An Australia side captained by Don Bradman in his final Test series won 4-0. Underlying their superiority, Australia, who were set a target of 404 on the last day to win the fourth Test at Headingley, got there losing just three wickets
England players celebrate after winning the 2005 Ashes series
2005: England break Ashes jinx
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England beat Australia for the first time in nearly 19 years. Australia won the first Test at Lord's by 239 runs but when pace ace Glenn McGrath was ruled out of the second after treading on a ball during practice, England rallied. Andrew Flintoff starred with both bat and ball and England won by just two runs. The third Test was drawn and England won the fourth. Needing a draw at 2-1 up to regain the Ashes, Kevin Pietersen scored an impressive 158, while Ashley Giles made 50 to rescue the hosts.
England's Ian Botham after claiming his 200th Test wicket during the 1981 Ashes
1981: Botham is boss
Ian Botham began the series as England captain but, after a defeat first-up at Nottingham and bagging a pair in a draw at Lord's, he resigned as skipper. In the third, as
England were following on, Botham's 149 not out meant Australia were set a target of 130. Pace ace Bob Willis's 8-43 saw England win by 18 runs. Botham's five for one at Edgbaston ensured England won the fourth Test by 29 runs and his blistering 118 set up a 103-run win in the fifth.
1974-75: Lillee and Thomson run riot
Australia's Dennis Lillee was returning from a back injury and fellow fast bowler Jeff Thomson's previous Test figures were 0-110. Yet they ran through England's batsmen. In the first four-and-a-half Tests Thomson took 33 wickets at 17.93 before he damaged his shoulder playing tennis on the rest day of the penultimate Test in Adelaide. Australia won the series 4-1, with England captain Mike Denness dropping himself at one stage. England's only win came in the final Test when Thomson was missing through injury and Lillee broke down early.
Sir Don Bradman
1948: Australia's 'Invincibles'
An Australia side captained by Don Bradman in his final Test series won 4-0. Underlying their superiority, Australia, who were set a target of 404 on the last day to win the fourth Test at Headingley, got there losing just three wickets. Arthur Morris made 182 and Bradman an unbeaten 173. But the series is best remembered for Bradman's final Test innings at the Oval. Needing four for an average of exactly a hundred, he was bowled for a duck by leg-spinner Eric Hollies and finished on 99.94.
England's Harold Larwood
1932-33: Bodyline
The most controversial Ashes series of all was brought about by a desire to curb Bradman's run-scoring. England captain Douglas Jardine's employed the 'leg theory' — bowling short to a packed legside field — with accurate pacer Harold Larwood leading the attack. It worked and England won 4-1, with Bradman's series average reduced to 56.57. But the use of what became known as "Bodyline", which saw batsmen having to defend themselves rather than their stumps, was condemned as "unsporting" by Australian officials and strained diplomatic relations.
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