Arguably the finest moment in this man's career. I dont know why Ricky Ponting had to prod at the ball in the last second.. should have left it. The heat of the moment, with all the English supporters, its as good as cricket gets! ENJOY
Greatest test series I have ever watched, in my 61 years of life. For pure and simple emotion and drama, this was the pinnacle of spectator sports: better than Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals, better than a Game 7 of the World Series, better than the Champions League final, better than the Word Cup. The ultimate.
@@richarevans the greatest sporting contest I have ever seen. The current series is amazing drama, but 2005 was also a contest between two incredible teams. An Australia side packed with all-time greats (maybe a tiny bit past their best) and a truly excellent England side destined to have one magical summer that they could never really repeat again (Jones/Flintoff injuries, Harmison decline, among other factors). I was 26 at the time and it just dominated the summer. Magical.
What for England to take advantage of Mcgrath's injury and win the Ashes. Series should have ended 1-1. England didn't deserve to win that Ashes. Australia were still better than England on paper but couldn't deliver because of one player... sad. Yet a year later they (Australia) regained the ashes with the oldest side in an Ashes series to win. Stop sucking up to a shitty team they got better in 2009 but before that they were complete SHIT.
I'm an Aussie and was watching it late a night with my Dog on the bed....I was actually going for England because I was so sick of the arrogant Aussies!
I think every Brit who was watching that over absolutely knew Flintoff would get Pontin in that over. It just felt like the most natural thing in the world to happen. It was the weirdest feeling.
I remember watching it live and you are 100% right.The one that got him was an absolute jaffa.Ponting deserves credit for getting his bat on it. Freddie in his prime.
I'm not usually a fan of Mark Nicholas' commentary but he did well there when he said the no-ball was "just fine as far as Flintoff's concerned" as it meant he got another crack at him!
@@stuiep1983 I bought his autobiography in a charity shop when I was at university as a Christmas present for my Great grandfather. I had no idea that it was signed by him until my 92nd year old great grandfather opened it on Christmas day!
I am a Pakistani and it is often said indopak rivalry is the best but this ashes of 2005 was beyond anything I ever witnessed on a cricket field. The whole series was a treat.
Agreed bro. Last time India and Pakistan test match was this fantastic was in Chennai 1999 when Saqlain Mushtaq got us through by 12 runs. Draws or one-sided dominations in victories.
I was too, nothing was happening and it looked like Australia were going to wear England down and draw the series. England's real wild card Simon Jones was injured and out of the series and Freddie was thrown the ball. Suddenly in one over he removed Australia's two best batsmen and the game was done.
Ponting was like a rabbit in headlights through this over. Flintoff at his absolute best and the catalyst for what in my opinion is still the greatest test match I've ever seen. This whole series was wonderful because it could have gone either way so many times. I was so elated, relieved, exhausted just from watching this entire series and I can't imagine what the players must have felt like on that final day when the bails were taken off for the last time and England had done it. Kudos to Australia too both for the way they played in this entire series and the way they have spent this winter in particular reminding us that to underestimate Australia at cricket isn't just fatal; it's beyond dumb. Congrats to them for the way they've demolished us this winter and hopefully we will learn and come back much stronger for the next one.
DrLiquefier I thought you'd like it mate, This was Freddie at his absolute peak and this entire series was as much his as the '81 series belonged to Beefy Botham.
Flintoff was great but he did not carry the team like Botham did in 81. Botham, bowled the most overs at the best economy, 2.56 he took the most wickets 34, at very close to the best average, 22.58 he scored the most runs 399 at the fastest run rate 93.22 and incredibly caught the most outfield catches, with 12. Simply amazing.
Due to his average being over thirty it's difficult to call Flintoff England's best bowler, but what he produced at his peak was the best I've seen from an England bowler. Fast, accurate, hostile and constantly making the batsmen play, so many of those wickets were those of top quality players, partnership breakers or wickets that changed the whole atmosphere of the game. Freddie you will never be forgotten, mate. Pride of England.
Peak Flintoff was the player every lad of my generation wanted to be growing up. By no means a polished professional. But my word, he got the country of it's arse, and made cricket great. He totally connected with the fans. And it felt we lived our cricketing dreams through him. At his absolute peak, he stands alongside the greatest all-rounders. Maybe his stats don't necessarily stand-up.. But who cares. He was a special talent.
Ben Stokes is another one, not as good a bowler as peak Flintoff but has some really high peak moments in all formats. His stats are good but don't seem extraordinary
love the roaring crowds in this video. that's what made that over a bit extra-special. As well as Flintoff's bowling. think Edgbaston is the best venue in England, especially for crowd noise.
I recall watching this whole series.....I was not a big cricket fan....and I'm really not into it now much either...but this series gripped me....and I watched the whole thing....it was great! And I'm an Aussie.
***** I really can't recall the year.....but I haven't watched one series since....I guess I just got lucky.....I recall this guy Flintoff being on fire......with bat and ball.....and I recall one commentator saying Flintoff was the best player in the world right at that moment.....I think there is an uploaded documentary on this series on youtube.....with interviews and all the highlights.....another classic moment was when the camera was panning around the crowd and someone had dressed up as Darth Vader and when Darth saw the camera was on him he raised his big black glove and gave the camera the middle finger......the commentator said..."Oh....that IS the dark side'.....you could hear everyone in the box laughing there heads off....
I remember watching this on the telly. Never seen anything like it, and probably never will again. The whole series was amazing from start to finish. Freddie might not have had the best stats in the world but man oh man was he great to watch when he was on fire.
Stats are for average people, Freddie was a phenomenon. Every side needs a wildcard like him or Botham, those are the players that make kids pick up a bat and ball and really want to play
12 years later you are spot on. Freddie was box office because he produced his absolute best in the biggest games. I love cricket stats but Freddie's don't tell the full story. He was not an all-time great across his whole career but that series was one of the finest individual performances you'll ever see.
Flintoff might not be the 5 greatest allrounders ever. He might not be the greatest allrounder England has ever produced. But when the stars aligned... He. Was. A. God.....
....If only I had the temerity to call someone whose played more tests than Lillee, Thomson, Lee, Gillespie and most of WI pace battery from the 70's a 2 minute career.
I will never forget watching this series as a young teenager. We are unlikely to see the likes again. The squad was incredible, both squads. Channel 4 broadcasting this for the masses put cricket back on the map across all villages in England. A hive of excitement, exceptional individual and team performances, what a summer. Bowling Shane, Legend, RIP.
This was one of my favourite moments of the series - after following English Cricket for so many years, I was almost in tears when they regained the ashes haha :)
#Wilberto that was a brave attempt at irony.. here's another one you might recognise: Man throws ball Ball hits stick Cut to commercial Man throws ball Ball hit stick Cut to commercial ... Or the other one... Man throws ball.. Man runs ball.. Cut to commercial.. Man throws ball.. Man catches ball.. Cut to commercial.. Man scores!! Cut to commercial.. Man kicks!! Cut to commercial......
Like that, every sport would seem pointless for example basketball wouldn't seem exciting if I told someone that all u hav to do is put the ball inside the hoop neither would football sound great if I told someone I hav to kick the ball to hit the net
Not the best over ever, but the most dramatic I've witnessed. Flintoff made an absolute genius jump around for the few balls he survived like a novice tail ender.
undoubtedly the most exciting ashes series ever. And proof is the fact that being a pakistani I watched all the matches with my uncle. This was one series that transcended Aussie-English rivalry and became a victory for cricket.
The best series in Cricket history... I bet whole Indian cricket fans watched this series Live... Flintoff was on fire... Ricky pointing was bleeding when he was hit by Harmison's delivery...
Thanks for this posting. Brings back happy memories from a great series. I remember Langer was looking superb before Flintoff got him. In this over though such a wonderful batsman as Ponting, he was made to look like he'd never picked up a cricket bat before. Totally unplayable to be on the wrong end of that. As Ponting is walking off he's got a sort of bemused look, like what the hell has just happened!
I vividly remember the 2005 ashes, I placed a bet of 50 bucks with a friend that Aus will thump Eng but I lost...my friend didn't took the money but till date passes jibes at me regarding it...good old days
Not as big a turning point as 1. McGrath stepping on that ball before the match, and 2. Kasper being given out incorrectly with 2-3 runs needed to win. A fine over of bowling, barring the ridiculous appeals for LBW.
When Flintoff was fit he was a real handful given his pace bounce and seam...high quality stuff. As an Aussie I do appreciate how well he and the other quicks bowled in '05...hard to watch, tho compelling l Thanks for the upload 😁👍
I was at this game was my turn get 4 pints in so stopped at Ladbrokes shop in ground backed dog winner won 35£ heard the ROAR so stayed in and watched replay on screen .lol
Your right. Freddie couldn't have lasted for 10 years. No Heart!!! He was amazing when the ball was swinging both ways, cutting off the pitch, bouncing etc but put him on a batsman's wicket and the man had a heart the size of a pea. FOT on the other hand got wickets EVERYWHERE.
@mattavi That's untrue. Phil Tufnell, Robert Croft and Graeme Hick were genuine game-changers. Maybe not in England's favour, but don't for a moment tell me that they weren't terrific game-changers in their own right :-)
I live in Birmingham, I go to the Edgbaston test every summer, I go for a couple of days to the other test grounds, none of them come close to the atmosphere at Edgbaston
