The series was also notable for the retirement of four significant Australian players, namely Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath.

[5] Telephones and internet systems were delayed to such an extent that CA chief executive James Sutherland wrote a letter of apology to the Australian fans, but was still criticised by Brett Judd, the organiser of 1.5 million tickets for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

In the afternoon, Flintoff unexpectedly removed Justin Langer, who had looked set for a century but holed out to Kevin Pietersen at cover point.

During the session, Ponting passed 100 runs in a near-faultless display, offering up only one potential lbw shout (given not out by umpire Billy Bowden) when he missed a sweep on a straight ball from Giles.

Matthew Hoggard finally made a significant breakthrough in the afternoon, taking the wickets of Ponting (for 196) and Adam Gilchrist (for a duck) in the same over, both men out lbw.

Gilchrist, in particular, was out to a ball bowled from around the wicket from the right-arm bowler Hoggard, a continuation of England's tactics against him in the 2005 Ashes series, which had restricted him to a top score of 49*.

Australia's tail wagged, with Brett Lee scoring 43 and Stuart Clark hitting a quick-fire 39 off 23 balls before having his leg stump knocked out of the ground by Flintoff.

All-rounder and captain Flintoff was out for a duck, caught behind off what replays suggested was a no-ball (not spotted by umpire Steve Bucknor) from Brett Lee.

In total, McGrath took six wickets for only 50 runs conceded, a powerful response to critics who had suggested that he was, at 36, too old to be a front-line bowler in an Ashes series.

Ponting chose not to enforce the follow-on and put his team back in to bat, a decision which surprised the majority of spectators and media personnel.

Warne dismissed Cook for an industrious 43, caught by Hussey off his pads, and Bell for a duck, lbw to a slider, leaving England struggling at 3/91.

Collingwood was eventually stumped for 96 off the bowling of Warne, charging down the pitch while looking to reach his third Test century, and his first against Australia, and missing his shot by nearly six inches.

The partnership between Collingwood and Pietersen was the first of any substance in the Test for England and allowed some hope of an unlikely draw, with reports from some sources of an approaching storm.

[24] In a similar fashion to 2005, England named an unchanged XI for the second Test, despite Cricinfo and others suggesting that it was "almost certain" that Monty Panesar would replace James Anderson.

The periods before and just after lunch were dominated by Shane Warne, who bowled with consistent line and length to keep both Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood restricted to about two runs per over.

[27] Australia resumed play on the second day with the ball only six overs old, while England's Collingwood required two runs to make a century.

In the 73rd over Hussey survived a dramatic run out chance which had to be referred to the third umpire as he slid his bat back into his crease a fraction of a second before Jones broke the stumps off an Anderson throw.

[34] Meanwhile, Clarke's third Test century had helped Australia pass the follow-on target and put the game into a position in which the draw was the most likely result.

Simon Barnes argues that "a match that should have been drawn was won by Warne's overwhelming nature; by the powerful outpouring of his chi or life force.

Collingwood had already been dismissed, caught in the gully off the bowling of Glenn McGrath, and the wickets of the out of form Andrew Flintoff and Geraint Jones to Symonds soon followed.

Australia bowled England out for 215 on the stroke of tea, giving the Australians a first innings lead of 29 runs despite lower order resistance from Panesar and Harmison as well as a 70 from Pietersen.

The day had belonged firmly to England, but with just three overs left, McGrath took the wicket of Cook, edging behind to Gilchrist, and bowled nightwatchman Hoggard for a second-ball duck.

Pietersen was unusually reserved and was almost run out by some quick reaction fielding from Hussey in the first hour, but was given the benefit of the doubt by the third umpire who eventually gave it not out, much to the delight of the Barmy Army.

When Australia commenced batting it appeared that Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden might run away with the match, and England's frustration was compounded by the rejection of a number of creditable lbw appeals.

England were, however, unable to capitalise on their advantage, and Hayden and Symonds wrested control of the match back in Australia's favour throughout most of the remaining two sessions.

Warne's dismissal of Steve Harmison was also his 999th international wicket (combining Test and ODI figures), leaving him one shy of becoming only the second player in history to reach the 1,000 milestone (after Muttiah Muralitharan).

Andrew Strauss was dropped on 21 by Justin Langer, but was out eight runs later to an easy Adam Gilchrist catch off a miscued cut shot against Brett Lee.

Warne's fairy-tale dream of a maiden Test century in his final match ended when he was easily stumped after swinging wildly at a Panesar ball, but he had earned the top-scorer mantle with 71, and England found themselves with a deficit of 102.

At the end of the day, England were facing the grave prospect of a 5–0 Ashes whitewash after closing a mere 12 runs ahead of Australia with only five wickets remaining.

Langer was given a guard of honour by the English team as he walked out to his final innings, but he was then clearly tested by a series of superb rising deliveries from Harmison.