2002-03 Ashes series
| English cricket team in Australia in 2002–03 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
||
| England | Australia | ||
| Dates | 22 October 2002 – 19 January 2003 | ||
| Captains | Nasser Hussain | Steve Waugh | |
| Test series | |||
| Result | Australia won the 5-match series 4–1 | ||
| Most runs | MP Vaughan (633) | ML Hayden (496) | |
| Most wickets | AR Caddick (20) | JN Gillespie (20) | |
| Player of the series | MP Vaughan (Eng) | ||
The England cricket team toured Australia in 2002–03, playing a five-Test series for The Ashes and a number of tour matches against Australian domestic teams. They also played a triangular ODI series against Australia and Sri Lanka.
Match drawn
New South Wales won by 6 wickets
Australia 'A' won by 23 runs
The Prime Minister's XI won by 4 wickets
Sir Donald Bradman XI won by 6 wickets
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.
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