Great Ashes moments since 1990: The centuries, wicket hauls, deliveries, catches and rescue missions that highlight cricket's longest rivalry
2006: Warne takes 700th wicket on Boxing Day
Thirteen years after Shane Warne delivered his Ball of the Century to stun England, the Poms couldn't be surprised at all when the man now known worldwide as the greatest spin bowler ever, claimed his 700th Test scalp.
Warne became the first player to ever take 700 Test wickets when he bowled Andrew Strauss. He did it at his home ground - the MCG - and after announcing he would retire from the game following that Ashes series. A crowd of almost 90,000 fans saw Warne rattle Strauss's pegs, and he would take a further four wickets that day alone.
"The thing about that was that it was so quiet, it was eerie. I'd stand at the top of my mark and normally you can hear someone say 'Hey Warnie' … and when I was at the top of the mark there was this hush, thinking is this going to be the ball that's going to take the 700th. And it was an eerie silence of 90,000 people. It was pretty amazing," Warne told the ABC in 2018.
"The atmosphere, the energy that day was something very special."
He finished on 708 Test wickets for his career, and 195 of those were against England.
2010: Siddle's epic birthday hat-trick
Peter Siddle could not have dreamed up a better way to celebrate his 26th birthday. The Victorian paceman became the first Aussie to take an Ashes hat-trick since Shane Warne in 1994, 16 years earlier.
Siddle had Paul Collingwood and then Alastair Cook both caught in consecutive balls. A nervous-looking Stuart Broad walked to the crease, and Siddle delivered a perfect in-swinging yorker which struck the batter on the foot and was given out lbw. Just to ruin the moment England challenged the decision, but the video shows it was clearly out, handing Siddle his hat-trick.
He took 6-54 in that innings, but the match in Brisbane was drawn.
2009: Anderson and Panesar's Great Escape
The feat of England bowlers James Anderson and Monty Panesar in the first Test of the 2009 Ashes series resulted in the urn leaving Australia and returning to the motherland. That's not an exaggeration, it's a fact.
The Aussies looked certain to clinch victory in Cardiff, and only needed to dispatch one of the tailenders to do so. Instead, Anderson and Panesar - neither known for their ability to handle a bat - saw out 69 deliveries to salvage a famous draw.
England went on to win the series 2-1 - making that draw vital in the series result - and took the Ashes back after being whitewashed Down Under in 2006-07.
2005: English super sub runs out Ponting
By the time the fourth Test rolled around in the 2005 Ashes, the series was already an all-timer.
The two teams arrived at Trent Bridge with the series tied after Ricky Ponting salvaged a draw for the Aussies in the third Test.
With his side following on in the second innings, Ponting was livid when he was run out for 48 by one of England's sub fielders.
It wasn't just any sub either, it was Gary Pratt, who was widely known as one of the best fielders in County cricket.
"It was one of the most disturbing moments," Ponting said in 2015.
"The background of this whole thing was leading into the series we knew how England was going to use their substitute fielders.
"I'd actually mentioned it to the match referee before the first Test that we had concerns about how long the England substitutes stay on the field for and who their substitutes were.
"They recruited pretty nimble and fleet-footed Gary Pratt to do some cover fielding for them. England were within the rules of the game, but as far as we were concerned, it wasn't within the spirit of Test cricket."
England would win the fourth Test by three wickets to take a 2-1 lead.
2006: Adam Gilchrist's 57-ball century
Adam Gilchrist changed the game - not only for wicketkeepers, who have since been trying to emulate the great Australian, but also the approach to Test cricket with the way he attacked and bludgeoned opposition bowlers at will.
Heading into the third Ashes Test of 2006-07, the Aussie gloveman was struggling with the bat and contemplating ending his international career. He scored a four-ball duck in the first innings at the WACA - his home ground - but in the second dig he came out with purpose, and reached his century off an astonishing 57 balls.
To that point, only West Indies legend Viv Richards had scored a quicker
Test ton, doing it in 56 balls in 1985. Since, Brendon McCullum beat them all by doing it in 54 balls in 2015-16. Gilchrist joined Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke in tonning up that day as Australia reached 5-527 declared, and won the match easily.
"If I'd been dismissed for nought and walked off, I probably would've told everyone I was done (with cricket)," Gilchrist said years later.
Amazing Adelaide - 2006
The Adelaide Test of 2006-07 seemed headed for a draw after four days, instead it turned into one of the most remarkable matches of a generation.
Both sides had posted mammoth first innings scores - England's 6-551 underpinned by Paul Collingwood's 206 and 158 from Kevin Pietersen, while Australia replied with 513, led by Ricky Ponting's 142 and Michael Clarke's 124.
England resumed on the final morning at 1-59, a lead of 97, and on the evidence of the previous four days, a tame draw seemed the most likely outcome.
Enter Shane Warne.
Andrew Strauss was given out caught at short leg, a decision that the Englishman clearly disagreed with. Ian Bell was run out two overs later, and in Warne's next over he bowled Kevin Pietersen around his legs. All of a sudden the tourists were fighting for survival, and the Aussies could smell blood in the water.
From 1-69 early on the final morning, England was all out for 129, Warne's 4-49 off 32 overs proving the difference once again.
Australia needed 168 to win, and Mike Hussey's 61 not out from 66 balls saw the home side to victory.
2013: Anderson told to prepare for 'a broken f-----g arm'
England had come into the 2013 Ashes series as favourites having retained the urn just months earlier at home.
However, over the course of the first Test, that soon changed as Australia unearthed apex Mitchell Johnson on the unsuspecting tourists.
By the time the final session of Day 4 arrived, Johnson had already picked up eight wickets with Anderson in last.
As Johnson peppered England's opening bowler with a barrage of bouncers, Australia's skipper Michael Clarke got in his face.
"Get ready for a broken f-----ng arm," Clarke told Anderson, who soon perished after managing to glove a Johnson short delivery right back to the bowler, giving Australia a 381-run win and all the momentum.
2006: Harmison starts Ashes defence with a wide
After England had stunned Australia during the epic 2005 Ashes, the hype was at its highest ahead of the return series down under.
Australia won the toss and elected to bat first at the Gabba and the crowd was amped as Justin Langer prepared to face up to Steve Harmison.
Harmison steamed in with three slips and a gully behind the stumps, only to send the first ball to skipper Andrew Flintoff, who was stationed at first slip.
"The nerves are showing already," said Bill Lawry on commentary for Nine.
"He's going to be petrified now," Ian Healy added. "They might need four slips to catch this."
The wide proved to be a bad omen for England, who proceeded to give up the urn they had worked so hard for in a 5-0 whitewash.
2019: Jofra and Smith's epic first meeting
It was billed as the match-up of the 2019 Ashes series and Jofra Archer and Steve Smith's first meeting in whites lived up to the hype.
Archer missed the opening Test of the series where Smith had destroyed England's attack, and was touted as the answer to Australia's dynamo.
On Day 3 of the second Test, the Lord's crowd got what it wanted as a fired up Archer unleashed against an in-form Smith.
Archer was regularly nudging 150km/h and caught Smith on the arm, resulting in some swelling. A few deliveries later, the outcome was frightening.
Smith lost sight of another short delivery and it cannoned into the back of his head, causing him to collapse to the turf.
"My first reaction was that it hit the helmet, but a few seconds after he went down, everyone was like, 'Oh no'," Archer told talkSPORT in 2020.
"We had the stuff with Phil [Hughes] a few years ago and, generally, anything that hits you in that vicinity is going to be trouble."
Smith would miss the third Test before returning in the fourth as Australia retained the urn.
2005: Ricky Ponting denies England on Day 5
Ricky Ponting has since referred to the 2005 Ashes as the best Test series he played in across his storied career. That's a big statement, considering Australia lost 2-1, making Punter the first Aussie captain in more than a decade to surrender the urn to the old enemy.
Australia won the opening Test at Lord's, then lost the second by two runs in a famous and nail-biting finish at Edgbaston. In the third Test, the hosts were well on top, having taken a 142-run first-innings lead to leave Australia scrambling. England declared their second innings, leaving the Aussies with a huge assignment to win or draw the match.
In the end it was a Ponting masterclass which salvaged a draw for the tourists. Australia made it to stumps with only one wicket to spare, Ponting denying England victory by facing 275 balls for his 156 runs.
