Australian cricket team in England in 2005

The Australia national cricket team landed in England on 6 June 2005. Over the course of the summer, they played one Twenty20 International, a triangular ODI tournament with both Bangladesh and England, a one-day tournament with England, and five Test matches, the outcome of which would decide The Ashes. With Australia the top-ranked team in the World Test table, and England the second-ranked, this was the most eagerly anticipated Ashes series since the 1980s.

Australia won their first two warm-up games, a Twenty20 game against the PCA Masters XI at Arundel and a 50-over game against Leicestershire emphatically. However, the tide turned as they lost their next matches, firstly by 100 runs against England in a Twenty20 game, followed by a remarkable defeat to Somerset in a very high scoring match at Taunton.

The first international matches scheduled were as part of the Natwest Series against England and Bangladesh. In their first match, Australia lost to Bangladesh by five wickets in the last over, perhaps the biggest upset in recent memory. Just before that game Andrew Symonds was dropped for disciplinary reasons. The following day, Australia lost their second match in a row to England, due mainly to Kevin Pietersen's late batting onslaught. However, Australia remained undefeated throughout the rest of the series to tie a thrilling final against England at Lord's.

Australia's next tournament was a three match Natwest Challenge One-day International tournament against England. Despite losing the first match, they bounced back to take the series 2–1. After a drawn three-day match against Leicestershire, the main part of the tour – the Tests against England for The Ashes – were about to start.

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