Ashes flashbacks: a recap of rare moments of English positivity during the drought Down Under

Think back to some of England’s best Ashes moments in Australia in recent memory – what comes to mind?

Probably tearing through the Aussies for 98 on day one of the Boxing Day Test, possibly the 517-1 at the Gabba or Kevin Pietersen’s double ton in Adelaide, perhaps James Anderson immediately silenced Mitchell Johnson at the non-striker’s end or even during the spray celebration in the SCG outfield.

They all have one thing in common: they took place during the momentous triumph in 2010-2011, as you all know by now, which was also the last time England won a Test match Down Under.

Since then, it has been an all-too-familiar case of off-field sagas and waking up to news of another batting collapse or a day of toil in the field.

But with hope in the air surrounding the upcoming series, which starts in just over a week, we look back at the few moments where England fans have been rewarded with something to shout about during the hugely disappointing past three visits.

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Wood’s pink ball barrage (2021-2022)

The 2021-2022 Ashes series culminated at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart – a new Ashes venue replacing Optus Stadium in Perth due to COVID regulations.

While Australia held a 3-0 lead and retained the urn, the second pink-ball Test of the series followed a similar pattern as the hosts built a 115-run lead in the first innings after another dismal display with England’s bat.

In contrast to the makeup of the current touring squad, Mark Wood was the only speedster in the group four years ago and proved a rare asset as England’s leading wicket-taker. He fought for the final innings to claim the best figures of his career and give Joe Root’s side their dimmest hope of a first win in Australia for 11 years.

Ultimately, victory never materialized or even came close, but the Durham man, who was expensive in the first innings, produced an outburst full of hostility and wit, storming in at long-on to post figures of 6-37 as Australia were dismissed for 155 in Tasmania.

His ruthlessly fast and accurate short-pitched bowling accounted for three prized wickets – Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith and Travis Head – and for the first time in a long time the Australian batsmen looked genuinely unsettled, making his earlier omission from the crucial Day-Night second Test in Adelaide all the more baffling.

There was uncertainty over whether Wood’s ongoing injury problems would put him in contention for another Ashes tour, but having last played a Test in August 2024, it is hoped that the 35-year-old – who helped revive the comeback trek in 2023 – could play a role as a major boost to England’s prospects during the series, with more explicit alternatives at their disposal to share the workload this time.

SCG Final (2021-2022)

Every occasion that England have not lost a Test match in Australia is worth celebrating to some extent, as this has only happened twice in the last fifteen Tests, even if the draw in Sydney in the fourth Test of the 2021-2022 series was as close to a defeat as possible.

Today’s England side would enjoy a chase of 388 on the final day, but trailing 3-0 and badly injured there was never a realistic belief that the 2021-2022 cohort would really threaten a target buoyed by Usman Khawaja’s second century of the match.

After slumping from 193-4 to 218-7, the door opened for Australia, and Jonny Bairstow’s wicket left the hosts with ten overs to get the job done, but England’s tail had other ideas.

The ninth-wicket partnership between Stuart Broad and Jack Leach lasted almost nine overs with spin on both sides due to fading light, before Steve Smith found the outside edge of Leach’s bat for his first Test wicket since 2016, allowing Broad and James Anderson to survive two remaining overs.

The pair successfully negotiated twelve nail-biting deliveries to salvage an unlikely draw and while it had little relevance to the outcome of the series, it at least restored a modicum of pride and brought some relief from an otherwise miserable tour as England averted a potential third 5-0 whitewash in five series.

The tail stand wasn’t the only highlight of the SCG Test, with an emotional Bairstow cheering late on day three after a superbly challenging 113 – England’s only century in the series – a rare standout moment after walking his side 36-4 to mid-on on 53 consecutive point balls and receiving a viscous blow to this thumb that would later rule him out of the fifth Test.

Cook doubles again (2017-18)

The name Alastair Cook is synonymous with the historic success of 2010-11, which saw the opener dominate the scoring charts with 766 runs at a staggering average of 127.66, including an unbeaten 235 at the Gabba.

But six years later, after England had already surrendered the urn by the time the Boxing Day Test took place, Cook provided some late cheer with another marathon innings as the visitors enjoyed a rare spell of dominance on Australian soil at the MCG.

The left-hander’s ten-and-a-half-hour vigil at the crease showed both fluency and measure throughout his 244* – the fifth Test double century of his career – scoring particularly profitable squares of the wicket and entering the record books for the highest score by a visiting batsman at Melbourne Cricket Ground, surpassing Sir Viv Richards’ 208 in 1984.

While he remained unbeaten, Cook’s epic knock was also the highest individual score by a batsman carrying his bat through a Test innings (later beaten by New Zealander Tom Latham in 2018) and the first English player to do so since Michael Atherton in Christchurch in 1997.

What made the former captain’s majestic effort even more impressive was that his previous six innings had yielded just 83 runs, and a huge amount of criticism was leveled at a player who proved why he had been the foundation of England’s batting for the past decade.

Cook’s masterclass in determination and commitment had given the tourists a sizeable first-innings lead of 164 runs, allowing them to push for victory, but a draw nevertheless ended an eight-match losing streak Down Under, with some of England’s all-time great cricket forever etched in history at one of cricket’s most iconic venues.

Malan’s first Test ton (2017-18)

Just one Test prior to Cook’s 244, another English man raised his bat, but one at the other end of this Test career.

A 30-year-old Dawid Malan had only made his international debut that English summer but was one of three Ashes rookies in the top five when England arrived aiming to retain the urn again after previous home success.

Down 2-0 heading to Perth, England enjoyed a much-needed positive first day with the bat on a typically lively surface as Malan led a recovery from 131-4 to 368-5 with a maiden Test century, alongside fellow centurion Jonny Bairstow.

The left-hander played an emotional 140 at number five with exceptional judgment, displaying eye-catching cover drives and cut shots that we would see regularly in years to come.

The less said about the rest of the Test the better as Australia still secured an innings victory despite England’s score of 403, with Steve Smith’s double ton ensuring the hosts regained the urn in the final Ashes Test played at the WACA Ground.

It was a breakthrough performance from England’s top scorer that tour, although it proved to be his only Test hundred in a 22-match career with most of his success coming as a member of the white-ball squad.

Stokes announces himself on nightmare tour (2013-2014)

There was little to look back on with fondness after the disastrous 5-0 defeat in 2013/14, which set in motion England’s struggles in Australia ever since.

Amid humiliation after humiliation at the hands of a fired-up Mitchell Johnson, 22-year-old Ben Stokes made his Test debut in Adelaide as a replacement for Jonathan Trott, and he only had to wait for his second match at the WACA Ground in Perth for a maiden Test century – the only England player to reach three figures on the tour.

His superb 120 off 195 balls in the second innings ultimately proved in vain as England, chasing a record 504, slumped to a 150-run defeat and conceded the Ashes after three successive series wins, but there was a fighting spirit from their new all-rounder, who put rare pressure on the Australian bowling attack with a powerful ball despite the conditions around him.

The fifth Test in Sydney also showed his talent as the bowlers’ choice as he claimed a maiden Test haul of five wickets with 6-99, dismissing captain Michael Clarke, centurion Steve Smith and the in-form Brad Haddin, as Australia bowled out for 326 on day one.

England were reeling at 23-5 in response after another top-class capitulation, but Stokes again did not shy away from the challenge, making a top score of 47 to ensure his side at least avoided the follow-on, before an entertaining 16-ball 32 cameo in the second innings as the wickets continued to fall around him at an alarming rate.

Perhaps it is fate that the boy who started his Test career at the start of England’s recent slump Down Under now returns as their leader, aiming to engineer a historic triumph for the first time in fifteen years.

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