Highlights of 2009: England's win at Lords

The odds were against England before the second Ashes test match at Lords. In the twentieth century, England had only beaten Australia there once, in 1934. In the twenty-first century, England had lost two out of two at Lords to Australia, even in the historic Ashes win of 2005 a win at the home of cricket proved one curse too many in a series where curses had been lifted one after the other. England had been hammered in the first test at Cardiff, their bowling appeared impotent and their batting lacked the assurance of their Australian counterparts, only hanging on for a draw by the narrowest of margins. On the eve of the test, England’s talismanic all-rounder, Andrew Flintoff announced that he would be retiring from test matches at the end of the series.

Strauss led by example on day one

Yet from the moment Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat, everything went right for him, and by the end of the match, the captain was building a reputation as a different kind of talisman to Flintoff, as he and Alistair Cook scored a record-breaking 196 runs for the first wicket. Whilst the Australians did fight back, the English bowlers followed their captain’s example, and swung their way through a batting line-up that had appeared untouchable days earlier. In the second innings, all the English batsmen pitched in, and left the visitors with an unprecedented 522-run deficit.

From this point onwards, it became Flintoff’s test match. In the cold light of day, his career was never quite the success it might have been. For three years from 2003, he was the finest all-rounder in the world, but injuries restricted him outside of that period, and even at his peak, he never quite accumulated the runs, and particularly the wickets that one might have expected. However, given the fitness problems that would dog him for the rest of the summer, Lords would turn out to be his final moment of glory, and what a moment it was. He may not have been consistent throughout his career, but Flintoff always had a knack of coming to the fore at the crucial moment. A vicious opening spell of fast bowling took 2 for 9, removed both openers and put the visitors on the back foot. When the other bowlers could not match him, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin led an impressive Australian rearguard action that created the smallest glimmer of hope for their team, but the following morning, with history to be made one way or the other, Flintoff removed Haddin. Graeme Swann then dismissed Clarke, and Flintoff took two more wickets to secure a five-wicket haul and a place on the Lords honours board, leaving Swann to wrap up the victory.

Flintoff enjoying one final moment of history

The bare facts do not do justice to Flintoff’s effort however. He was not really fit to play by this stage, bowling through an injury that should have put him on the sidelines, and yet he was not going to let the pain deny him his moment. Pushing himself through a hostile and focused ten-over spell, he created a bittersweet spectacle for England fans: a glorious moment of sporting pleasure; but also a moment that had come too infrequently, and which would surely never be seen again. For that afternoon however, the cricket world belonged to Andrew Flintoff for one last time, and it was fitting that he used it to make his mark on history, breaking England’s curse at Lords.