Where Were You During The Greatest Ever Test?

As with all major events in world history, everyone knows precisely where they were and what they were doing when England beat Australia in the Test match most often nominated as the greatest of the 999 they played prior to the start of the current match against India at Edgbaston.

For myself, I was in the minor injuries unit of the St Austell Community Hospital, waiting for one of the medics to tend to a nasty cut suffered by my young son Max when thrown over the handlebars of his bike.

After having completed my reporting duties for The Mail On Sunday the previous evening I had caught up with my family at the start of a short break on the Cornish coast, and there we were watching the most dramatic countdown in cricket history on the waiting room TV, and the reason I mention this is that, as the climax of the second Test of the 2005 Ashes approached, and the patients were called through by the nursing staff to be attended to, each of them in turn asked if they could hold on until the match was over.

In the end the doctors themselves came out to see what the hell was going on and when Billy Bowden finally raised his crooked finger to signal victory for England by two runs, the place erupted; not exactly a miracle cure but, judging by the faces around us, everyone certainly felt a whole lot better than they had done when they came in.

After Michael Vaughan’s side had earned the win in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge that ensured the worst they could do was draw the series, I had the great good fortune to be commissioned by the Professional Cricketers’ Association to help the players pen their own story of that unforgettable summer, Test by Test.

The result was Ashes Victory, published no more than a fortnight after the final match at the Oval, in which we attempted to give readers a player’s eye-view of events on and off the field.