London [UK], November 16 : As the clock ticks down to November 21, when the first Ashes Test will take place at Perth, it is only right to revisit the last time England conquered Aussies in their own land back in 2010/11, when heroics of Alastair Cook and pacers James Anderson and Chris Tremlett helped the Three Lions to retain the prestigious Ashes urn.
In the 2010/11 Ashes series in Australia, England won by 3-1, their first series win in Australia against their arch-rivals since 1986-87. However, since then, they have failed to win even a Test in Australia on their next three tours, and now the 'Bazball' powered side led by Ben Stokes, is chasing history.
Let us look back at England's historic Ashes series win in 2010/11:
-1st Test: England opted to bat first at Brisbane, piling up a modest score in the first innings with Ian Bell (76 in 131 balls, with eight fours) and Alastair Cook (67 in 168 balls, with six fours) holding the visitors together before a birthday special from pacer Peter Siddle caused England to collapse from 197/4 to 260 all out.
It was time for Steven Finn to rattle Aussies as his three wickets put them under the pump at 143/5. The 'Mr Cricket' Mike Hussey (195 in 330 balls, with 26 fours and a six) navigated his way out of this collapse with Brad Haddin (136 in 287 balls, with 16 fours and a six), putting on a 307 run stand before Finn put a lid on their score again, as his six-fer played a crucial role in leaving Aussies 19 short of 500-run mark. Aussies led by 221 runs.
England made merry in their second innings, as captain Andrew Strauss (110 in 224 balls with 15 fours) and Cook put a 188-run stand for the fourth wicket. Cook was chefing out there, adding to Australia's frustrations with every boundary and inpenetrable defence, eventually ending up with a marathon 428-ball 235*, with 26 fours and putting a 329-run stand with Jonathan Trott (135* in 266 balls, with 19 fours). England turned a 221 trailing into a 296-run lead on the final day. Aussies were 107/1 when hands were shaken for a draw. Cook got the 'Player of the Match' honours.
-2nd Test: Spoiler alert! First of the three 'by innings' thrashings Aussies had to undergo, leaving them unable to hide themselves, face media scrutiny and calls for several seniors like Ricky Ponting to retire. Opting to bat first at Adelaide, Aussies lived through a nightmarish opening burst from James Anderson (4/54) that left them at 2/3. Fifties from Shane Watson (51 in 94 balls, with seven fours) and Hussey (93 in 183 balls, with eight fours) took Australia to 245. It was 'Mr Cricket's smarts again which gave some respectable air to Australia's score.
In their first innings, England lost skipper Strauss early, but that did not stop a massive pillage coming from the top order. Again, Cook (148 in 269 balls, with 16 fours) and Trott (78 in 144 balls with 11 fours). However, just when Aussies thought they could breathe a bit with both of them gone at score of 351, Kevin Pietersen decided to eat up the pace attack of Siddle, Ryan Harris and Doug Bollinger for a meal, scoring a quick 227 in 308 balls, with 33 fours and a six. England declared at 620/5, leaving Aussies with another mountain of 375 runs to overcome and set a solid target. Fifties did come from Watson (57 in 141 balls, with 10 fours), Michael Clarke (80 in 139 balls, with 11 fours) and Hussey (52 in 107 balls, with five fours and a six). But this show of Aussie determination was too short and could have got more supporting acts as a fifer from spinner Graeme Swann (5/91) and two scalps each from Anderson and Finn left Australia skittled out for 304 runs, losing by an innings and 71 runs. Pietersen got the 'Player of the Match' award for his double ton.
3rd Test: By the third Test, Australia had been metaphorically body-slammed by English bowlers and left buried under pile of English top-order runs. But WACA at Perth was a low-scoring encounter where Aussies gave glimpses of their 'big bad bullies' image.
England opted to field first and left Aussies at 69/5, with Chris Tremlett (3/63) having a time of his life, getting a future Test great Steve Smith out cheaply as well. Hussey (61 in 104 balls, with nine fours and a six) and Haddin (53 in 80 balls, with six fours and a six) put on 68 runs for sixth and Mitchell Johnson (62 in 93 balls, with eight fours and a six) putting 52 runs for the seventh wicket alongside Haddin. Aussies were skittled out for 268, dragged there by Siddle's unbeaten 35.
England started off well with a 78-run stand between Strauss (52 in 108 balls, with eight fours) and Cook (32). However, from there, Aussies decided to give Englishmen a taste of their own medicine, increasing the dosage of their lethal pace multifold as Johnson (6/38) and Harris (3/59) teamed up to bundle out England for 187, leaving them trailing for the first time in the series, a moral victory so far.
In the second innings, even when Aussies were left sunken at 64/3, Watson (95 in 174 balls with 11 fours) and Hussey staged a fightback. The fight was still left in the dog, as by the time Hussey was the last man gone at 116, Australia had scored 309, leading by 390. Tremlett's fifer (5/87) and three wickets by Finn were the highlights for Three Lions as they had to chase 391 in two days.
In the second innings, bowling figures reversed for Harris (6/47) and Johnson (3/44) as no English batter touched the 40-run mark. England was knocked down for 123, losing by 278 runs, with Johnson's all-round show at his home turf giving him the 'POTM' honours and Australia's Ashes aspirations a CPR.
4th Test: England, who opted to field first at Melbourne, made sure they were ready for round four, the Boxing Day Test. Anderson and Tremlett shared four each, delivering Aussies a post-Christmas thrashing that they would not have forgotten as they were skittled out for just 98.
While Siddle (6/75) took another six-fer, the top-order put on a show for Aussies nonetheless, with skipper Strauss (69 in 167 balls, with five fours), Cook (82 in 152 balls, with 11 fours) and Trott (168* in 345 balls, with 13 fours) providing such a cushion that left Siddle's six-fer devoid of any impact and something he could just flex on his stat sheet. Fifties from Pietersen (51) and Matt Prior (85) had taken England to 513, a massive 415 run lead. Australia once again could not shake off the scoreboard pressure as Tim Bresnan (4/50) rattled Aussies early on, with fifties from Watson (54) and Haddin (55) failing to take Australian anywhere near the the lead as they were skittled out for 258 runs. Trott's unbeaten knock gave him the 'POTM' award and England a series lead with this innings and 157 runs win.
5th Test: New Year. New Beginnings. A cliched phrase that does comes true for millions every year. But for Australia, their sorry state of affairs continued, as they slipped, one last time. Batting first, a fifty from Johnson down the order took Australia to 245 after Anderson (4/66) and Bresnan (3/89) had initially reduced them to 189/8.
In the second innings, England continued pilling runs as they had done throughout the series, with tons coming from Cook (189 in 342 balls, with 16 fours), Bell (115 in 232 balls, with 13 fours) and Matt Prior (118 in 130 ball, with 15 fours and six). Bell and Prior's heroics down the order at number seven and eight pushed England to 644 and a massive 399-run lead.
There was no way Aussies could escape a series loss even if they managed to draw. Steve Smith scored 54, top-scoring as Australia sunk to 281 all out and a defeat by an innings and 118 runs. Anderson and Tremlett shared three wickets each, with the 'POTM' going to Cook. England retained the Ashes urn, winning the series 3-1.
Cook (766 runs in five Tests at an average of 127.66 with three centuries and two fifties) put out an all-timer campaign, with Hussey (570 runs at an average of 63.33 with two centuries and three fifties) being his distant rival. Out of 81 Aussie wickets, the trio of Anderson (24), Tremlett (17) and Finn (14) took 55.