Played at Sydney Cricket Ground 1,2,3,4,5 January 1995 (5-day match) Match drawn Toss England, who chose to bat Series Australia led the 5-match series 2-0 Player of the match D Gough (England)
So frustrating. We really let Australia off the hook in this game. If only we had managed to get the first innings over before they saved the follow on. It was always the way in the 90’s with England, we just didn’t have the killer instinct when it was really needed.
I was there day 2 for Gough's 50 and Malbolm belting Warne and day 5 for the run chase that was stopped by rain and Australia who decided to shut up shop in order to retain the Ashes. The video doesnt cover controversy at the end where it was a minimum of 15 overs in the last hour but when Warne gets dropped by Malcolm that ended up being the second last over as they had bowled the 15 in under an hour. Atherton wasnt happy but they bowled another over (4 balls anyway) and didnt get a wicket so he grabbed the bails and threw them down. That's why the Aus scorecard in second innings is 121.4 overs.
I was going to comment on the same thing. The umpires erred in the fact that they said it was stumps when the 15 overs were bowled, forgetting it was a minimum of 15 overs and there was time left for at least one more. Atherton seemed to be the only one awake to it. Even the commentators were pretty clueless. If Malcolm had taken that catch, it would have been two wickets in hand with, instead of the teams taking time to start going off and then coming back on, perhaps two overs which could have been bowled.
In mid 1990s Australia was about to be the best test side in the world. They had a very strong team and were unbeatable in their own backyard. England was the opposite in the 1990s and struggled on overseas tours. England played way above their station here and in Adelaide to compete with a strong Oz side. As you can see here crowd attendance in Australia at the ashes wasn't as much as in decades later. Because mainly due to the England sides of the 1990s being uncompetitive to the strong Oz sides of the 1990s which devalued the interest for crowds in Australia for the Ashes in Australia in the 1990s. But in these two tests England put in two of their best performances in cricket in the 1990s. Because for much of the 1990s England cricket team was the butt of jokes in cricket in not only Australia but England as well. However any victory by the England cricket team in the 1990s was really lapped up by their faithful supporters because such wins for the England cricket team was rare in the 1990s compared with the more successful England teams of the 21st century. Where England won five Ashes series in the first 20 years of the 21st century.
Australia went to the West Indies not long after this ashes series and beat them 2-1 as well. When they hadn’t been beaten in the Caribbean for 15 years.
We ( England ) were a match for anyone on our day, the problem was that we weren’t consistent enough. Another problem was the constant chopping and changing of the team. The upturn of English cricket started in 2000 with the introduction of central contracts.
Excellent bowling by Fraser in this match and exposing Illingworth's blunder in not selecting him in the original touring party. Look at how much better the bowling was in this and the 4th test compared to the first and second test.
Agreed. The selections for the tour were baffling, to say the least. Rhodes and McCague for example. When it should have been Russell and Fraser selected instead.
Blimey, England had a hard time getting any Australian run out when they played in Australia in the 90s. Did Hair have the option of going for a video replay in 94-95?
Mike Spearwood tailenders dominating; Malcolm with a Test hs, Gough one of only two half centuries, Fraser 27... Aus relying on Warne, McDermott and May with the bat to save their butts!
