First Test: England 215 & 375 beat Australia 280 & 296 by 14 runs Scorecard
Man of the match: James Anderson (10-158)
JAMES ANDERSON took 10 wickets in the first Ashes Test as Australia fell agonisingly short of completing a record-breaking run-chase in an incredible match at Trent Bridge.
The Burnley Express took the remaining four wickets today to leave the Aussies stranded, 14 runs away from an amazing comeback
In fact, "amazing" is a word that could be applied to this Test from the first day to the last.
The series began with England winning the toss and deciding to bat under leaden Nottingham skies. Captain Alastair Cook fell early, caught behind off James Pattinson for 13 before Joe Root followed before lunch, bowled by a peach of a yorker by Peter Siddle.
Siddle started the last Ashes series on fire and he repeated his five-for from Brisbane by taking the wickets of Jonathan Trott (48), Kevin Pietersen (14), Ian Bell (25), and Matt Prior (1) on the afternoon.
England then lost their last four wickets for just two runs as Pattinson and Mitchell Starc cleared up the tail with ease. All out for 215, the hosts' innings ended shortly after tea. It would be fair to say that this wasn't in the script.
Before stumps, though, England's bowlers had responded well as Australia lost their first three wickets in quick succession, falling from 19-0 to 22-3, and closing on 78-4.
Anderson had also produced his first moment of magic, removing the Aussie skipper Michael Clarke for a duck with a brilliant swinging ball.
A disappointing performance with the bat was being compensated for, and so it continued on the second morning as Australia tumbled to 117-9, still 98 behind.
Enter Ashton Agar, or "Agar, the horrible" as The Sun would later label him.
Beginning the Test as a 19-year-old debutant, the spinner took on all-comers, falling just two runs short of his century, having hit 12 fours and two sixes.
Nevertheless, Agar still went into the record books with a world record score for a number 11 and, with Phil Hughes, he also now shares the record last man stand of 151.
Most importantly, the incredible Agar-Hughes partnership had given the Aussies a lead of 65 with which to take into the second innings.
And that lead looked particularly good when Root and Trott fell in successive balls immediately before tea to leave England on 11-2.
At this stage, it looked as if the Aussies were getting all the luck. Not only could Agar have been out stumped for just 10, Trott was dismissed lbw on review - despite replays suggesting he had got an inside edge.
However, to the chagrin of England, HotSpot was not functioning fully, and Aleem Dar had to reverse his decision. Little did the Pakistani umpire know, but that would be far from his last contribution to the Test.
Having steered England to the close of day two, Cook and Pietersen were unable to reach lunch on day three - and, when Jonny Bairstow and Prior both fell just after the interval, the hosts were on 218-6.
It was a lead of only 153 - and Trent Bridge was crying out for a proper partnership on what was hardly a minefield of a pitch.
Thankfully, Stuart Broad and Bell provided one, guiding England to the close without further loss - but should that really have been the case?
Definitely not, if umpire Dar had been watching more closely. Broad, on 37, clearly edged behind to Clarke at slip and the Aussies, having foolishly burned their two reviews on hopeful lbw shouts, were left aghast at the not out decision.
Broad - brought up in era in which it is rare to walk, a custom first popularised by the Aussies, no less - was happy to give his opponents a taste of their own medicine, though he has had to endure the subsequent moral debate over whether he had damaged the game by his actions.
Certainly, it was not in the spirit of the game but that does not necessarily make it the wrong thing to have done in the heat of an Ashes Test match.
Indeed, in fairness to Clarke and the Aussie players, once the heat of the moment was taken away, they accepted their misfortune and moved on.
That is not to say, on the other hand, that Broad went easy on the tourists. On day four, he would eventually finish with his highest score against Australia - though the day, without doubt, belonged to Bell.
The Warwickshire batsman hit 109 for his 18th - and perhaps best - Test century, and his first in England since August 2011. He had chosen a timely moment to return to form.
But, once he and Broad departed before lunch, none of the England tail hung around too much, and Cook's men were all out for an improved 375, setting Australia 311 to win.
Now, the highest successful fourth-innings run-chase in Tests at Trent Bridge is 284-6, scored by England against New Zealand in 2004 - and that still remains the case tonight.
Nevertheless, the Aussie openers laid a decent platform, reaching 84 before the first wicket went down as Watson was trapped lbw by Broad.
Further successes before tea were not forthcoming so England turned to the part-time off-spin of Root.
The Yorkshire lad proved he was no mug with the ball, inducing Australia's nervous number three Ed Cowan to nick behind to Trott with the score on Nelson (111).
Chris Rogers followed shortly after tea and then, just as Clarke threatened to form a partnership with Steve Smith, they fell in successive balls - Clarke at the end of Broad's over to the tiniest of nicks which he unsuccessfully reviewed, and Smith at the start of Swann's.
There was even a bonus scalp for Swann in his next over as Hughes was trapped lbw on 0 for a wicket which England gained on review, the ball adjudged to have pitched in line by millimetres.
It was a second close call in England's favour in a matter of minutes. The tide had turned but no further wickets followed so a final session in the Trent Bridge torture chamber was required.
For a match that had 14 wickets on its opening day, a fifth day of play was certainly an unexpected boost to the coffers of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club - and a bargain for the full house.
The capacity crowd had paid just £20 per head and, following a quiet first hour, three quick wickets looked to have put them in a position to cheer England home.
All three wickets were caught by Cook in the slips off the bowling of Anderson. The third catch, which dismissed Siddle, was a fantastic two-handed effort after a big dive to the right and it more than made up for the far more straight-forward effort which he had just put down.
Australia looked just about finished on 231-9, still needing 80 more runs.
But, once again, the Aussies had something extra in the tank and the experienced Brad Haddin showed great confidence in sharing the strike with the new last man Pattinson.
The pair settled quickly and, as Anderson cramped up and Graeme Swann struggled for rhythm, the boundaries started flowing.
On came Steven Finn, an unfortunately benevolent bowler at the best of times, and the raw seamer conceded 15 off the first over of his spell and nine off the second before being pulled off in favour of Broad.
Suddenly, the target was down to 38 - and that reduced again when Pattinson swept Swann over midwicket for six - and then again when Finn's personal nightmare continued with an admittedly tough drop at deep square leg.
England were now visibly panicking, with that Aussie favourite Broad making no attempt to conceal his time-wasting by untying and retying his shoe.
It was a desperate ploy for the lunch interval which England knew they needed to regroup and also get Anderson back on the field of play.
However, Broad's cheeky tactic did not work, though ultimately Swann would finish the extended session by bowling an uneventful maiden, leaving Australia needing to knock off only 20 more.
Back after a 40-minute break, then, and the ball was back in Anderson's hands. A testing maiden showed promise but England were running out of time with Swann still leaking runs at the other end.
Again Anderson applied the pressure, starting his next over with four dot balls.
Then his fifth was a beauty and induced a waft outside of off-stump by Haddin and an appeal led by Prior from behind the stumps.
'Not out' was the verdict from the umpire but England - with two reviews left and only 14 runs left to defend - asked for the shot to be referred.
The faint sound of a nick as the ball passed the bat, and another tiny white mark on HotSpot, convinced third umpire Marias Erasmus that it was out. That it was indeed the wicket which England had been waiting over two hours for.
Anderson had done it. He had secured 10 wickets in a Test match for only a second time, and on the same ground as his first 10-wicket haul, three years ago against Pakistan.
It was the first time that 10 wickets had been taken by a single bowler in an Ashes match since Shane Warne at the Oval in 2005, and the first English bowler to do it in the Ashes for 10 years since Andrew Caddick struck in Sydney.
While we are on statistics, those wickets took Anderson up to third on the all-time list of England wicket takers - above the late, great Fred Trueman, eight shy of Bob Willis, and 66 behind Ian Botham.
Barring serious injury, Anderson will surely finish his career on top of that list, and fittingly become statistically England's greatest ever bowler.
England can be thankful they have him in the side presently, as otherwise this Test would undoubtedly have seen a different result.
Australia revelled in their unusual status as underdogs and their lower-order batmen compensated for the weaknesses further up.
But the tourists do not quite have a bowler like Anderson - and, remember, Bell did end up providing the top score in the Test with his excellent 109.
England just about deserved it, then, though having enjoyed a fair rub of the green as well.
And so the maxim of never changing a winning side may need to be reviewed. For a start, Root currently looks a much better batsman down the order although, admittedly, he did receive a jaffa from Siddle in the first innings.
Definitely, of greater concern, is Middlesex bowler Finn who even looked out of sorts in the field today.
The particularly bad news for him is that there are ready-made replacements on the sidelines in Tim Bresnan and Graham Onions - but Finn's biggest hope tomorrow is that the selectors consider he will feel more comfortable on his home ground.
Yes, there is a quick turnaround between the first two Tests and the Ashes rock up at Lord's on Thursday.
Clearly, the two sides are more evenly-matched than it was previously considered - and England, while still favourites, must beware of an Aussie fightback.
After all, the tourists have already showed plenty of fight over the last five days - and, even if the next five at HQ are half as good, it will still be an absolute blinder.
THE ASHES 2013
FIXTURES
| 10-14 July | First Test: England 215 & 375 beat Australia 280 & 296 by 14 runs | Trent Bridge |
| 18-22 July | Second Test | Lord's |
| 1-5 August | Third Test | Old Trafford |
| 9-13 August | Fourth Test | Riverside |
| 21-25 August | Fifth Test | The Oval |
CENTURIES
109 Ian Bell (England)
FIVE-WICKET HAULS (~ 10 wickets in the match)
5-50 Peter Siddle (Australia)
~5-73 James Anderson (England)
~5-85 James Anderson (England)
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