Between the last series and this, the rift between the Cricket authorities and 'World Series cricket' was fixed. Conditions of the settlement included the cancellation of the Indian tour to Australia in 1979 - 1980. In it's place both the West Indies and England were to tour Australia, both teams playing a three match series against the home side. Controversy over the 'legality of the Ashes' ensued, Australia claiming that the Ashes were at stake for the series and England saying that they weren't! All the players who had played under Packer's World Series Cricket returned for Australia, however for England only Underwood was recalled.

The 1st Test

Brearley was captain for England and winning the toss put Australia in to bat at Perth for the first Test. Ian Botham bowled well and Australia were soon in trouble, however Kim Hughes held the Australian innings together scoring 99. Australia were finally all out for 244, Botham closing with figures of 6 for 78. Play was delayed by 10 minutes when Dennis Lillee went out to bat because his bat was made out of aluminium. He finally gave in to requests to change to a wooden one and play resumed. England were bowled out for 228 in their first innings, Brearley top scoring with 64 and Lillee taking 4 wickets. Australia took command of the match in the second innings when Border helped his team to 337, contributing 115 himself. The answer to one of the most commonly asked questions in quizzes around the world can be found in this Test when the scorecard read: -

Lillee caught Willey bowled Dilley.

Botham took 5 for 98 in the second innings, taking his match total to 11 wickets for the match. Australia won the match by 138 runs after England were bowled out for only 215 runs in their second innings. Geoff Boycott was left stranded on 99 not out when the innings closed. Dymock was the pick of the bowler taking 6 for 34.

The 2nd Test

The second Test in Sydney was decided at the toss and with the pitch left uncovered during a pre match storm, whoever won the toss would have the best of conditions to bowl. Chappell duly won the toss and invited the tourists to bat. At the close of play on a shortened first day England were 7 for 90, they rallied to finish the innings all out for 123. Australia managed to gain the upper hand by taking a 22 run lead, Botham taking 4 wickets for 29. In England's second innings they managed to post an inviting total for Australia to chase. David Gower scored 98 not out in his team's total of 237 all out, no bowler stood out in the second innings. By the time the English innings had ended the pitch had eased and batting was far less the lottery it was at the beginning of the match. Greg Chappell also scored 98 in Australia's innings, guiding his team to a 6 wicket win. England were less than impressed with the way the match had been conducted, their anger mainly aimed at the pitch condition at the start of the Test.

The 3rd Test

England batted first in Melbourne for the third and final test match of the tour. The top order played well, the middle order then collapsed and the tail wagged as the tourists finished their innings on 306. Graham Gooch became another player to score in the 90's in the series, scoring 99. Lillee was the pick of the Australian bowlers taking 6 wickets for 60 runs and in the process passed the 200th wicket in Test cricket. The two Chappell brothers batted well in reply, Greg scoring 114 and Ian 75. The home side closed their innings of 477 and were now favourites to take the series 3 - 0. Ian Botham played a superb second innings and was the main reason for asking Australia to bat for the second time in the match. Botham was still at the crease when their innings had closed on 119 not out. At one point England were 92 runs behind with only 4 wickets left, at the end of Botham's innings, Australia required 102 runs to win. The home side managed to score the runs loosing only 2 wickets and did indeed take the series by 3 - 0.