5 unsung heroes in the history of the Ashes

Monty Panesar and James Anderson (2009)

Anderson and Panesar were the unlikely heroes for the hosts as they England escape with a draw.

A few may question Panesar’s (who played only one Test in that series) and Anderson’s (who took only 12 wickets in 5 games) presence in this list as they didn’t have any notable performances, but they did play an important part in England’s Ashes-regaining 2-1 series win in 2009. The previous series in 2006-07 had been a nightmare for England, blanked 5-0 on Australian soil.

Australia began the 2009 Ashes dominantly as they scored a mammoth 674/6 in reply to England’s 435 in the first innings of the first Test at Cardiff. And then they had the hosts on the mat at 70/5 on the final day with almost 80 overs remaining. Paul Collingwood played a brilliant and a gutsy knock scoring 74 and more importantly playing out 245 deliveries in a 344-minute stay at the crease. But he found no support at the other end and eventually was the 9th wicket to fall with almost 12 overs to go.

Monty Panesar who had a torrid time with the ball (his figures read 1/115 in 38 overs) walked out to bat at No. 11. He joined Anderson who had batted seven overs with Collingwood. While Anderson had experience as a night-watchman, Panesar was no more than a rabbit with the bat. And a 1-0 lead for the Aussies seemed inevitable.

But then the unthinkable happened. England staged one of the greatest escapes in Test history as Anderson and Panesar played 69 deliveries to force a draw. The latter played 35 deliveries and Anderson played 53 balls to help England escape with a thrilling draw. Australia’s confidence was dented by this unexpected draw and they went on to surrender the Ashes as they crashed to a 2-1 series defeat.