Throwback to the greatest series of all-time: Ashes 2005

Third Test - Manchester

August 11-15

Vaughan made use of a reprieve to punish the hapless Aussies

By now, the Ashes had reached orgasmic levels and the cricketing World knew that these teams were not going to back down.

The ever-pleasing-to-the-eye Michael Vaughan hadn't yet stamped his class in the series and did so with aplomb when he made use of a reprieve from Glenn McGrath (The Pigeon had him bowled off a no-ball) to compile 166 and take England to 444 in the first innings.

Matthew Hoggard swung the brand new cherry while Simon Jones reverse swung the ball to leave Australia in a mess at 210/7 at stumps on Day 2.

Then Shane Warne, who had taken his 600th wicket earlier in the Test, carved out a special innings, a spirited, back against the wall, heroic 90 that would take Australia to safety. Of course, any series in England would be incomplete without the rains and they showed up to save the visitors on day 3.

Warne captured his 600th Test wicket in the first innings, dismissing Marcus Trescothick

Simon Jones cleaned up the tail the next day to finish with a six-fer as Australia folded for 302, a long way off from England's first innings score.

England were swift to attack and ramped up the scoring rate to enforce a declaration, which they eventually did with a few overs left before stumps on day 4. Needing 423 to win, Australian openers held on for the day to leave them unscathed.

But surviving the fifth day was a daunting task. There was a huge influx of fans to the stadium, something which Michael Vaughan recalls as his “greatest Ashes memory”.

"I thought there was a bomb scare when I arrived at Old Trafford on that day. I arrived at 9.30, went on the balcony and the ground was full. As I said to the boys, 'This is special'. We went out of the dressing room just to warm up and the whole ground lifted and stood to their feet to cheer us,” Vaughan had said sometime after the series as revealed by ESPNCricinfo.

Australia seemingly lost their way at the start before Ponting, still seething from his misjudgment in the previous Test, stole the thunder with a spectacular hundred, one of the most defiant knocks in the history of the Ashes. His 156 paved way for a resounding reply from the Aussies to England's humungous target.

And then, a repeat of what happened in the last Test unfolded.

Moment of the match

A Test back, Lee had fought and lost. Here, he fought and won.,...well, drew.

Brett Lee was once again stuck with the no.11, this time Glenn McGrath, who had recorded his worst ever figures in the first innings, with Australia needing to play out 24 balls to draw the game. Lee buried his demons with an obdurate knock, one which the Aussies would forever be grateful for, as Australia celebrated a draw. It is said that the English skipper, Michael Vaughan summoned his troops and delivered a crunching talk after the exhilarating final moments, boosting them with the words - “Look at that balcony [Australia's] over there celebrating a draw. They'd never have done that in the past. We go to Trent Bridge and we'll turn them over there.”

***

If you haven't watched this live, the synopsis would do little justice to the apprehensive few minutes at Manchester. The onus was on Lee to defy the English this time around and he did, setting the Australian dressing room into celebrations for a draw, something which England thought of as a victory in itself.

England 444 (Vaughan 166) & 280-6dec (Strauss 106, McGrath 5-115); Australia 302 (Warne 90, Jones 6-53) & 371-9 (Ponting 156, Flintoff 4-71)