Ahead of the 2025-26 Ashes series, Sports Mole picks out the best five test series that have taken place between England and Australia.
For England and Australian cricket fans, there is nothing more important than the Ashes, a series that has cemented its place as one of the biggest events in sport.Â
The rivalry dates back to 1882 when Australia beat England in a one-off test at the Oval, leading The Sporting Times to post a mock obituary of English cricket, claiming: “The body will be cremated and the Ashes taken to Australia”.
The old foes have since gone on to play 73 test series, with Australia winning 34, England winning 32, and the remaining seven finishing all square.
Ahead of the 2025-26 series in Australia, Sports Mole have combed through the history books to pick out the five greatest Ashes series of all time.Â
5. Australia’s Invincible series (1948)
The Australian test team has enjoyed significant success on English shores, but you will have to go back to 1948 for their most dominant performance in an away Ashes.Â
A side captained by the iconic Don Bradman arrived in England in April and departed in September after winning 23 and drawing eight of the 31 first-class matches they played in a successful tour.Â
Australia dominated the first two tests with an eight-wicket win at Trent Bridge and a 409-run thrashing at Lord’s, before England battled to a draw at Old Trafford.Â
However, normal order resumed with a seven-wicket Australian win in Leeds, before a 4-0 series scoreline was sealed by an innings victory at the Oval.
A 40-year-old Bradman finished the series with 508 runs to his name, but it was his teammate Arthur Morris who ended the five-match contest as the leading runs scorer with 696 at an average of 87.
Meanwhile, Ray Lindwall and Bill Johnston led the bowling stats with 27 wickets apiece during the course of Australia’s commanding series victory.Â
Bradman may have overseen one of the most impressive tours of cricket history, but the success was somewhat soured by his final innings of the series.
Regarded as one of, if not the greatest, batter of all-time, Bradman needed just four runs in what proved to be Australia’s only innings of the final game at the Oval to finish his test career with a 100 average.
However, he was bowled for a duck by leg-spinner Eric Hollies, ensuring he walked away from test cricket with an average of 99.94.Â
4. Inspirational Stokes (2019)
The 2019 series produced arguably the most entertaining series in England since the memorable 2005 edition.Â
The series saw Steve Smith make his return to test cricket following his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018.
Smith was forced to miss the third test due to concussion protocols after being struck by England pace bowler Jofra Archer in the second test at Lord’s.
Despite sitting out one game, Smith still amassed 774 runs to finish the series with an average of 110.57 in one of the best displays from a touring batter in England.
While Smith claimed player of the series, Stokes produced the best performance of the five-match encounter with one of the best innings that test cricket has ever seen in the third match at Headingley.
The all-rounder made his way to the crease at 159-4 on day four, with England chasing a daunting total of 358.Â
Stokes enjoyed a strong partnership with Jonny Bairstow before quick dismissals left England needing 73 with just one wicket remaining.
With England on the brink of defeat, Stokes teed off to hit boundary after boundary to score 135 of England’s 362 runs in an unforgettable victory, with the aid of Jack Leech’s infamous single.Â
Unfortunately for England, they would go on to draw the series 2-2 to fall short of their goal of reclaiming the little urn.Â
3. England dominate down under (2010-11)
England had not won an away Ashes series for 24 years before they travelled down under for the 2010-11 edition.Â
The tourists knew they only needed to draw the series to retain the Urn they had won under Andrew Strauss‘s guidance in 2009.Â
However, the thought of a draw could not have been further from the squad’s thinking, as they produced one of the strongest performances from an England team in an away series in Australia.Â
After drawing in Brisbane, Kevin Pietersen led England to a famous innings victory in Adelaide with a destructive knock of 227 from 308 balls.Â
The hosts hit back in the third test, with Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris taking six wickets in the first and second innings, respectively, to seal a 267-run victory.
Arguably, England saved their best performance of the series for the fourth match, where they skittled their rivals out for 98 on Boxing Day at the MCG.Â
Jonathan Trott then consolidated England’s advantage with a knock of 168 in a first-innings total of 513, before Tim Bresnan led the bowling efforts in Australia’s second innings, taking four wickets to help his team win by an innings and 157 runs.
Another innings victory followed in the final game in Sydney to seal a 3-1 series win and their first away from home since 1986-87.
England certainly played against an Australia side that was in transition and nowhere near the level of the one they had lost 5-0 to in their previous away series in 2006-07.
With that said, the 2010-11 success has probably been appreciated more, considering England have not won a single test in Australia since their win in Sydney in January 2011.Â
2. Botham’s Ashes (1981)
The 1981 series was played over six tests, giving Ian Botham the chance to go from zero to hero with a remarkable effort to guide England to a 3-1 victory.Â
Botham started the series as England captain, overseeing a four-wicket defeat in Nottingham before being dismissed for a pair in a draw at Lord’s.
The all-rounder subsequently resigned before being sacked, leading England to call Mike Brearley out of retirement to lead the final four tests.
With the weight of captaincy off his shoulders, Botham inspired a stunning comeback victory with a performance for the ages at Headingley.
After being forced to follow on, England were 105-5 when Botham made his way to the crease on day four, which quickly turned to 135-7 following the dismissals of Geoffrey Boycott and Bob Taylor.
All hope seemed lost until Botham conjured up one of the greatest innings in Ashes history, racking up 149 from 148 deliveries with the support of Graham Dilley, Chris Old and Bob Willis.Â
Botham then handed over the baton to Willis, who rattled through the Australia attack with figures of eight for 43 to dismiss Australia for 111 and level the series.Â
The spotlight again shone on Botham in the fourth test, as he produced staggering figures of 5 for 11 to bowl Australia out for 121 in the fourth innings, clinching a 29-run victory for the hosts.
Botham starred with an innings of 118 in the fifth-test win, which sealed a famous series victory, before he took six wickets in a drawn sixth test.Â
The all-rounder finished the series as the highest run scorer (399) and the highest wicket taker (34), making sure it was a series that was remembered for one star individual.Â
1. England end period of Australian dominance (2005)
Widely regarded as the best test series of all time, England captured the attention of a nation with their approach in the 2005 Ashes, as Michael Vaughan’s troops went toe-to-toe with an Australian side that included greats like Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Adam Gilchrist and captain Ricky Ponting.Â
After losing the previous eight Ashes, there was a worrying sense of Deja vu when Australia eased to a 239-run victory in the first test at Lord’s.
However, the outlook of the series dramatically changed even before the toss of the second test, after it had emerged that McGrath had picked up an injury while standing on a cricket ball in the warm-up.
Without McGrath in the attack, Australia struggled with the ball as England hit over 400 in the first innings, before Australia reached 308 in their reply.
Andrew Flintoff produced a much-needed 73 to set Australia a target of 282, which appeared to be out of reach at 137-7 and 175-8. However, Brett Lee enjoyed strong partnerships with Warne and Michael Kasprowicz to get the tourists within two of England’s total.
With victory slipping away, fast bowler Steve Harmsion got Kasprowicz to glove the ball behind for Geraint Jones to gather the match-winning wicket.
Australia then had to battle to rescue a draw from the third test, before England chased down 129 in the fourth innings at Trent Bridge to take a 2-1 lead into the final test at the Oval.
Ponting’s side reached 367 in reply to England’s 373 in the first innings, before Pietersen hit 158 off 187 to bat Australia out of the game and the series.Â
The draw ensured England could celebrate their first test series win over Australia since Mike Gatting’s side won 2-1 down under in 1986-87.
Flintoff was named player of the series for scoring 402 runs and taking 24 wickets, while Warne finished as the highest wicket-taker in his final test series in England (40).Â
Considering the drama that the two strong sides produced, it will take something special for another series to rival the 2005 edition, especially as the impact was only made greater by the fact that it was broadcast to millions on free-to-air TV.Â
ID:585901:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect12818:
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.