The Ashes series begins on Wednesday, as England take on Australia in Cardiff. Four years on from what has been billed as the greatest series of them all, The Northern Echo looks back on a memorable summer of 2005 and previews the five Test battle ahead.

IT began with another crushing disappointment at Lord’s and finished just over seven weeks later with the euphoria of an unexpected England Ashes victory in triumphant scenes across the Thames at the Oval.

The 53 days of competition between an emerging England side and Australia, who were universally acknowledged as the best side in the world, gripped the nation and culminated in an open-top bus parade through the packed streets of London.

Scorecards and statistics do not even begin to tell the story of how England, who entered the series with great expectations having been led to five successive series wins by astute captain Michael Vaughan, secured their 2-1 series triumph to win the Ashes for the first time since 1986-87.

Yet the hype surrounding the eagerly-awaited series appeared to undermine England’s performance in the opener at Lord’s, where the 239-run defeat was so comprehensive the selectors had to resist intense pressure for change before the heartstopping next Test at Edgbaston.

England began the Test brightly and dismissed Australia for 170 but the two cornerstones of the tourists’ dominance over the previous 12 years – Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne – marked their final Ashes series on English soil with key contributions.

McGrath claimed five for two in 31 balls to help Australia claim an unlikely 35-run firstinnings lead, despite a confident 57 on debut by Kevin Pietersen, but Warne’s fourwicket secondinnings haul set him on course for a staggering 40 victims in the series and appeared to underline a massive gulf between the two sides.

It took a freak accident to provoke a major turnaround in fortunes in the next encounter at Edgbaston with McGrath being ruled out after treading on a stray ball on the outfield in the warm-up, suffering ankle ligament damage.

Just as Warne and McGrath had dominated the opening Test, England allrounder Andrew Flintoff seized the moment in Birmingham and delivered with bat and ball to claim the man-of-the-match award and provide the catalyst for a stunning two-run victory.

Revitalised by a family break in Dartmouth in the aftermath of Lord’s, Flintoff hit nine sixes in the match – an Ashes record – in scoring half-centuries in both innings and delivered the defining over of the match to set up a heart-stopping finish on Sunday lunchtime.

England seized the momentum from that McGrath injury to reach 407 in 80 overs on the first day after being put in.

Marcus Trescothick led the way with an aggressive 90 before Flintoff teamed up with Pietersen in a 103- run stand.

Utilising the varied strengths of their four-strong attack – Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Flintoff and Simon Jones – England used conventional and reverse swing and good oldfashioned hostility to establish a 99- run firstinnings lead.

They were able to set a victory target of 282 after another aggressive counter-attack from Flintoff, who added 51 for the final wicket with Jones, only for Australia to respond emphatically by racing to 47 without loss in just 12 overs.

It was the signal again for Flintoff to seize the limelight and he delivered one of the finest overs in recent Test history, which induced Justin Langer into dragging his second ball on to his stumps and captain Ricky Ponting then edged the final ball of the over behind.

Warne’s late hitting on that Saturday evening ensured they reached 175 for eight, but he trod on his stumps with 62 required the following morning to put England on course for what seemed like a comfortable victory.

Last pair Brett Lee and Michael Kasprowicz took Australia to the brink of a famous victory after Jones missed a difficult catch in the deep, but Harmison claimed the final wicket to send Edgbaston and the country into raptures after the closest victory in Ashes history.

Such a dramatic climax and compelling drama would have been hard to emulate, but Old Trafford so nearly achieved it with over 10,000 fans locked out on the final day as Australia hung on for a desperate draw – and then celebrated as if they had won the Ashes.

England had established a healthy first-innings lead through Vaughan’s brilliant 166, despite the return of McGrath from his ankle injury, which was followed by an equally important century from Andrew Strauss in the second innings to set up a declaration 422 runs ahead with just over a day remaining.

After the tourists slipped to 182 for five, England were firmly on course to take a lead in the series. But a defiant 156 from Ricky Ponting looked to have guided Australia to a draw, until he fell with four overs remaining to leave Lee and last man McGrath facing the major challenge of Flintoff and Harmison in fading light.

Tension increased as the Old Trafford scoreboard counted down each delivery until the close, Australia’s final pair surviving the remaining overs to spark celebrations from their balcony at the close at their narrow escape.

Just ten days after another nail-biting drama in Manchester, the two sides served up another epic in Nottingham with England taking a decisive lead in the series with the unlikely figure of Hoggard scampering the winning runs on another dramatic Sunday.

Propelled to a total of 477 by a brilliant century from Flintoff, their third successive first-innings total in excess of 400, England took control of the Test with Jones utilising reverse swing to claim a fivewicket haul.

Forced to follow on, the turning point of the match was the run-out of Ponting, who was dismissed going for a quick single by a direct hit from substitute fielder Gary Pratt and angrily shouted at England coach Duncan Fletcher accusing him of manipulating the rules regarding replacements.

Ponting’s anger was judged by England as evidence Australia were cracking under the pressure but if that was the case it certainly did not apply to Lee or Warne, who almost conjured up an unlikely victory as England chased a modest victory target of 129.

At 32 without loss the result appeared to be a formality, but Warne claimed three quick wickets and Lee grabbed three more which left the unlikely combination of Ashley Giles and Hoggard scrambling the final 13 runs required to claim victory.

With the nation now gripped by the epic contest, the series was set for a finale at the Oval, which turned on a missed catch by Warne at slip, which allowed Pietersen to escape and complete his first Test century.

Pietersen’s innings took enough time out of the game to rule out any prospect of an Australian victory and bad light ended play on the final afternoon to signal the end of the most captivating series in modern times and the start of England’s frenzied celebrations.