Mike Gatting took over the captaincy from the victorious Gower (1985); Allan Border remained as captain for the Australian's. Leading up to the first match in Brisbane, the tourists hadn't had a very successful warm up and confidence was low.

Border sent the English team in to bat and it proved to be a costly mistake. Ian Botham came in with England establishing a decent foundation, however 'Beefy' then took the attack to the Australian's knocking a tremendous 138. The innings included 22 runs off a Merv Hughes over, equalling the 22 he hit off Dennis Lillee back in 1981, Tavare scoring 3 of the 22. Australia replying to England's 456 struggled to cope with Dilley (5 for 68) and were dismissed for 248. Following on, Geoff Marsh batted all day but received no support from his team mates and left England to get 75 runs to win. They did so without much effort and won by 7 wickets.

Perth saw Gatting win his first toss of the series. The Middlesex man decided to bat, and his decision was justified when Broad scored 162 and Athey 96 in a first partnership of 223 for the first wicket. Ex Captain Gower then added 136 and Jack Richards in his second Test scored 133, England declared at 8 for 592. Allan Border led the way for the Australian's and scored a fine century narrowly avoiding the follow on with a total of 401. England declared their second innings at 8 for 199, leaving the Australian's to bat out time comfortably for a draw.

Australia batted as a team in Melbourne for the 3rd Test, David Boon top scored with 103 and Dean Jones fell 7 runs short of a century. England chasing a mammoth total of 514 played well, in particular Chris Broad (116) and Mike Gatting (100) who steered the visitors to 455 all out. Allan Border scored a century in his second innings and declared to give England a bat. Unfortunately too much time was lost on the last day to the rain and the match ended in a predictable draw.

Ian Botham and Gladstone Small bowled Australia out for 141 at Melbourne, after Gatting had put Australia in to bat on a perfect pitch. The two English bowlers both taking 5 wickets each, and only Dean Jones offered any resistance with a determined 59. In England's first innings, Chris Broad was to achieve a feat only equalled by Hobbs and Hammond before him, by scoring his third consecutive century in Ashes Test matches. Bruce Reid and Craig McDermott took 4 wickets each, as England flourished scoring 349 runs. In reply, Australia again had no answer to the England bowling and Australia lost the match by an innings and 14 runs.

By winning the 4th Test match in Melbourne, England had retained the Ashes under Gatting, and travelled to Sydney buoyant with the success. Dean Jones (shown in the picture)played a magnificent innings scoring 184 not out for Australia, and set the scene for the rest of the match. Australia only managed 343 but held a first innings lead over England after Peter Taylor, bowling off-spin, took 6 of the last 7 wickets on his debut. At the time, many people were surprised with his inclusion in the Test because up till that moment, he had only played in 6 first class matches. Rumour spread thanks mainly to the Australian commentators, that he had only been included due to a mistaken identity. Perhaps they got the wrong Taylor they said! Australia set England 320 to win after Peter Taylor this time with the bat, helped Waugh recover from 7 for 145. Australia won the match with an over to spare, winning for the first time in 15 Tests, their worst record.