THE ASHES 2013
RESULT: England won the series 3-0 Boycott & Aggers Preview
| 10-14 July | First Test: England 215 & 375 beat Australia 280 & 296 by 14 runs | Trent Bridge | Report |
| 18-21 July | Second Test: England 361 & 349-7dec beat Australia 128 & 235 by 347 runs | Lord's | Report |
| 1-5 August | Third Test: Australia 527-7dec & 172-7dec drew with England 368 & 37-3 | Old Trafford | Report |
| 9-12 August | Fourth Test: England 238 & 330 beat Australia 270 & 224 by 74 runs | Riverside | Report |
| 21-25 August | Fifth Test: Australia 492-9dec & 111-6dec drew with England 377 & 206-5 | The Oval | Report |
THE STYLISH strokeplay of Ian Bell and a stronger all-round bowling unit were the key factors in England's 3-0 Ashes success this summer.
In a series dominated by low scores, Bell (62.44) was the only man from either side to average over 50, having compiled three centuries - in the first, second and fourth Tests.
And, due to the failing top order, this was hardly Bell making hay from an already comfortable position.
England captain Alastair Cook - who averaged a magnificent 127.66 in the last series in Australia - could only boast a top score of 62 and an average of 27.70, this time.
His fellow opener, youngster Joe Root, fared a little better, averaging 37.66, but this was skewed by one huge innings of 180 at Lord's in which he could have been out early.
Excluding that innings then, the Yorkshireman's average for the series was paltry 19.88, and it must be said he looked much more comfortable batting at number six where he was protected from the new ball.
That said, his far more experienced colleagues - Jonathan Trott (29.30) and, particularly, Matt Prior (19.00) - never got going, and - outside of Bell - only Kevin Pietersen (38.80) showed glimpses of his top form.
Consequently, Bell continually arrived at the crease to find his team in trouble.
But, from positions of 121-3, 28-3 and 49-3 respectively, the Warwickshire batsman's trio of tons guided England to 371-8, 271-5 and 251-6, and the hosts would go on to win each of those Tests.
Of course, none of Bell's centuries - a 113 and successive 109s - was particularly huge in terms of their total - but each of them was absolutely massive in terms of their impact on the game as a whole.
By contrast, two huge individual scores from Australians - 187 from skipper Michael Clarke in the third Test and 176 from Shane Watson in the fifth Test - went unrewarded as both of those matches ended in draws, England even coming very close to nicking the fifth match.
But, while the Aussies did indeed declare with two big first innings totals in those Tests, they were far less consistent with the bat, symptomatic of their ever-changing batting order, perhaps.
In all, Australia failed to score over 300 on eight occasions while, in completed innings, only England's opening day 215 at Trent Bridge was truly disappointing with the benefit of hindsight.
Goodness only knows what would have happened if rain had not intervened at Old Trafford with the hosts on 37-3.
Generally, though, the point stands. England, without being particularly good and having failed to pass 400 all summer long, were still consistent enough in compiling scores between 330 and 375 to win some Test matches. Australia just did not have that knack.
England held another big advantage which restricted the Australians' scoring at times: Cook's bowlers were better at seizing the day.
James Anderson, in the first Test, and Stuart Broad, in the fourth, produced five-fers in both innings in man of the match Test-winning performances.
Neither of them finished as top wicket taker, however. This was something which was not really a surprise, though, given the unusually slow nature of the pitches - they were instead prepared for a spinner.
Graeme Swann duly delivered, enjoying two five-fers (in separate matches) for himself on his way to topping the charts with 26 scalps.
Anderson and Broad shared third place with 22 victims, beaten by Aussie workhorse Ryan Harris, who took 24 in the series, despite missing the first Test.
No Australian got near the consistency of Harris, though - not even Peter Siddle, who - for the second Ashes series in a row - started with a five-fer before fading.
Consistency of selection was also a problem, here, for the tourists.
Ashton Agar surprisingly started ahead of Nathan Lyon as spinner in the first two Tests but ultimately contributed far more with bat than ball, and Australia eventually turned to Lyon from the third Test onwards.
In terms of the seamers, Jackson Bird and James Faulkner played just one match apiece, James Pattinson was ended after two games by injury, while Mitchell Starc (with three Test) and Harris (with four) also failed to play their full allocation. Indeed, of the regular seamers, only Siddle did.
Undoubtedly, excepting an extraordinary final day in which Clarke tried to force a victory which was never going to happen, Australia looked much more comfortable as the series wore on.
England are now aware, if they were not before, that the Aussies are capable of a big score - and Cook's men must bat much better on harder, bouncier surfaces Down Under.
Back to the series just finished, though - and it was a muddled, frankly pretty disastrous, start to the tour which cost the Aussies' dear.
Once 2-0 up, England - with a little help from the weather at Old Trafford, of course - were generally in control of proceedings.
Bell was in belting form throughout, Swann took to the pitches like a duck to water, and Anderson and Broad produced a few unstoppable spells to which Australia had no reply.
Notably, I have declined to mention, until now, the impact of the Decision Review System (DRS) on the series, mainly because it benefited and hindered each team pretty equally in the end.
Certainly, it is something which needs to be looked at again, with neither side fully confident of using it eventually.
But, for every decision which favoured England - such as the extraordinary not out verdict when Broad nicked behind to first slip in the first Test - there had been another which had favoured Australia.
How about, for example, when Agar was out stumped on six in the same match but was reprieved and went on to make 98 as the Aussies almost pulled off an amazing win?
In fairness, Australia skipper Clarke was brutally honest in his assessment of the campaign.
"It doesn't matter how you play, the result is there - England won 3-0," he said, not wishing to add that this was the first time since 1977, 1978/79 and 1981 that England had won three Ashes series in a row.
By the way, it was 1886 the last time that England extended the sequence beyond that...
THE ASHES: A STATISTICAL PERSPECTIVE
TEAM SCORES
527-7dec Australia in the third Test, Old Trafford
492-9dec Australia in the fifth Test, the Oval
377 England in the fifth Test, the Oval
375 England in the first Test, Trent Bridge
368 England in the third Test, Old Trafford
361 England in the second Test, Lord's
349-7dec England in the second Test, Lord's
330 England in the fourth Test, Riverside
296 Australia in the first Test, Trent Bridge
280 Australia in the first Test, Trent Bridge
270 Australia in the fourth Test, Riverside
238 England in the fourth Test, Riverside
235 Australia in the second Test, Lord's
224 Australia in the fourth Test, Riverside
215 England in the first Test, Trent Bridge
206-5 England in the fifth Test, the Oval
172-7dec Australia in the third Test, Old Trafford
128 Australia in the second Test, Lord's
111-6dec Australia in the fifth Test, the Oval
37-3 England in the third Test, Old Trafford
TEAM AGGREGATES
Runs scored England 2856, Australia 2735
Wickets taken England 89, Australia 84
BATTING
BEST AVERAGES
62.44 Ian Bell (England)
47.62 Michael Clarke (Australia)
42.00 Chris Woakes (England)
41.80 Shane Watson (Australia)
40.77 Chris Rogers (Australia)
38.80 Kevin Pietersen (England)
38.33 Steve Smith (Australia)
37.66 Joe Root (England)
36.00 James Pattinson (Australia)
32.50 Ashton Agar (Australia)
HIGHEST RUN SCORERS (minimum 200 runs)
562 Ian Bell (England)
418 Shane Watson (Australia)
388 Kevin Pietersen (England)
381 Michael Clarke (Australia)
367 Chris Rogers (Australia)
345 Steve Smith (Australia)
339 Joe Root (England)
293 Jonathan Trott (England)
277 Alastair Cook (England)
206 Brad Haddin (Australia)
203 Jonny Bairstow (England)
CENTURIES (*not out)
England 5 - Australia 4
187 Michael Clarke (Australia), third Test
180 Joe Root (England), second Test
176 Shane Watson (Australia), fifth Test
138* Steve Smith (Australia), fifth Test
113 Kevin Pietersen (England), third Test
113 Ian Bell (England), fourth Test
110 Chris Rogers (Australia), fourth Test
109 Ian Bell (England), first Test
109 Ian Bell (England), second Test
BOWLING
BEST AVERAGES (minimum 10 overs bowled)
11.33 Joe Root (England)
16.33 James Faulkner (Australia)
19.58 Ryan Harris (Australia)
26.50 Steve Smith (Australia)
27.45 Stuart Broad (England)
29.03 Graeme Swann (England)
29.59 James Anderson (England)
29.60 Tim Bresnan (England)
31.58 Peter Siddle (Australia)
32.45 Mitchell Starc (Australia)
33.66 Nathan Lyon (Australia)
WICKET TAKERS
26 Graeme Swann (England)
24 Ryan Harris (Australia)
22 James Anderson (England), Stuart Broad (England)
17 Peter Siddle (Australia)
11 Mitchell Starc (Australia)
10 Tim Bresnan (England)
9 Nathan Lyon (Australia)
7 James Pattinson (Australia)
6 James Faulkner (Australia)
4 Steve Smith (Australia)
3 Joe Root (England)
2 Ashton Agar (Australia), Jackson Bird (Australia), Steven Finn (England), Shane Watson (Australia)
1 Jonathan Trott (England), Chris Woakes (England)
FIVE-WICKET HAULS (~ 10 wickets in the match)
England 6 - Australia 3
7-117 Ryan Harris (Australia), fourth Test
~6-50 Stuart Broad (England), fourth Test
5-44 Graeme Swann (England), second Test
5-50 Peter Siddle (Australia), first Test
~5-71 Stuart Broad (England), fourth Test
5-72 Ryan Harris (Australia), second Test
~5-73 James Anderson (England), first Test
~5-85 James Anderson (England), first Test
5-159 Graeme Swann (England), third Test
PREVIOUS ASHES SERIES ON THEINTREPIDREPORTER
2009 Preview First Second Third Fourth Fifth Stats
2010-11 Preview First Second Third Fourth Fifth Stats
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