From Pietersen's blizzard to Stokes' early signs of greatness: Top individual performances by England in Australia in 21st century

New Delhi [India], November 17 (ANI): The England side led by Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum would be aiming to start off the away Ashes with a bang when they take to the field at the Optus Stadium, Perth for the first Test on November 21 and start their bid for the first Ashes series win in Australia since 2010/11 edition.

2010/11 Ashes was the last time when England secured a series win in Australia, rattling the Aussies 3-1 and battering them with three 'by innings' losses which put several question marks over the once invincible Aussie line-up. As an ageing, injury-battling Australia without their frontline quicks Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood takes to the field at Perth, this is England's best chance to pounce at them on the first mistake the Aussies make and put themselves ahead 1-0 in the scoreline.

Wins in Australia have not been easy for England since then, as they are winless in Australian conditions since their last Ashes triumph, which was powered by top-order of Alastair Cook, skipper Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott and pace trio of James Anderson, Chris Tremlett and Steven Finn. After the 2011 tour, England has played three Ashes series in Australia, being whitewashed 5-0 in 2013-14, succumbing to 4-0 losses in 2017-18 and 2021-22 editions.

As England tries to take a shot at history, let us look at some of their best individual performances in Australia in the 21st century:

-Michael Vaughan's (183) in 2003: In the fifth Test at Sydney, England was put ahead by centuries from Mark Butcher (124), half-centuries from skipper Nasser Hussain (75) and Rob Key (71) as they posted 362 on the board after electing to bat first. Aussies got an ultra-thin lead of one-run, courtesy of centuries from skipper Steve Waugh (102) and Adam Gilchrist (133). While Aussies had already won the series, Vaughan decided to play an all-timer knock for the sake of the badge on his chest, for the English pride that Australians had stomped on mercilessly on this tour. His quick 183 in 278 balls, with 27 fours and a six showcased his array of classy strokes and pushed England to 452/9. During the final day of the match, pacer Andy Caddick (7/94) unleashed destruction, bundling out Australia for 226 runs and making sure England did not leave Aussie shores without a win. Australia won the series 3-1, but Vaughan's 633-run campaign, laced with three centuries, was unforgettable for English fans.

-Matthew Hoggard (7/109) in 2007: During the second Test at Adelaide, following a humiliating 277-run loss at Brisbane, England looked at the top during the first half of the Adelaide Test. After electing to bat first, their chances of levelling the series found their first massive boosts from the willows of Paul Collingwood (206 in 392 balls, with 16 fours) and Kevin Pietersen (158 in 257 balls, with 15 fours and a six) taking England to 551/6 declared. After leaving Aussies running around hunting for leather for two days, Hoggard made them feel the torment as they took their turn to bat, reducing them to 65/3. While centuries did come from skipper Ricky Ponting (142) and Michael Clarke (124), Hoggard took a seven-wicket haul, giving away 109 runs, which included the wickets of Ponting, Clarke, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn and Mike Hussey. Aussies could make 513 runs, trailing by 38 runs.

England had less than two days to build on this lead, at least push for a draw, but fell like a pack of cards in third innings for 129 runs, with a four-wicket haul from Shane Warne being the highlight. They set a 168-run target for Australia to chase, which Australia chased down with six wickets in hand.

In a 5-0 whitewash that England faced, it was a rare moment of defiance and fight from England as a peak Australian line-up, who looked like a group of gods amongst mortals, broke several records in the series.

-Kevin Pietersen (227) in 2011: After the first Test had ended in a draw thanks to a brilliant 235* from Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen decided to replicate the Chef's heroics, the difference from being that while Cook's double ton was a well-calculated, slow-burn masterclass, Pietersen's double was an absolute explosion. After opting to bat first, a four-fer from James Anderson caused Australia to score just 245, despite fifties from Shane Watson (51) and David Hussey (93). In their first innings, England lost their skipper Strauss early, but a pillage awaited Doug Bollinger, Xavier Doherty and Peter Siddle, an inexperienced bowling attack. Cook's 269-ball 148 with 16 fours cooked Australia on a slow-burning flame just like he always did in Tests and found a fantastic support from Jonathan Trott (78). But Pietersen arrived and unleashed a blizzard that showed how brutality and slow, brick-by-brick built knocks could co-exist in the longest format, scoring 227 in 308 balls, with 33 fours and a six at a strike rate of above 73. 'Bazballing' before Stokes and McCullum made it a cool social-media term, Pietersen took England to 620/5 declared, handing them a 375-run lead, which Australia failed to overcome. Aussies looked uncharacteristically tame and meek, as a fifer from spinner Greame Swann reduced them to 304, securing England an innings win by 71 runs and a 1-0 lead in the series.

-Jonathan Trott (168*) in 2011: After being tamed by Aussies who returned to their menacing, bullying ways during the third Test and defeated England by 267 runs to level the series, England did not let the loss slide past them and held Aussie batting hostage on the field. Four-fers from Anderson and Tremlett reduced Australia to just 98 runs on being put to field first as none of their batters could break the shackles. Half-centuries came from Strauss (69) and Cook (82), but just when Siddle thought he had Australia set for a comeback by dismissing them quickly, Trott played a patient, marathon knock of 168* in 345 balls, with 13 fours, finding great support from half-centurions Pietersen (51) and Matt Prior (85). England posted 513 all out, reducing Siddle's six-fer as a mere decoration on his stat sheet. Australia could not overcome this massive 415-run deficit and were bundled out for 258 runs, giving England another win by an innings and 157 runs. The prestigious Ashes urn was back on England shores once again and Three Lions were guaranteed a series draw at least. Even a draw would have helped England retain the urn, having won the 2009 series at home.

-Ben Stokes (120) in 2013: The first signs that this young Durham all-rounder in his early 20s was a game-turner and a beacon of hope for his nation. Tasked with chasing down 504 runs by the Australians, England found themselves completely at sea against the pace unit of Ryan Harris, Siddle and Mitchell Johnson and sunk to 121/4 on a surface which was slowly developing scary-looking cracks that could deceive and stun even the world's best the moment the cricket ball touched them. But Stokes was not ready to put down his weapon so easily, scoring his maiden Test ton, 120 in 256 balls, with 18 fours and a six and taking England less than 200 runs within their target. When he was the seventh wicket down at score of 336, they crashed to a 353 all out, losing by 150 runs and losing the urn as well. Despite England's poor performance on that tour, during which they were whitewashed, Stokes' emergence was one of the positives, and over the years, the all-rounder would play some of his best cricket against Aussies.

-Alastair Cook (244*) in 2017: Having fumbled the Ashes urn with three massive losses already, all England wanted to keep intact was their respect as a Test-playing nation, as a competition to Australia. Prior to this knock, Cook had not even registered a half-century in the previous three Tests.

A David Warner special pushed the Aussies to 327 after batting first. In the second innings, Cook fought an almost lone-battle with a marathon 244* in 409 balls, with 27 fours, the highest score while carrying the bat after an innings that time in Tests. With the help of the fifties from Joe Root (61) and Chris Woakes (56), England secured a 164-run lead by posting 491 runs. Aussies were 263/4 when hands were shook for a draw, delaying the 4-0 scoreline for a while. (ANI)

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