In the middle of another exciting Ashes summer, the battle resumes at the Emirates Old Trafford between August 1 and 5.
With England’s Barmy Army missing out in 2009, Greater Manchester fans will have chance to witness one of the fiercest sporting rivalries with the return of Ashes cricket.
On the eve of the eagerly anticipated Third Test, MM takes a look at the top five memorable Ashes clashes at Old Trafford.
5. July 10-12 1884 (3 day match) – Match drawn
The 1884 test series was the maiden Ashes series in England with Old Trafford hosting the first match of a three game contest.
The inaugural Old Trafford test made it only the second venue, after the Oval, to stage Test Cricket.
With the first day called off due to rain the game finished in a draw despite England being bowled out for just 95 runs in the first innings.
4. June 3-7 1993 (5 day match) – Australia won by 179 runs
The first test of the 1993 six match series saw four debutants – Andy Caddick and Peter Such for England and Brendon Julian and Michael Slater for the Aussies – but a blond leg-spinner stole the headlines.
Shane Warne’s first delivery in the Ashes saw him bamboozle Mike Gatting with the ‘ball of the century.’
Chasing 512 to win, England were bowled out for 332 with Graham Gooch becoming the fifth cricketer to be dismissed for handling the ball in a Test.
Warne finished the match with eight wickets for 137, the best figures by an Australian leg spinner since 1938.
3. July 26-31 1956 (5 day match) – England won by an innings and 170 runs
After winning the toss, Peter Richardson and David Sheppard posted centuries as England reached a first innings total of 459.
Off-spinner Jim Laker ended Australia’s first innings with 7 wickets for 8 runs in 22 balls as they reached a meagre 84 – only openers Colin McDonald and James Burke reached double figures.
Australia followed on but Laker became the first player to take all ten wickets in a Test match innings to secure victory.
Laker finished the match with 19 wickets for 90 runs which still stands as the best match bowling figures achieved in both Test and first-class cricket – Tony Lock took the other.
2. July 24-26 1902 (3 day match) – Australia won by 3 runs
In the eighth test match at Old Trafford Australia secured the Ashes for a fourth successive series with a close victory.
The Aussies won the toss and posted 299, which included the maiden out-of-ground six in England, in the first innings but managed just 86 second time round, leaving a target 124 to win.
The hosts were 92-3 and looked set for victory but Hugh Trumble and Jack Saunders ripped through the England batting.
In his only test appearance, debutant Fred Tate dropped a crucial catch and was the last man out as England only needed four runs to win.
1. August 11-15 2005 – Match drawn
Four days after one of the most exciting finishes in Test match history levelled the series, everyone was eagerly anticipating the Third test at Old Trafford which saw England win the toss and elect to bat.
With Glenn McGrath still recovering from an injury England posted a mammoth 444, despite Warne becoming the first man to reach 600 test wickets, with captain Michael Vaughan top-scoring with 166.
Rain frustrated England on the third day but a quick-fire century for Andrew Strauss left Australia needing 423 to win, a record fourth innings total.
Day five saw thousands turned away at the gates as Aussie captain Ricky Ponting batted six hours for 156.
Despite Ponting being out with just 24 balls to go with Australia 354-9, the last-wicket pair of Brett Lee and McGrath held on to secure a nail-biting draw in front of a 23,000 capacity crowd.
Image courtesy of ECBCricket, with thanks.
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