The first scheduled six-Test series becomes the only seven-Test series in history when the third Test at Melbourne was washed out and an extra game added at the end of the series. Ray Illingworth's side were opposed to Bill Lawry's Australians for who Greg Chappell, Dennis Lillee and Rodney Marsh all made illustrious debuts in this series. The first two Tests were drawn and the third abandoned, England won the fourth Test in Sydney by 299 runs with some fierce bowling by John Snow who took 7 for 40 in the second innings. Draws in the fifth and sixth Tests ensured England retained the Ashes, and for the final match Lawry was controversially sacked and dropped, despite being in good form, and replaced by Ian Chappell. Another England victory secured the series, but it was a bad-tempered match in which Snow and Illingworth clashed with the umpires, and Snow with a spectator. At one stage Illingworth took his team off the field, an episode which almost resulted in England forfeiting the match.
England 2 Australia 0
A highly entertaining series under the captaincy of Ray Illingworth and Ian Chappell saw four of the five Tests finish in results. John Snow, Dennis Lillee and Derek Underwood all gave match-winning bowling performances, but no one had a more spectacular gamethan Australian swing bowler Bob Massie on his debut in the second Test at Lord's - 8 for 84 runs in the first innings, and 8 for 53 in the second. The Ashes were retained by England in the fourth Test at Headingley, where Underwood spun the home team to victory on a controversial grassless pitch inside three days. Australia won the final Test at The Oval in six days as Chappells Ian and Greg became the first brothers to score Test centuries together, sharing a 201 partnership.
England 2 Australia 2
The first injury-free pairing of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson at the Gabba ushered in a new era of Australian dominance of these contests. A Boycott-less England, led by Mike Denness, had their five specialist batsmen all over the age of 30 and the 42-year-old Colin Cowdrey flown out as an emergency replacement. Australia won the first two Tests, the highlight at the WACA being a blistering tea-to-stumps century by Doug Walters. The Boxing Day Test at the MCG was drawn with Australia eight runs short of victory and just two wickets in hand. The fourth Test in Sydney saw the Ashes return to Australia. With the series decided, Australia won the fifth Test,
but England came back to win the final Test with Denness making the highest score by an England captain in Australia (188). Thomson took 33 wickets in a series that ended for him one-and-a-half Tests early through a rest-day tennis injury, but in days before helmets, it was not a series for the squeemish.
Australia 4 England 1
A four-match series arranged following the removal of a South African tour from the calendar and slotted in after the inaugural World Cup. A crushing innings victory by Australia in the opening Test at Edgbaston gave every sign that the previous winter's slaughter would continue. Graham Gooch's twenty-year Test career began at Edgbaston with a pair. But England axed Mike Denness and replaced him with Tony Greig, and he checked the slide and the remaining three matches were drawn. The third Test at Headingley was abandoned when demonstrators vandalised the wicket on the fourth evening and forced the match's curtailment. But the lasting memory of the series was of 33-year-old debutant batsman David Steele standing up to the firepower of Lillee and Thomson to score 365 runs at 60.83.
Australia 1 England 0
A one-off Test played at the MCG to celebrate the centenary of the initial Test match encounter at the same ground. Although the Ashes were not at stake, this was arguably the most entertaining Test match of the 1970's. Australia recovered from their first innings dismissal for 138 to bowl England over for just 95 - Lillee's 6 for 26 the standout. Australia's second innings was marked by two memorable occasions: David Hookes' five consecutive fours off Tony Greig, and Rick McCosker's brave late-order 25 while nursing a jaw broken in the first innings by Bob Willis. England needed 453 to win, and Derek Randall's 174 nearly made it possible until Lillee took the final wickets in the last scheduled hour of play. Australia's margin of victory, 45 runs, was exactly the same as in that first Test 100 years earlier.
A series overshadowed by the announcement of and planning for Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket, for whom most (but not all) of the Australian touring party had signed up. Denniss Lillee was unavailable for this tour, as it transpired to maintain his fitness for WSC. Tony Greig's pre-series axing as England's captain due to his involvement in the WSC machinations saw Mike Brearley take charge. England were one-up after the second Test, when Geoff Boycott was recalled, and 21 year-old Ian Botham introduced, to the England XI. Each played major roles in the third Test victory at Trent Bridge. The Headingley Test began with Boycott making his 100th first-class hundred on his home ground. Botham took 5 for 21 when Australia's first innings total of 103 was barely half of Boycott's 191. When Derek Randall caught Rod Marsh off Mike Hendrick on the fifth day, the Ashes were England's once more. The Oval Test was drawn, and international cricket was about to change forever.
England 3 Australia 0
This was a series played out as a head-to-head with World Series Cricket. Australia were almost unrecognisable from the side who had toured 18 months earlier, and while England missed Tony Greig, Alan Knott and Derek Underwood, they boasted Ian Botham. Bob Simpson's re-retirement meant that Graham Yallop was elevated to the Australian captaincy. When Australia were 26 for 6 on the opening morning of the first Test the tone was set for the summer. Rodney Hogg's phenomenal debut series (41 wickets at 12.85) was not enough as the Australian batsmen lacked consistency and the team lacked cohesion. The home side achieved a solitary victory in a Melbourne third Test more notable in hindsight for the low-key debut of Allan Border. The rest of the series was one-way traffic as Mike Brearley enhanced his reputation as the best captain of the era. England's biggest victory ever in this contest.
England 5 Australia 1
This was the summer of reconciliation between Packer and the establishment, and a hastily-organised three-Test series was scheduled to run concurrently with an Australia-West Indies series. The TCCB declined to allow the Ashes to be at stake - a wise decision in hindsight. A full-strength Australian side was too much for their opponents to handle - the pace trio of Denniss Lillee, Len Pascoe and Geoff Dymock taking control in each game. Three centuries were scored in the series, but the number of near-misses was extraordinary: in the first Test, Kim Hughes was out for 99, and Geoff Boycott carried his bat for 99 not out; in the second, David Gower made 98 not out and Greg Chappell was on 98 when the winning runs were scored; in the third, Graham Gooch was run out one short of his maiden Test hundred. For Mike Brearley, this series was the major blemish in an otherwise distinguished career. And don't mention Lillee's alluminium bat.
Australia 3 England 0 (Ashes not at stake)
A one-off Test held at Lord's to commemorate the centenary of the first Test match played in England (despite the 1880 game being played at The Oval) was decimated by poor weather on the second and third days. Tempers became frayed on the Saturday when, despite glorious sunshine, play did not start until late afternoon. The time lost consigned the game to a draw, altough England narrowly escaped the follow-on on the fourth morning. The strokeplay of Kim Hughes (117 and 84) was the highlight.
This series can be classified in two parts, Part One - Botham the Captain, and Part Two - Botham the Genius.
Part one began as Australia, led by Kim Hughes in Greg Chappell's absence, won a low-scoring first Test at Trent Bridge, thanks mainly to the bowling of Dennis Lillee and debutant Terry Alderman. The Lord's Test was a draw, unremarkable save for Geoff Lawson's 7 for 81, but for the England selectors, Botham's winless record in 13 Tests as captain was enough and he resigned - although the selectors said he would have been sacked anyway! His replacement was recalled from county cricket - Mike Brearley. End of Part one, start of Part two.
The Headingley Test has gone into legend. England followed on and were 135 for 7 on the fourth afternoon facing innings defeat. Throwing caution to the wind, Botham blasted 149 not out to give England a slender lead and set Australia a target of 130 to win. They fell for 111, Willis taking 8 for 43. At Edgbaston, Australia again crumbled in sight of victory, needing 151 when Botham took for 5 for 1 in 28 balls to secure a 29-run England victory. And the star of England's fifth Test victory at Old Trafford was again Botham, whose second-innings 118 was scored from only 102 balls. Terry Alderman and Dennis Lillee were the outstanding wicket-takers (42 and 39 wickets respectively), but Botham's all-round achievements (399 runs and 34 wickets) were all the difference.
England 3 Australia 1
Greg Chappell and Bob Willis were opposing captains in this series. Terry Alderman made an early exit when he suffered a shoulder injury trying to tackle a pitch intruder during a first Test marred by rowdy behaviour - the match was also Lillee's final Test against England. Australia were two-up after the third Test but at Melbourne England won a thrilling game by three runs - a legendary match with little in it throughout. The Ashes returned to Australia when England declined the challenge of a 460-run target on the final day of the Sydney Test. Geoff Lawson was the outstanding bowler of the series, while Kepler Wessels scored 162 on debut for his adopted country at The Gabba.
Australia 2 England 1
The Australian team was disrupted before the tour commenced when three players were dropped after signing up for a rebel tour of South Africa - among them Terry Alderman. The series was notable for several large centuries among batsmen from both sides and after four Tests the score was 1-1. But England romped to comprehensive innings wins in the final matches, and as David Gower lifted the Ashes at The Oval, Allan Border begun planning Australia's recovery. At the heart of the two victories were some splendid swing bowling from Richard Ellison, and two triple century partnerships involving Gower (331 with Robinson at Edgbaston, 351 with Gooch at The Oval). Australia's bowling attack was shallow and undisciplined. The Ashes returned to England when Murray Bennett hit a return catch to Ellison to conclude the series.
England 3 Australia 1
An England combination just about at their peak during this tour under Mike Gatting's captaincy in a high-scoring series where a few inspired bowling displays made the difference. Chris Broad scored three centuries for England while Ian Botham blasted a rapid 138 in the first Test at the Gabba. The series was settled in the fourth Test at the MCG when Gladstone Small spearheaded an innings victory inside three days. Australia regained some respect in an exciting final Test on an SCG spinner's pitch.
England 2 Australia 1
A one-off Test held at the Sydney Cricket Ground as part of the celebrations of the bicentenary of British settlement in Australia. Chris Broad's fourth Test century on Australian soil was marred when he smashed the stumps with his bat when given out. Australia were forced to follow-on, but an unbeaten eight-hour 184 by David Boon saw the home team safely to a draw. The Ashes were not at stake in this match.
The tone of this series was set when Australia declared on 601 for 7 in the first Test at Headingley. In every Test they scored at least 424 runs in the first innings. Mark Taylor scored 839 runs for the series, and he and Geoff Marsh batted unbeaten right through the opening day of the Trent Bridge Test on their way to a record opening stand of 329. Steve Waugh lost his wicket for the first time in the series during the third Test having already scored two big centuries. Terry Alderman took 41 wickets to add to his 1981 haul. David Gower's Englishmen were hit by injuries and poor form, and then the announcement of the rebel English touring team to South Africa during the fourth Test forced more changes - in all, 29 players represented England across the six Tests. Australia regained the Ashes in
the fourth Test at Old Trafford when David Boon swept Nick Cook to the boundary. It set the tone for the years of Australian dominance which were to follow.
Australia 4 England 0
