Two legends depart
With England closing in on their date with destiny on Monday, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne tried desperately to add the final gem to their glorious journey on English soil.
McGrath, who had predicted a 5-0 victory for the visitors on the eve of the first Test, was pushing hard for Australia to stay in the series. He produced a beauty to England captain Michael Vaughan and had him caught behind. The next ball was identical; the result the same, only Ian Bell edged the ball to first slip.
- England on a high
His hat-trick ball to Kevin Pietersen was short and narrowly missed brushing the batsman's gloves on its way to slip. In the end, for Australia, those few millimetres proved the hardest to bridge as Pietersen cantered to a defiant 158.
The series played to the script till the first Test match. McGrath even completed his 500-wicket haul in Tests by scalping Marcus Trescothick, the bookie favourite, for the milestone. But since the morning of the second Test, when the speedster slipped off a stray cricket ball to hurt his ankle, everything went awry for Australia.
McGrath played three games of the series and picked 19 wickets, including two five-wicket hauls, at an average of 23.15. But, finally, he could not bore the English batsmen enough to extend his team's invincibility.
If McGrath had a checkered series, Warne was brilliant every single time.
He tried harder than any and believed stronger than any. When the team wanted a breakthrough Warne provided it; when the batting was in trouble, Warne got the runs; when Australian shoulders drooped, Warne put an encouraging arm around them.
He bowled the 'new ball of the century' to Andrew Strauss in the second Test and grabbed a record for the highest wicket-taker against England
Had Australia done better, it would be Warne's Ashes. With 40 wickets in five matches and 249 runs, the leg-spinner proved his talismanic importance to the team.
"We have to find a way to do it," said Warne to his teammates.
Australia were overwhelmed by England, but Warne will keep finding ways to reinvent his magic.
When England were finally dismissed for 335, the Oval crowd had already gone tipsy with their team's Ashes success. But another ovation awaited the two great Australian bowlers, who, while creating havoc with the English morale, won their hearts too.
The capacity crowd at the Oval cheered as the two Australians, their hats doffed in acknowledgement of the support, left arm-in-arm into the English sunset for the last time.
Photograph: Getty Images
Ashes 2005: Complete coverage