2005 English cricket season
Warne also had a spectacular series, with 40 wickets at a bowling average of 19.92, and 249 runs, but most of his efforts came in losing causes – such as making 42 with the bat in the second innings of the second Test.
In domestic cricket, Nottinghamshire won the County Championship, for the first time since 1987, and Durham enjoyed promotion in both the shorter and the longer form of the game.
To round off the season, investors in partnership with Leicestershire arranged an International 20:20 Club Championship, which Pakistani side Faisalabad Wolves won.
On 11 April Kevin Pietersen, England's South African-born all-rounder was reported to have a foot injury that could see him miss the start of the season, and Chris Schofield began his case for unfair dismissal against Lancashire, which he eventually won.
In the third round of the Championship, Surrey thrashed what already appear to be Division One whipping boys Glamorgan to go third, with Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire also recording big wins to go second and first respectively.
The fourth round of the Championship saw Gloucestershire sent Glamorgan down for another heavy defeat., as title contenders Hampshire and Nottinghamshire win against Middlesex and Surrey respectively.
The quarter-finals of the C&G Trophy followed, as did a tour match between the Bangladeshi's and Sussex in which the tourists lost by an innings and 226 runs, boding ill for the impending Test series.
On 20 May Surrey finally won a totesport League game, beating fellow wooden spoon candidates, Scotland, in Edinburgh by five wickets.
Durham did not play in this round of the Championship, but remained in first place in Division Two, with Yorkshire missing a chance of taking over as leaders when they drew with Essex.
The only surprise in the warm-ups was a welcome win for Bangladesh over Worcestershire, which provided a welcome confidence boost to the Bangladeshis before they took on England and Australia in the NatWest Series.
The second NatWest match on 18 June saw what many described as the biggest-ever upset in one-day cricket, and wild celebrations in Dhaka as Bangladesh restricted World Champions Australia to 249 for 5, before Mohammed Ashraful's 100 assisted the Bangladeshis in reaching their target with four balls and five wickets spare.
An Asian XI including Dravid, Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh scored 157 in an innings finished with a hat-trick from Adam Hollioake.
The total was easily surpassed with Greg Blewett's 91 meaning that Stephen Fleming's duck and Brian Lara's 9 could not prevent the International XI winning by 6 wickets with 11 balls left.
The fourth NatWest Series match saw normal service resumed, with England beating Bangladesh by 168 runs after the hosts put on 391 for 4, the second-highest score in ODIs.
Bangladesh's tour of England ended with a creditable performance against Australia in the ninth ODI, although their 250 for 8 was ultimately overcome by the Aussie with six wickets and eleven balls left after they had wobbled earlier in the innings.
In Division Two of the Championship, Durham's lead was closed from 21 points to 11 after losing to Lancashire by an innings and 228 runs, the highest margin of victory thus far in the season.
In the National League, Essex Eagles beat Lancashire Lightning by eight wickets on 19 July to extend their lead in the first division to eight points with one game in hand.
The next round of Championship matches saw Hampshire, Kent, Nottinghamshire and Middlesex record victories to form the top four on 23 July.
Glenn McGrath worried the English batsmen to end with nine wickets for 82, and Australia recorded their highest team score of the entire series with their second-innings 384 as they completed a 239-run victory on the fourth day of the Test.
The month was rounded off with the finals day of the Twenty20 Cup on 30 July, where Lancashire Lightning beat Surrey Lions in the first match, amassing 217 for 4 to win by 20 runs, before Somerset Sabres eked through in the second semi-final after a four-run victory.
In Division Two, Lancashire used their victory at Grace Road in Leicestershire to exploit a rare slip-up from Durham and grab 16 points in the title-battle, closing the gap to 18 with a game in hand.
The Ashes battle recommenced on 11 August, and after two English centuries – 166 from Michael Vaughan and a second-innings 106 from Andrew Strauss – Ricky Ponting played a rearguard 156 to save the draw.
Four were drawn, but Division One table-toppers Sussex fell to a 101-run defeat against Warwickshire as their Pakistani overseas player Rana Naved-ul-Hasan went wicketless in the first innings.
More National League games followed, with Essex Eagles securing the title thanks to a 12-run win over C&G Trophy finalists Hampshire Hawks, while Sussex Sharks ended the month with wins over Scottish Saltires and Surrey Lions to take a ten-point lead in Division Two, though with second-placed Durham Dynamos having two games in hand.
The County Championship also moved towards its conclusion, with Nottinghamshire and Hampshire recording wins on the matches that started on 30 August to take the top two spots in the Division One table.
In Division Two, Derbyshire came close to breaking their winless streak when they finished three runs short of a winning total against Durham, and had to settle for a draw; runners-up Lancashire lost further ground in the title battle through a 285-run defeat at the hands of Northamptonshire.
The final Test match of the season started on 8 September with England needing a draw or better to win back the Ashes after 16 years of Australian domination.
England opener Andrew Strauss made a first-innings century, which was matched by his Australian counterpart Matthew Hayden, who ground out his hundred from 218 balls and went on to top score with 138.
However, Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard grabbed the last nine wickets for 103 runs as Australia were bowled out six overs into the fourth day afternoon.
The season ended with nine National League matches – Lancashire Lightning survived in Division One after beating Worcestershire Royals, while Gloucestershire Gladiators were relegated despite a win.
