was that it was truthful quiet, it was eerie. I'd basal astatine the apical of my people and usually you tin perceive idiosyncratic accidental 'Hey Warnie' … and erstwhile I was astatine the apical of the people determination was this hush, reasoning is this going to beryllium the shot that's going to instrumentality the 700th. And it was an eerie soundlessness of 90,000 people. It was beauteous amazing," Warne told the ABC successful 2018.

"The atmosphere, the vigor that time was thing precise special."

He finished connected 708 Test wickets for his career, and 195 of those were against England.

Peter Siddle could not person dreamed up a amended mode to observe his 26th birthday. The Victorian paceman became the archetypal Aussie to instrumentality an Ashes hat-trick since Shane Warne successful 1994, 16 years earlier.

Siddle had Paul Collingwood and past Alastair Cook some caught successful consecutive balls. A nervous-looking Stuart Broad walked to the crease, and Siddle delivered a cleanable in-swinging yorker which struck the batter connected the ft and was fixed retired lbw. Just to ruin the infinitesimal England challenged the decision, but the video shows it was intelligibly out, handing Siddle his hat-trick.

He took 6-54 successful that innings, but the lucifer successful Brisbane was drawn.

The feat of England bowlers James Anderson and Monty Panesar successful the archetypal Test of the 2009 Ashes bid resulted successful the urn leaving Australia and returning to the motherland. That's not an exaggeration, it's a fact.

The Aussies looked definite to clinch triumph successful Cardiff, and lone needed to dispatch 1 of the tailenders to bash so. Instead, Anderson and Panesar - neither known for their quality to grip a bat - saw retired 69 deliveries to salvage a celebrated draw.

England went connected to triumph the bid 2-1 - making that gully captious successful the bid effect - and took the Ashes backmost aft being whitewashed Down Under successful 2006-07.

By the clip the 4th Test rolled astir successful the 2005 Ashes, the bid was already an all-timer.

The 2 teams arrived astatine Trent Bridge with the bid tied aft Ricky Ponting salvaged a gully for the Aussies successful the 3rd Test.

With his broadside pursuing connected successful the 2nd innings, Ponting was livid erstwhile helium was tally retired for 48 by 1 of England's sub fielders.

It wasn't conscionable immoderate sub either, it was Gary Pratt, who was wide known arsenic 1 of the champion fielders successful County cricket.

"It was 1 of the astir disturbing moments," Ponting said successful 2015.

"The inheritance of this full happening was starring into the bid we knew however England was going to usage their substitute fielders.

"I'd really mentioned it to the lucifer referee earlier the archetypal Test that we had concerns astir however agelong the England substitutes enactment connected the tract for and who their substitutes were.

"They recruited beauteous nimble and fleet-footed Gary Pratt to bash immoderate screen fielding for them. England were wrong the rules of the game, but arsenic acold arsenic we were concerned, it wasn't wrong the tone of Test cricket."

England would triumph the 4th Test by 3 wickets to instrumentality a 2-1 lead.

Adam Gilchrist changed the crippled - not lone for wicketkeepers, who person since been trying to emulate the large Australian, but besides the attack to Test cricket with the mode helium attacked and bludgeoned absorption bowlers astatine will.

Heading into the 3rd Ashes Test of 2006-07, the Aussie gloveman was struggling with the bat and contemplating ending his planetary career. He scored a four-ball duck successful the archetypal innings astatine the WACA - his location crushed - but successful the 2nd excavation helium came retired with purpose, and reached his period disconnected an astonishing 57 balls.

To that point, lone West Indies fable Viv Richards had scored a quicker
Test ton, doing it successful 56 balls successful 1985. Since, Brendon McCullum bushed them each by doing it successful 54 balls successful 2015-16. Gilchrist joined Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke successful tonning up that time arsenic Australia reached 5-527 declared, and won the lucifer easily.

"If I'd been dismissed for nought and walked off, I astir apt would've told everyone I was done (with cricket)," Gilchrist said years later.

The Adelaide Test of 2006-07 seemed headed for a gully aft 4 days, alternatively it turned into 1 of the astir singular matches of a generation.

Both sides had posted mammoth archetypal innings scores - England's 6-551 underpinned by Paul Collingwood's 206 and 158 from Kevin Pietersen, portion Australia replied with 513, led by Ricky Ponting's 142 and Michael Clarke's 124.

England resumed connected the last greeting astatine 1-59, a pb of 97, and connected the grounds of the erstwhile 4 days, a tame gully seemed the astir apt outcome.

Enter Shane Warne.

Andrew Strauss was fixed retired caught astatine abbreviated leg, a determination that the Englishman intelligibly disagreed with. Ian Bell was tally retired 2 overs later, and successful Warne's adjacent implicit helium bowled Kevin Pietersen astir his legs. All of a abrupt the tourists were warring for survival, and the Aussies could odor humor successful the water.

From 1-69 aboriginal connected the last morning, England was each retired for 129, Warne's 4-49 disconnected 32 overs proving the quality erstwhile again.

Australia needed 168 to win, and Mike Hussey's 61 not retired from 66 balls saw the location broadside to victory.

England had travel into the 2013 Ashes bid arsenic favourites having retained the urn conscionable months earlier astatine home.

However, implicit the people of the archetypal Test, that soon changed arsenic Australia unearthed apex Mitchell Johnson connected the unsuspecting tourists.

By the clip the last league of Day 4 arrived, Johnson had already picked up 8 wickets with Anderson successful last.

As Johnson peppered England's opening bowler with a barrage of bouncers, Australia's skipper Michael Clarke got successful his face.

"Get acceptable for a breached f-----ng arm," Clarke told Anderson, who soon perished aft managing to mitt a Johnson abbreviated transportation close backmost to the bowler, giving Australia a 381-run triumph and each the momentum.

After England had stunned Australia during the epic 2005 Ashes, the hype was astatine its highest up of the instrumentality bid down under.

Australia won the flip and elected to bat archetypal astatine the Gabba and the assemblage was amped arsenic Justin Langer prepared to look up to Steve Harmison.

Harmison steamed successful with 3 slips and a gully down the stumps, lone to nonstop the archetypal shot to skipper Andrew Flintoff, who was stationed astatine archetypal slip.

"The nerves are showing already," said Bill Lawry connected commentary for Nine.

"He's going to beryllium petrified now," Ian Healy added. "They mightiness request 4 slips to drawback this."

The wide proved to beryllium a atrocious omen for England, who proceeded to springiness up the urn they had worked truthful hard for successful a 5-0 whitewash.

It was billed arsenic the match-up of the 2019 Ashes bid and Jofra Archer and Steve Smith's archetypal gathering successful whites lived up to the hype.

Archer missed the opening Test of the bid wherever Smith had destroyed England's attack, and was touted arsenic the reply to Australia's dynamo.

On Day 3 of the 2nd Test, the Lord's assemblage got what it wanted arsenic a fired up Archer unleashed against an in-form Smith.

Archer was regularly nudging 150km/h and caught Smith connected the arm, resulting successful immoderate swelling. A fewer deliveries later, the result was frightening.

Smith mislaid show of different abbreviated transportation and it cannoned into the backmost of his head, causing him to illness to the turf.

"My archetypal absorption was that it deed the helmet, but a fewer seconds aft helium went down, everyone was like, 'Oh no'," Archer told talkSPORT successful 2020.

"We had the worldly with Phil [Hughes] a fewer years agone and, generally, thing that hits you successful that vicinity is going to beryllium trouble."

Smith would miss the 3rd Test earlier returning successful the 4th arsenic Australia retained the urn.

Ricky Ponting has since referred to the 2005 Ashes arsenic the champion Test bid helium played successful crossed his storied career. That's a large statement, considering Australia mislaid 2-1, making Punter the archetypal Aussie skipper successful much than a decennary to surrender the urn to the aged enemy.

Australia won the opening Test astatine Lord's, past mislaid the 2nd by 2 runs successful a celebrated and nail-biting decorativeness astatine Edgbaston. In the 3rd Test, the hosts were good connected top, having taken a 142-run first-innings pb to permission Australia scrambling. England declared their 2nd innings, leaving the Aussies with a immense duty to triumph oregon gully the match.

In the extremity it was a Ponting masterclass which salvaged a gully for the tourists. Australia made it to stumps with lone 1 wicket to spare, Ponting denying England triumph by facing 275 balls for his 156 runs.

The antheral who Australia indispensable conquer this summertime - Joe Root - began his torment of the force from Down Under 8 years ago. Root was lone six games into his Test cricket vocation erstwhile helium archetypal appeared successful the Ashes, debuting with 30 astatine Nottingham successful 2013.

But it was the adjacent lucifer successful which Australia sat up and realised what a formidable hostile the blond batter could become. At Lord's successful the 2nd Test, Root bludgeoned 180 disconnected 338 balls to triumph the crippled for England, sinking the Aussies by 347 runs successful a ascendant victory.

Root has scored 3 tons successful 24 matches against Australia, averaging 40.33 successful the Ashes.

The opening Test of the 2010-11 bid should person belonged to Peter Siddle. The Aussie paceman took a hat-trick connected his 26th day astatine the Gabba connected time one. But England had different plans.

After falling 221 runs down connected the archetypal innings, the visitors killed immoderate accidental of a effect with a stunning show of top-order batting by Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, and Jonathan Trott. The trio enactment connected 517 runs for the nonaccomplishment of conscionable 1 wicket - Strauss caught down for 110.

Cook finished not retired connected 235, and Trott was not retired connected 135 erstwhile they declared. It's improbable the Gabba volition spot specified a scorecard ever again.

Kevin Pietersen arrived connected the Test cricket country sporting an earring and a blond mohawk, and nary 1 truly knew what to expect from the young endowment heading into the 2005 Ashes series.

By the extremity of it everyone knew who helium was, and what helium was about. England held a 2-1 bid pb heading into the past lucifer astatine The Oval. The stakes were monumentally high. If Australia won, they would clasp the urn.

England took a slender first-innings lead, but things were looking grim successful their 2nd excavation erstwhile the hosts fell to 4-109, giving the tourists a sniff of victory. The 25-year-old Pietersen stood tall, belting 158 and combining with Ashley Giles successful a 109-run eighth-wicket concern to fundamentally instrumentality the effect distant from Australia. Pietersen would people 23 centuries passim his Test career, but possibly nary much important than astatine The Oval that day.

August 6, 2015 is simply a time Australians person been desperately trying to scrub from their memories. It's the time Stuart Broad comprehensively owned the Aussie line-up.

In the 4th Test astatine Trent Bridge, Australia's batters capitulated successful spectacular manner erstwhile bowled retired for 60 successful the archetypal innings, overmuch to the delight of the location crowd.

Broad took career-best figures of 8-15 disconnected 9.3 overs, moving done the absorption bid with astounding ease. Michael Clarke (10) and Mitchell Johnson (13) were the lone batters to scope treble figures.

"It was an astonishing feeling... it was a spot of a daze up until Joe Root walked disconnected astatine the extremity of the day," Broad said later. "I ne'er expected to beryllium having a cupful of beverage watching Alastair Cook locomotion retired to bat pre-lunch having bowled."

It was 1 of the closest Ashes matches ever decided, amid 1 of the top bid the contention has seen. Australia astir pulled disconnected an unthinkable triumph astatine Edgbaston but fell agonisingly short.

Fast bowler Brett Lee was playing the improbable hero, blasting his mode to 43 arsenic the tourists hunted a large victory. But erstwhile Steve Harmison had Michael Kasprowicz caught down it was each over, Australia falling 2 runs abbreviated and England claiming victory.

As the English players ecstatically celebrated the stunning result, Lee fell to his knees successful despair. That's erstwhile Andrew Flintoff walked implicit to console his opponent, resulting successful a celebrated Ashes photograph of the 2 shaking hands mid-pitch. It's ne'er been decently revealed precisely what Flintoff said to Lee. Every clip the Englishman is asked, helium changes his story.

"I went implicit to Brett Lee and shook his manus and there's that picture, wherever I susurration successful his ear: 'It's 1-1, son'," helium said successful 2013.

"I said, 'mate, this is embarrassing… you've lost, it's cricket, cipher cares, the trophy's (tiny), f***ing get implicit it – it truly does not matter'," Flintoff said successful a antithetic recollection successful 2018.

It's present famously referred to arsenic the Ball of the Century, the Gatting Ball, oregon simply... The Ball. It's besides without uncertainty the astir viewed portion of Ashes imaginativeness successful the contest's history, and the champion known azygous transportation successful cricket.

Shane Warne - the uppity blond-tipped leg-spinner from Down Under - had played lone 11 Test matches and had a alternatively mean bowling mean of 30.80. In his archetypal ever quality successful England, not overmuch was expected from the Victorian tweaker. England was successful a comfy presumption successful the archetypal Test of the bid astatine Old Trafford, having sent the Aussies successful and bowled them retired for 289, past reaching 71 earlier the archetypal autumn of wicket connected time two.

England's archetypal drop, Mike Gatting, walked to the crease and, contempt being known arsenic a classy subordinate against rotation bowling, Australian skipper Allan Border threw the shot to Warne. With his archetypal ever Test transportation against England, Warne came from over-the-wicket and pitched the shot astatine slightest a ft extracurricular Gatting's limb stump. Gatting moved towards the transportation of it to play a guardant defence, but the shot someway spun sharply past his pads and bat, and deed the apical of disconnected stump.

Gatting could lone basal determination staring astatine wherever the shot had landed, which usually would person been a wide oregon astatine slightest missed his limb stump. With the dismissed batter successful disbelief, Warne was embraced by his Aussie teammates. In 2018 Warne said: "That shot changed my life, connected and disconnected the field, completely".

Steve Waugh was 1 of Australia's finest batsmen and captains, but during the 2002-03 Ashes bid helium was fixed an ultimatum by selectors - perform, oregon your vocation volition beryllium finished. Chief selector Trevor Hohns adjacent told media; "Stephen has our enactment until the Sydney Test".

Waugh had scored lone 1 period successful his past 24 Test innings, and was warring to prevention his career. At the SCG, helium played his mode to beryllium connected 98 astatine the extremity of time two. On the 2nd past shot earlier stumps, Adam Gilchrist deed a azygous to enactment his skipper connected strike. The Poms stacked the leg-side boundary, expecting Waugh to play a slog expanse against rotation bowler Richard Dawson.

Instead, Waugh expertly drove the shot done the off-side tract to the bound and celebrated similar it was his archetypal ever ton, arsenic did the Sydney crowd. That changeable enactment him level with Sir Don Bradman connected 29 centuries, and pushed him past 10,000 Test runs.

Waugh would play different afloat twelvemonth of cricket earlier retiring from the game. He scored a further 3 centuries successful that 12 months.

Mitchell Johnson could beryllium accused of being erratic astatine times, and his cricket vocation was marked by inconsistency. But the Australian summertime of 2013-14 beryllium to the fiery left-arm speedy from the west.

Against England successful that bid Johnson decimated the Poms, claiming 37 scalps astatine an unthinkable 13.97. His champion innings show was 7-40 successful Adelaide, erstwhile England was rolled for 172 successful the archetypal innings.

Johnson was the prima of that 5-0 bid expanse and claimed the Allan Border Medal that twelvemonth to headdress disconnected the champion play of his career.

The teen from Western Australia had been fixed a summons to England, and brought into the broadside to vessel immoderate rotation against the Poms aft impressing with the shot astatine authorities level. Making his Test debut astatine Nottingham, Agar went wicketless from lone 7 overs to unfastened his vocation account.

The Aussies - chasing 215 - past collapsed and recovered themselves astatine a miserable 9-117, not expecting the teen debutant to adhd overmuch to that tally. Instead, Agar batted good supra his years to loop England astir the park, whacking 98 disconnected 101 balls earlier being caught connected the boundary, conscionable shy of a ton connected debut. Phillip Hughes was astatine the different extremity and contributed a gritty 81, but it was the debutant who took centre stage.

Agar's 98 was the highest people by a No.11 successful Test history, portion their 163-run last-wicket concern was besides a record. Agar would instrumentality 2 wickets successful the 2nd innings and look 71 balls for 14 runs arsenic Australia fell conscionable 14 runs abbreviated of victory.

This innings is the crushed Ben Stokes' sanction volition everlastingly origin a shudder successful Australian cricket fans erstwhile it's uttered. He snatched triumph from the Aussies successful the astir unexpected and superb way, etching his sanction into Ashes folklore.

Australia was starring the bid 1-0 overseas aft 2 Tests, and was successful a commanding presumption successful the 3rd astatine Headingly aft rolling England for 67 successful the archetypal innings. England needed a grounds 359-run pursuit to triumph what looked similar the unwinnable game, and fell to 2-15 aboriginal successful the assignment.

They were 3-141 erstwhile Stokes strolled to the crease but helium steadily mislaid batting partners, and erstwhile No.11 Jack Leach came successful England inactive needed 73 for victory. As the Aussie bowlers mislaid their way, Stokes belted them from pillar to station arsenic Leach played an important role, finishing connected 1 disconnected 17 balls. His 1 tally tied the scores, and past Stokes smacked Pat Cummins to the bound to cement the unthinkable victory. He finished connected 135 not out.

Glenn McGrath took a full of 38 catches during his 124 Tests for Australia, but nary much iconic than his effort to disregard Michael Vaughan of England during the 4th time of the 2nd Ashes Test astatine the Adelaide Oval successful 2002.

Standing astatine 195cm tall, Australia's champion ever accelerated bowler resembled a legume rod much than an athlete, and truthful was ne'er expected to beryllium seen diving astatine afloat stretch, connected the tally astatine afloat velocity and getting himself airborne. But that's what helium did erstwhile Vaughan skied a Shane Warne delivery, and the shot miraculously stuck successful McGrath's outstretched manus to disregard the batter for 41.

To this time it's hard to ideate a gangly accelerated bowler taking specified a spectacular catch.