English cricket team in Australia in 2002–03

Infobox cricket series
series= 2002-03 Ashes Series
date= November 7, 2002 – January 6, 2003
place= Australia
result= Australia won the 5-Test series 4-1
team1= Cr|Australia
team2= Cr|England
captain1= Steve Waugh
captain2= Nasser Hussain
runs1= Matthew Hayden (496) Justin Langer (423) Ricky Ponting (417)
runs2= Michael Vaughan (633) Nasser Hussain (382) Mark Butcher (318)
wickets1= Jason Gillespie (20) Glenn McGrath (19) Shane Warne (14)
wickets2= Andrew Caddick (20) Craig White (14) Steve Harmison (9)

The England cricket team toured Australia in 2002/03, playing a series of five Ashes Test matches, several One Day International, and a number of games against Australian domestic teams.

Matches Summaries

England v ACB Chairman's XI, October 22, 2002

ACB Chairman's XI won by 58 runs

England v Western Warriors, October 24, 2002 – October 25, 2002

Match drawn

England v Western Warriors, October 28, 2002 – October 30, 2002

Match drawn

England v Queensland Bulls, November 2, 2002 – November 5, 2002

Match drawn

1st Test, November 7, 2002 – November 10, 2002

Australia won by 384 runs

The first Test of the series began with what many regard in hindsight as one of the worst captaincy decisions of all time, as England captain Nasser Hussain won the toss and chose to send Australia in to bat. Australia's batsmen took advantage of several dropped catches and other mistakes in the field to amass a staggering 364 for 2, with Ricky Ponting contributing 123 before being bowled by Ashley Giles, and Matthew Hayden finishing the day on 186 not out. England's woeful day in the field was capped by a severe injury to young bowler Simon Jones, who ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament while sliding to field a ball and was forced to withdraw from the tour.

England fought back strongly on the second day of the Test. Hayden advanced to 197 before gloving a catch to Wicket-keeper Alec Stewart, and the Aussies' last eight wickets fell for just 128 runs despite a fighting 57 from Shane Warne. Giles added three more wickets to his total and Andy Caddick took three in the day, including the key mid-order wicket of captain Steve Waugh for just 7. The batsmen then took the fight to the Australian attack with a determined performance, Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher sharing an unbroken century partnership to take England to 158 for 1 at stumps. This was a strong start, but 135 runs were still needed just to avoid the follow-on.

The Australian bowlers put themselves back in control on the third day. Butcher and Trescothick were both out early in the same over to Glenn McGrath, his 99th and 100th Test wickets. Hussain and John Crawley managed to stabilise the England innings and advanced steadily to 268 for 3. However, England lost their last six wickets for a paltry 57 runs as the tail collapsed around Crawley, leaving him on 69 not out at the end of the innings. Australia started their second innings positively but lost both Justin Langer and Ponting to Caddick by the end of the day. A solid partnership between Hayden and Damien Martyn saw each advance to 40 not out by the close.

Australia advanced to a commanding lead on the fourth and final day, Hayden becoming only the fourth Australian to score a century in both innings of a Test match with his 103. Waugh once again went cheaply but Adam Gilchrist weighed in with 60 not out from just 59 balls to take the Aussies to 296 for 5. Giles and Caddick were the only England bowlers to have any success: Giles taking the wickets of both Hayden and Ponting to finish with figures of 2 for 90 and Caddick taking 3 for 95. Waugh's declaration left England an imposing target of 463 runs for victory. It was a target that quickly looked far out of reach as England crumbled to 79 all out in just 28 overs, with only Mark Butcher's 40 troubling the scorers. Michael Vaughan departed LBW to McGrath on just the third ball of the innings and Trescothick soon followed, caught at slip off Jason Gillespie. Brief partnerships between Hussain and Butcher, then Butcher and Craig White were soon taken apart by strong bowling from McGrath (4 for 36) and Warne (3 for 29).

[http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2002-03/ENG_IN_AUS/SCORECARDS/ENG_AUS_T3_29NOV-03DEC2002.html Full Scorecard]

England v New South Wales Blues, December 6, 2002

New South Wales won by 6 wickets

England v Australia 'A', December 8, 2002

Australia 'A' won by 23 runs

England v The Prime Minister's XI, December 10, 2002

The Prime Minister's XI won by 4 wickets

4th Test, December 26, 2002 – December 30, 2002

[http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2002-03/ENG_IN_AUS/SCORECARDS/ENG_AUS_T4_26-30DEC2002.html Full Scorecard]

5th Test, January 2, 2003 – January 6, 2003

[http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2002-03/ENG_IN_AUS/SCORECARDS/ENG_AUS_T5_02-06JAN2003.html Full Scorecard]

England v Sir Donald Bradman's XI, January 8, 2003

Sir Donald Bradman's XI won by 6 wickets

VB Series

v Australia13 Dec 2002, Sydney (d/n) Eng 251/8 [50] Aus 252/3 [45] Australia won by 7 wickets v Australia15 Dec 2002, Melbourne (d/n) Aus 318/6 [50] Eng 229 [48] Australia won by 89 runs v Sri Lanka17 Dec 2002, Brisbane (d/n) Eng 292 [50] SL 249/6 [50] England won by 43 runs v Sri Lanka20 Dec 2002, Perth (d/n) Eng 258/9 [50] SL 163 [43.4] England won by 95 runs

v Australia11 Jan 2003, Hobart Aus 271/4 [50] Eng 264/7 [50] Australia won by 7 runs v Sri Lanka13 Jan 2003, Sydney (d/n) SL 284/7 [50] Eng 253 [49.2] Sri Lanka won by 31 runs v Sri Lanka17 Jan 2003, Adelaide (d/n) Eng 279/7 [50] SL 260 [49.2] England won by 19 runs v Australia19 Jan 2003, Adelaide (d/n) Eng 152 [48.3] Aus 153/6 [47.3] Australia won by 4 wickets

References

* "Playfair Cricket Annual"
* "Wisden Cricketers Almanack"