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Day One - Old Trafford - Match Scorecard

In a rather subdued opening session compared to last week's at Edgbaston, England scored 93 runs losing Andrew Strauss in the process, Trescothick and Vaughan building a profitable partnership following Vaughan's decision to bat on a hard dry wicket.
 
Both Lee and McGrath were included in the Australian team, the pair recovering from their respective injuries to the surprise of many at the ground today. Kasprowicz was omitted as a result and England fielded an unchanged team for the third Test match of the series.
 
McGrath was accurate from the start and despite going for a few early runs he saw Trescothick dropped on 13 by Adam Gilchrist, a schoolboy error that will make Australia pay no doubt. At the other end, Lee showed no signs of trouble from his knee injury, bowling a fast and fiery opening spell particularly against Strauss who was hit on the helmet by Lee shortly before he was clean bowled by a slower ball yorker.
 
With the introduction of the third seamer Gillespie, the pressure was released and England set about increasing the run rate, both Vaughan and Trescothick scoring with ease. Vaughan benefited from an easy batting wicket, slowly but surely playing himself back into form as the bowling attack wilted in the Manchester sun.
 
Ponting surprisingly didn't turn to Warne before lunch, possibly an indication of how little spin this Old Trafford pitch was, proving how important it was to win the toss. At lunch on day one with Vaughan not out on 41 and Trescothick 35, a partnership of 67 runs has laid the foundations of a big total for England.

Michael Vaughan finally found some form against Australia cracking 166 before he was caught in the deep by Glenn McGrath off a rank full toss from part time bowler Simon Katich. Despite riding his luck after being dropped and bowled on a no-ball off successive Glenn McGrath balls on 41, and dropped again on 141 in the slips by Hayden, he played a stylish innings increasing England's chances of moving 2-1 ahead in the five Test series.

Warne was introduced in the 34th over, the wicket clearly not conducive to spin and not even Warne could muster a sharply turning delivery. However it was Warne who nabbed the second wicket, Marcus Trescothick his victim falling three runs short of his own 5000 run milestone. It not only ended a record 137 run partnership for the second wicket at Old Trafford but handed Warne his record 600th wicket.

Despite a cautious start from Bell, the new pairing took delight in some loose bowling from Dizzy Gillespie and increased their tempo hitting 42 runs of just three overs and in so doing ended Gillespie's contribution for the day. 41 of the runs came off Vaughan's bat including a massive six and three consecutive fours after being dropped on 141 by Hayden off Warne's bowling. With Kasprowicz and Tait looking on, Gillespie will be fortunate to keep his place in the starting XI for the fourth Test match.

Following Vaughan's dismissal, Pietersen failed to capitalise on a couple of lucky escapes off Warne when he fell to a Brett Lee sucker punch, caught at deep mid-wicket for just 21 runs. Brad Hodge fielding for Michael Clarke who had been off the field for most of the day with a bad back, took a good catch within feet of the mid-wicket boundary, one eye on the ball and the other on the ropes.

Hoggard was sent in as night-watchman but he failed to see the night out when he became Lee's third victim of the day and second of the new ball spell, clean bowled by the fiery paceman for just four runs. England's innings closed at 5 for 341 with Bell still there on 59 not out, Flintoff to come on resumption of play tomorrow.

All in all, it was England's day, more specifically Michael Vaughan's, but no one will deny Shane Keith Warne of celebrating a magnificent achievement of 600 wickets in Test cricket. Australia had another poor day in the field and England will look to step up a gear tomottow, making the tourists pay for a lacklustre performance.

Day Two - Old Trafford - Match Scorecard

Slowly but surely England are threatening to end Australia's hold on international Test cricket following the win at Edgbaston and today's performance at Old Trafford in the 3rd of 5 Tests. The turnaround in confidence and performance on and off the field has been nothing short of amazing and it shows no sign of abating any time soon.

The final five England wicket to fall fell for just 103 runs today, Warne taking three of them as the pitch started to spin out of the rough and occasionally on a good length.

Bell failed to add to his overnight score of 59, hooking a short delivery from Lee and Gilchrist taking the catch with ease. yet again in this series television replays suggested the umpire, Bucknor in this case had made a mistake, the ball appearing to miss both bat and glove as the ball made its way back to Gilchrist. Test Match Special on BBC Radio 4 suggested that Bucknor was too old and should retire from umpiring, a rather harsh statement.

A rain delay of 20 minutes followed and on resumption Brett Lee struggled with his footmarks. Jones and Flintoff settled down to play some attractive and attacking shots, taking the game away from the tourists, taking the total well past 400 without further loss.

Four runs short of his third successive half century, Flintoff attempted an adventurous shot only to slice the ball to Langer at the long-on boundary. The wicket was a catalyst to a collapse, the four final wickets falling for just 11 runs.

Gillespie at no stage during the innings looked like taking a wicket but take one he did, heralding the end of the session with Jones' wicket. Jones lost his off stump to possibly Gillespie's best ball of the match! Warne took the final two wickets after lunch, Giles prodded to a waiting Hayden at slip and Simon Jones was clean bowled to a ball that turned sharply out of the rough.

Australia started confidently with both Hayden and Langer desperate to stay in as long as possible. The England bowlers had other plans however, Langer was the first to fall to a superb reactive catch by Bell, Giles taking the first of his three wickets. The floodgates opened and before they knew it they had lost both Ponting and Hayden and had still not reached 100 runs. The English bowling was sharp, Flintoff and Jones mastering the art of reverse swing causing the batsmen no end of trouble.

Flintoff sent Katich back and Giles accounted for Martyn, his third wicket, the Australian total looking precariously on 129 with the loss of five wickets, well short of the 245 required to avoid the follow on. Michael Clarke who had been absent from the field since the second over yesterday with an injury to his lower back was called to return to the ground from his sick bed. In the meantime Gilchrist and Warne tried to stem the flood of wickets with a solid fifty run partnership. When Gilchrist fell to Jones on 30, Clarke trudged out to the middle with runner Hayden.

In his knock of 30, Gilchrist overtook Alec Stewart to become the highest-scoring Test wicket-keeper batsman.

Warne who has matured with the bat in this series, relished the responsibility and combined attack and defence to keep the scoreboard ticking over. The final wicket of the day was that of Michael Clarke who fell for just seven runs, Flintoff and Jones combining to add another wicket to the Welshman's tally.If Warne has matured on the field with his teamwork and batting then surely Jones has shown a tremendous attitude with the ball and is arguably the most improved English bowler.

Warne and Gillespie were still there at the close, Warne on a magnificent 45 not out, Australia 7 down for 210 runs, 35 runs short of avoiding the follow on. It wouldn't be a surprise if Vaughan opts to bat even if they fail to reach 245, who would want to bat last on this wicket!

Day Three - Old Trafford - Match Scorecard

Play began at 4pm, five and a half hours late due to persistent rain, in fact play looked unlikely at one stage but a superb effort from the groundstaff allowed play to begin. Play was extended until 7pm, weather permitting.

Shane Warne optimizes the true Aussie grit and determination and if there was any doubt he didn't, the spin wizard proved he had shed loads hitting Australia to the relative safety of 7 for 245 and in so doing avoided the follow on. The overnight total was adjusted this morning to 7 for 214 after umpire Bucknor failed to signal four byes after admonishing Simon Jones for bowling a beamer.

Warne and Gillespie started sedately making sure they didn't hand easy wickets to England and despite an upish shot off Simon Jones's first delivery the pair creeped towards their first target of 245. Vaughan wasted no time in replacing Jones after just two overs with Flintoff but even Freddie failed to deliver the goods. Giles was on the receiving end of a charging Warne once the Australian had found his feet hitting a ferocious straight drive for four, clipping the bails on the way to the boundary.

Ironically just as the rain started to fall yet again, Warne hit two lofty blows, both resulting in fours and Australia reached their follow on target without any further loss of wickets. The players ran for cover and play looks very unlikely for the rest of the day. Shane Warne's 67 not out is his highest score against England.

The rain finally abated and when the news that just six overs would be bowled, those that remained gave out a loud jeer, disappointed at the amount of cricket on offer given the sunny conditions at 5:50. Play did resume at 6:10 BST and Gillespie looked intent on defending his wicket as if his life depended on it, his career maybe!

Geraint Jones let Shane Warne off the hook again, dropping the allrounder off the bowling of Flintoff. It really was an easy chance and should not have been dropped, his excuse of "couldn't see" due to the sunlight simply doesn't wash at Test level. He had earlier missed the opportunity to stump Warne but failed to gather the ball in his gloves, warne went on to record his 50 and save the follow on.

The day ended with Australia 180 runs behind England with both Warne (78*) and Gillespie (7*) still at the crease showing the upper order how to cope with the rough. Australia haven't followed on in a Test match since the 1988/89 season when they were forced to follow on against Pakistan at home.

Day Four - Old Trafford - Match Scorecard

Australia were set a world record 423 to win the third Test after a fourth day of England domination highlighted by Andrew Strauss's maiden Ashes ton. Strauss played well for his made 106 and did well to re focus after twice being hit in the head by Brett Lee, once causing him to patch up a bloodied ear. Strauss had steady support from Trescothick and Ian Bell who scored 65, proof that he has acclimatized to the Australian bowling, albeit in friendly conditions. England declared on 6 for 280 with Glenn McGrath taking 5 wickets for 115 runs, his 28th five wicket haul.

Earlier in the day Shane Warne narrowly missed out on a maiden Test century falling to Simon Jones after cracking his first delivery over extra cover for four to move into the nervous nineties. unfortunately for Warne he wasn't to experience them for long, Jones taking immediate revenge with his next delivery, Giles taking a simple catch at mid-wicket, Warne failing to quite get hold of a hook. Warne also leads the list of players who have scored the most runs without scoring a century and is more than 500 runs ahead of Sri Lanka's Chaminda Vaas.

Lee fell four runs later, Trescothick taking a good diving catch to his left at slip. The new ball was taken immediately following Gillespie dispatching Jones for a massive six, one of a handful of attacking shots played by the under pressure bowler in his long stay at the crease. Three balls later Gillespie was trapped leg before and the innings closed at 302 all out, Jones meanwhile increasing his tally to 12 in the series.

In reply Strauss was slow to get into the swing of things, twice struck on his helmet by Lee when he attempted to hook the blonde paceman and edged a ball to Ponting at second slip only to see the ball bounce a foot ahead of the captain. In contrast Trescothick kicked off straight away driving and pulling for boundaries off Lee. He raced to 41 in an opening partnership of 64 before McGrath got him once again, the first of his own five wicket haul following a wicketless first innings.

Lee accounted for Vaughan for 14 which paved the way for Pietersen to move up the order. It was a surprise therefore that Bell entered. He was given two chances before creeping to his second half century of the game, once playing onto his stumps off Lee but failed to dislodge the bails. Gillespie down in the dumps and possibly in his final Test for Australia was despondent and his four overs in the second innings went for 23 runs, a very disappointing end to his tour; possibly!

Strauss brought up his century with a pulled shot before falling to McGrath with the same shot. Pietersen fell for a golden duck, completely miss judging a special McGrath delivery and was trapped leg before, his first golden duck of his career. Flintoff was clean bowled by McGrath chasing runs and when Bell was caught at long-off by Bell for 65, Vaughan declared four balls later following a rapid hit 27 from Jones.

Hayden and Langer survived the 10 overs at the end of the day but face a massive and unlikely task of saving the game.

No team has ever scored more than 418 to win a Test match, while the record fourth-innings chase at Old Trafford is the 231-3 made by England against West Indies last year.

Day Five - Old Trafford - Match Scorecard

For the second Test match in a row, the game went down to the wire thanks mainly to a captain's innings from under fire Ricky Ponting of 156 and superb support from an injured Clarke and Shane Warne. Ponting batted for just over six hours for his most important knock of the series failing to see Australia home when he was caught behind with just 25 balls left in the match. It was left to McGrath and Lee to see the visitors home, ensuring a tense finish to yet another classic Test match.

The Test match marked the first time Australia have been forced to bat out the final day in and Ashes Test for 10 years. A capacity crowd of 21,000 greeted the England players this morning, the atmosphere more of a carnival than a final day at the Test match.

The day was really about three players namely Ponting, Flintoff and Warne. Flintoff was at his attacking best throughout and accounted for Hayden who was bowled behind his legs with an inswinger, Katich, Gilchrist and Warne to end with figures of 4 for 71. Hoggard started the ball rolling with the early wicket of Langer, caught behind by Jones with the overnight total extended by one run.

Hayden looked uncomfortable against Flintoff and he was lucky not to have been caught at slip three times. The England bowler got his revenge when the total had reached 96, Hayden misjudging an inswinger and was embarrassingly bowled behind his legs for 36. Ponting and Martyn looked to have stopped the rot somewhat the total moving on to 129 before umpire Bucknor made a howling mistake, raising his finger to a ferocious appeal from Harmison for leg before. The ball clearly took a massive inside edge but Bucknor failed to notice and Martyn distraught trudged back to the change rooms for 19.

Any hopes of an Australian victory were over, it was a simple case of defend the castle for all its worth. Small partnerships were formed with Katich and later Gilchrist but Flintoff accounted for both rather cheaply. Clarke was the next man in and together with Ponting, put on a superb partnership worth 81 runs, moving Australia ever closer to the result they had fought so valiantly to achieve all day. Clarke showed few signs of the back trouble that has seen him confined to his hotel bed for much of the match. the pair hit Giles out of the attack with some fine driving through the off side. Clarke's demise came when Jones clean bowled him without offering a shot, his off stump up rooted and the England camp jubilant once more.

For the second time in the Test, Shane Warne showed how his approach to batting has matured since his first innings fiasco at Edgbaston. He put on a crucial 76 run partnership with Ponting. Dropped on 30 by Pietersen at mid-wicket, Warne struggled to contain himself in the tightest of situations. Four runs later Andrew Strauss made a terrible attempt to catch Warne in the slips, he succeeded in parrying the ball to a diving Jones to take a great reactive catch. Warne's dismissal came with just 59 balls left of the game and just two wickets remaining.

Man of the match Ponting fell to Harmison and it was left to Lee and McGrath to see out the finish. Lee faced the final three deliveries of the game and when Harmison bowled the final ball of the game, Lee saw that out and punched the ground in triumph as he pushed a full toss from Harmison to the fine leg boundary to save the match.

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