England vs Australia
28 June - 2 July 2023
Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow after he wandered out of his crease assuming the ball was dead. The dismissal at Lord's caused a furious reaction from the MCC members.
England vs Australia
31 July 2023
Stuart Broad, in his final Test, cheekily counted down to Steve Smith's supposedly final Test innings, winding up the Australian.
England vs Australia
2 July 2023
Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow as he wandered out of his crease assuming the ball was dead, sparking a massive 'Spirit of Cricket' controversy.
Australia Women vs England Women
20 January 2022
The multi-format Women's Ashes points system was criticised for effectively allowing Australia to retain the Ashes before the Test match, making the flagship Test feel meaningless.
England vs Australia
1-5 August 2019
Multiple decisions in the 2019 Ashes were upheld as 'umpire's call' despite ball tracking showing the ball hitting the stumps, reigniting the debate about the DRS threshold.
England vs Australia
14-18 August 2019
Marnus Labuschagne replaced Steve Smith as cricket's first concussion substitute after Smith was hit by a Jofra Archer bouncer. England questioned whether it was a like-for-like replacement.
England vs Australia
22-25 August 2019
During Ben Stokes' miraculous Headingley chase, Jack Leach survived an LBW appeal that was given 'umpire's call' on review, allowing the legendary partnership to continue.
England vs Australia
25 August 2019
Nathan Lyon dropped a simple chance to run out Ben Stokes at Headingley, and earlier Tim Paine missed a stumping chance that would have ended England's miraculous chase.
England vs Australia
4 August 2019
Nathan Lyon dropped the ball next to the stumps near a grounded Jonny Bairstow, widely seen as an attempt to goad the batsman into a stumping dismissal.
England vs Australia
17 August 2019
Jofra Archer's fierce bouncer struck Steve Smith on the neck, felling him and forcing him out of the next Test with delayed concussion symptoms.
England vs Australia
2019-08-14
Jofra Archer's bouncer that struck Steve Smith on the neck at Lord's in 2019 exposed both the danger and drama of fast bowling — Smith retired hurt, was concussed, missed the third Test, and returned to score twin hundreds, making it one of the Ashes' most emotional storylines.
England vs Australia
2019-08-25
England needed 73 off the last 17 overs with one wicket remaining. Ben Stokes scored 135 not out, hitting the winning four off Pat Cummins to give England a 1-wicket victory — the most remarkable Ashes run chase since Botham's Leeds 1981.
Australia vs England (Women)
2019-02-14
Ellyse Perry made 213 not out — the highest score ever in a Women's Ashes Test — while also taking 7 wickets in the match to produce the greatest all-round performance in Women's Test history.
Australia vs England
November-December 2017
Stuart Broad was again at the centre of a caught-behind controversy in the Ashes, this time in Australia, with DRS technology at the heart of the debate.
England vs Australia
10-14 July 2013
Stuart Broad edged a ball clearly to slip but was given not out. He refused to walk, and Australia had no DRS reviews left.
England vs Australia
July-August 2013
The Hot Spot infrared technology was shown to be unreliable during the 2013 Ashes, failing to detect clear edges and undermining confidence in DRS.
Australia vs England
24 November 2013
Mitchell Johnson bowled one of the most intimidating spells in Ashes history, terrifying England's batsmen with extreme pace and aggression across the entire 5-0 whitewash.
Australia vs England
6 December 2013
Brad Haddin engaged in sustained verbal abuse of James Anderson throughout the 2013-14 Ashes, reducing Anderson to tears according to some reports.
England vs Australia
12 July 2013
Stuart Broad stood his ground after a massive edge was caught at slip, refusing to walk. The umpire gave him not out, infuriating Australia.
Australia vs England
2013-11-21
Mitchell Johnson's sustained pace assault during the 2013-14 Ashes transformed the series, terrorising England's batting lineup with deliveries regularly exceeding 150km/h and causing psychological damage that led to a 5-0 whitewash.
Australia vs England
2013-12-08
James Anderson, cricket's most lethal number 11 batsman, produced various comedy batting moments throughout his career, including frustrated bat throws and bizarre dismissals.
England vs Australia
2013-07-10
Stuart Broad edged massively to slip but stood his ground and was given not out by the umpire, brazenly refusing to walk in one of the Ashes' most shameless moments.
England vs Australia
21-25 July 2011
Ian Bell was run out in bizarre circumstances when he assumed the ball was dead at the tea break, only for India to appeal and the umpires to give him out. MS Dhoni later withdrew the appeal.
Australia vs England
2010-11-28
Graeme Swann's 'Sprinkler' dance became England's signature celebration during the 2010-11 Ashes, infuriating Australians and delighting England fans.
Australia vs England
2010-12-26
England's Barmy Army mercilessly mocked Mitchell Johnson's moustache and bowling with a song that became one of cricket's most famous terrace chants.
Australia vs England
2010-11-25
Peter Siddle took an Ashes hat-trick on his birthday, but the story that captured everyone's imagination was that the vegan fast bowler celebrated with bananas instead of beer.
England vs Australia
8-12 July 2009
England survived the final session with last pair James Anderson and Monty Panesar at the crease. Australia were convinced they had Anderson LBW but the appeal was turned down.
Australia vs England
2006-12-16
Adam Gilchrist revealed after his match-winning 57-ball century in the Adelaide Ashes Test that he'd been batting with a squash ball in his glove to improve his grip.
England vs Australia
4-7 August 2005
Michael Kasprowicz was given out caught behind in one of the closest Ashes matches ever, but replays suggested his glove was off the bat handle when the ball hit it.
England vs Australia
4 August 2005
Andrew Flintoff engaged in relentless verbal and physical intimidation of Ricky Ponting throughout the iconic 2005 Ashes series.
England vs Australia
25 August 2005
Brett Lee and Andrew Flintoff engaged in an intense physical battle throughout the 2005 Ashes, with both players targeting each other with short-pitched bowling.
England vs Australia
2005-08-25
Unknown substitute fielder Gary Pratt ran out Ricky Ponting with a direct hit, triggering an epic tantrum from Ponting who ranted at the England dressing room as he walked off.
Australia vs Various
2005-09-12
Ricky Ponting's volcanic temper produced some of cricket's most entertaining meltdowns, from umpire confrontations to dressing room blow-ups.
England vs Australia
2005-08-04
Glenn McGrath missed the pivotal Edgbaston Ashes Test after stepping on a cricket ball during the warm-up, changing the course of the 2005 Ashes.
England vs Australia
2005-08-07
England beat Australia by 2 runs at Edgbaston in 2005 — the narrowest Ashes victory in history, a match that swung multiple times across four days, and is widely voted the greatest Test match ever played.
Australia vs England
2003-01-02
Steve Waugh made 102 in his final Ashes Test at the SCG — reaching his century off the last ball before tea with a boundary, having been dropped from Tests only to be recalled for this series finale, in what became one of cricket's most celebrated farewell innings.
England vs Australia
1997-06-05
Glenn McGrath's 8/38 at Edgbaston in 1997 — the finest bowling performance of the Ashes series — included the repeated dismissal of Michael Atherton through metronomic accuracy outside off stump that reduced England's best batsman to helplessness.
England vs Australia
4 June 1993
While not a controversial decision itself, Mike Gatting's utter disbelief at being bowled by Shane Warne's first ball in Ashes cricket highlighted how umpires and batsmen alike were unprepared for extreme spin.
England vs Australia
1993-06-04
Shane Warne's first ball in Ashes cricket spun so viciously from outside leg stump to hit off stump that Mike Gatting's bewildered expression became one of cricket's most iconic images.
Australia
1989-05-01
David Boon allegedly consumed 52 cans of beer on the flight from Australia to England for the 1989 Ashes series, setting a legendary drinking record.
England vs Australia
1981-07-21
England, following on 227 runs behind and 500-to-1 outsiders with bookmakers, were bowled to 135/7 in their second innings when Ian Botham walked in and made 149 not out — setting up a Bob Willis spell that completed the most improbable Ashes victory ever.
Australia vs England
1979-12-15
Dennis Lillee walked out to bat with an aluminium 'Combat' bat, sparking a 10-minute standoff when England captain Mike Brearley complained it was damaging the ball.
Australia vs England
1974-11-29
Jeff Thomson's explosive debut Ashes series in 1974-75 — where he regularly bowled above 95mph with a sling-arm action — produced constant confrontations with English batsmen including Tony Greig, who had rashly stated England would make Australia 'grovel'.
England vs Australia
1964-08-14
Fred Trueman became the first bowler in Test history to take 300 wickets — getting Neil Hawke caught behind at The Oval in the 1964 Ashes. On being told he was the first, Trueman's response: 'I hope that whoever does it next gets as much pleasure from it as I have.'
England vs Australia
1956-07-31
Jim Laker took 19 wickets for 90 runs in a single Test match — 9/37 in the first innings and 10/53 in the second — a bowling performance so dominant it remains the most extraordinary individual bowling feat in the history of the game.
England vs Australia
1948-07-08
Ray Lindwall's explosive pace during the 1948 Invincibles tour — where he was the fastest bowler England had faced since Harold Larwood — posed specific challenges to Len Hutton, England's most technically accomplished batsman, testing his technique and concentration throughout.
Australia vs England
1948-08-18
Don Bradman's 1948 Australian side went through the entire England tour — 34 matches including 5 Tests — without losing a single game, becoming the only team in Ashes history to complete a full tour unbeaten.
England vs Australia
1938-08-23
Len Hutton made 364 against Australia at The Oval in 1938 — breaking Don Bradman's previous record of 334 and setting a world record that stood for 20 years until Gary Sobers broke it in 1958.
Australia vs England
1932-12-02
Harold Larwood's sustained leg-theory assault on Don Bradman during the 1932-33 Ashes became cricket's most notorious bowling attack, reducing Bradman's average and sparking a diplomatic crisis between England and Australia.
Australia vs England
2 December 1932
England captain Douglas Jardine devised the 'Bodyline' strategy of fast, short-pitched bowling aimed at the batsman's body to neutralize Don Bradman, nearly causing a diplomatic crisis between England and Australia.
Australia vs England
1930-07-11
Don Bradman made 334 against England at Headingley in 1930 — the world record at the time, set by a 22-year-old who had already scored 131 and 254 in his previous two Tests of the series — at the peak of the most extraordinary run of batting form cricket has ever seen.