England’s 2010/11 Ashes win, according to Sir Alastair Cook

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You're listening to the TMS podcast from BBC Radio 5 live. Hello, I'm Stefan Shenoldt and welcome to the Test Match special podcast from Brisbane, Australia. This week England will look to get back into the Ashes series at the Fearsome Gabba, a ground where they have not won since 1986. Their most successful visit since then came at the beginning of the victorious tour of 201011 when Alistair Cook's epic 235 knot out set him on course for a career defining series in England's 31 win. Now, 15 years on, I sat down with him to hear the inside story of England's last Ashes triumph in Australia. This is the 201011 Ashes according to Alistair Cook.

So Doherty to Cook, 199 and he sits around the corner. There's hesitation, there's a miss field and he gets the run and he's made 200 in a test match against Australia. That is a wonderful achievement from Alistair Cook. He raises his bat, he raises his helmet and he gets a pat on the back too from Rick Ponting as he walks past him. Alistair Cook becomes the fourth English batsman to score a double century in Ash's tests in Australia.

Alistair, the story of 2010-11 for you, I guess starts in the previous summer, doesn't it? That series against Pakistan where you weren't quite sure where your game and even your career was going.

Yeah, it probably starts, if we're going to be fair, to 2009 where we won that Ashes series in there and throughout the whole series, all I wanted to say was ours Nash's winner. I remember saying to Ravi, I think I went for a coffee. Ravi. When, you know, the first game, it was Jimmy and Monty, Jimmy and Monty blocking it out very famously at Cardiff. Then we had a good game at Lords and then a rain game. And then it. Headingly, we got totally outplayed. And it says 1, 1. I think it was between the. Between that last Test match before that last Test match. I don't think Ravi played, but he was around the squad. And I said, I'll just give anything to be an Ashes winner. And then we won that game. Jonathan Trott, obviously, on his debut, got a brilliant hundred. And I remember sitting there loving the atmosphere, loving everything. But then sat next to Jimmy. I was like. Because he. He had. I think I averaged just under 30 in that series. Played okay, just nothing special. Great to be part of. Great to be part of the, you know, the crowds. And it is. It is different cricket. And then both of me, him and I sat there going, how amazing is this? But both, both of us were like. There's a tinge of like we haven't really actually done much to. To contribute to winning the Ashes. And however much is all is a team game, the individuality of. Of cricket. And you do feel as if you want to. You know, you do feel as you want to pull your weight. And obviously with the stats available, it's very clear, isn't it? Like a football team. It's. It's not so clear. If you win 2 nil, you could. Had a goodish game, someone. You know what I mean? It's not. It's. It's a bit different. So there. I remember talking to you and said, yes, and I'd love to be part of a series, which I. I did well in. And then it would mean more anyway, so at the end of that series, I sat down with Graham Gooch and I said, I think I was doing all right in Test cricket. I think I'd, you know, averaging, you know, high 40s, I suppose, against everyone else. But twice against Australia. So 2006, 7 and then 2009, I was averaging 30. So I was like, I was saying, judge myself against the best. And I said, well, actually, my game doesn't stack up pretty well against the best teams in the world, the best bowlers in the world. So what do I do to improve? So we had a bit of a re a rego my technique. So standing a lot Stiller. I called it a bit like the Jack Callis trigger movements like Forward back, standstill, backlit, very straight behind him. Like my natural backlift was like double backlift kind of go all over the place, lots of movement. So we kind of, then we then pretty much the next two days after, two days later after the bit of celebration I was back like hitting hundreds and hundreds of balls. After this conversation with Gucci over the next period of time trying to groove something very unnatural. But in the think in the long run that that would be better for my technique. And actually the first out, I'm pretty sure the first outing, which I'm not sure whether mem was a one day game up at Durham and I got 100 with it and I thought yeah, we're onto something here. And I think I scored another run to the one day game and then, and then that winter did okay against South Africa. Okay. And Bangladesh. Well I first captain scored a couple of hundred. So actually I was like coming into that summer 2010, you know, I thought I was, I felt quite confident. I thought yeah, this technique, this is going to take me to the level. You know, I can compete against the best bowls in the world and actually against Bangladesh and Pakistan in that series I was having, I had a stinker. Literally I think that summer I was averaging just over 10 going into the, going into the third, third out of the fourth Test match against Pakistan had two against Bangladesh. So I, I, I thought I was going to get dropped and I thought I was not going to make that tour. And I then had a bit of a moment in that last, in that, in the middle of the oval test match saying I'm going back to my old technique. Now this, this technique might be good on, on wickets where you know, the ball doesn't do much or, but actually when, when I really need, when they need to look after me, you know, the ball's nipping around. It did nip around quite a lot last summer, but the ball's nipping around. It just, I, I just felt like I could not a score because I was probably playing a lot straighter. So the balls and the stumps I used to be whipping through leg side. I was playing straight, not getting any runs and then the ball nipped. I just either missed it or nicked it. So my technique didn't look after me when I got in trouble. So there's a bit of, a bit of a clearing in my mind going right, my old technique was the best I could be and that actually gives you a bit of freedom because you think actually I might not be the best player in the World. But actually the technique I had growing up and all that is the best I can be. So that kind of frees your mind one way. And also I just sat there going for a defensive player. I just went. I don't want to get out defending in the second innings against Pakistan, the oval. So I actually went out attacked. I was 80 odd at lunch on. On day three or four, whatever it was, and. And kind of went from there. So. And I got that kind of a lucky hundred where as he threw the ball over keeper's head. So that was leading into the series. Very long winded question. Answer Stefan to one question. If it's like this, this podcast is going to be three days, like one of your knocks.

There was a lot of preparation that went into that 1011 tour. Famously the boot camp.

Yeah, I didn't go on it. So.

Were you at someone's wedding?

Yeah, my brother's wedding.

And was that a good thing that you missed it or.

I'm actually genuinely disappointed that I did miss it because just, just for the next like six, eight, two years, six months. Eight months, two years out, there's always. There was always references back to that camp and I think at the time it was horrendous. And if you speak to Swanee and you speak to a few people saying it's a waste of time, but.

And they were in Bavaria, right? Is that what happened? They went to Germany?

Well, actually I did turn up for the last day. I did turn up a very calm for the last day. And actually the funny thing was about turning up for the last day was the most broken men I saw was Strauss and Flower. And I thought actually it serves them right because they actually organized the thing. So. Yeah, I mean, I think it's.

What did it involve sort of, I.

Don'T know, really trekking through the trees.

And was there some boxing? Did Jimmy Anderson have his rib broken by a punch from Chris Tremlett?

Yeah, I think that was one, I think a lot of like two in the morning, press ups and bricks in the air carrying, you know, like all the kind of stuff. And I think there was, you know, I think you had to call the instructors by their surname and you know, very, very military based, very, you know, like if you stepped out of line, the whole team got punished, all that kind of stuff. And, and I genuinely think it was awful. I think it was really hard work. But actually, yeah, the fact that people were still talking about it years, you know, a couple years later, it showed it did have its worth and some of the stories apparently people really opened up, you know, on around the campfire every night. And again I'm talking like probably, you know, almost as much as I do because I wasn't there. I just turned up for the abseiling on the last day which I don't think went down well and I think Trotty missed it as well. But actually I think we both scored the most runs and second most runs. Actually I don't give a too much credit to Flower and, and the Bootcamp.

And you know the point that you make, you know, you and you and Jonathan Trott with all those runs that you scored. But you specifically 766 runs on that tour. Only Wally Hammond has made more runs as an Englishman on tour in Australia. Three centuries. But it all started standing at the other end when Andrew Strauss was out. Third ball of the series.

Yeah, it probably actually started before that. If I like I, I actually this is when my memory. It doesn't serve me right and it. You kind of do need to look this up. If we had three warm up games, didn't we?

That's.

You did definitely write that. And the Brisbane, the second one, the third one. All the bowlers went to Brisbane. So it was like we played kind of like our second string. But I don't think I scored runs in the first game. But I'm pretty sure I scored runs either. I thought it was the second game I scored once. I thought someone did a bit of a prep like we're talking about. I think everyone had scored runs. Maybe I scored runs in the third game. I can't remember. Do you know what I mean? But I was, I came into that form. I didn't score in the first game, but then I got going on that tour in the second or third and I kind of just never look back. I mean yes, there was that what if moment like we used to do what if moments but I don't think anyone suggested that we'd win the toss bat and then I'd be the only one standing out there. Third ball and to Strauss get out to a cut shot as well. His. His favorite shot. It was. It was extraordinary. It was a. It was a quite an interesting place actually. You know, everyone was buzzing everyone there and I just stood there on my own. All the umpires go together. I'm not even sure I had a drink because I was like don't bother.

You don't just come from the dressing room.

I literally just come from the dressing room. But I probably should have had one again. There might Be a picture of me. I'm pretty sure I stood on my, I stood alone. And we kind of got through that first day and we, you know, when you lose a wicket early on, you always, you know, you're kind of always kind of batting a little bit because you then even if you get a partnership, you're two down and all that. And we did okay. We lost. We know we were a long way below par, but okay, like 260 on. But we were doing all right. And then we got obviously city. Siddle got his hat trick on his birthday and I was the first of it.

Yeah, you made, you made 67 on that first day. And you know, quite rightly saying first of Peter Siddles hat trick. I think you two went on to become quite good mates after the time that he spent at Essex. But England were 221 behind on first innings at Brisbane. Batting again on the third evening.

Yeah, I mean that.

How did you approach that?

Well, I mean we'd just done. I think they got 500 in. It was a real strange 500 odd, wasn't it? Because if you went back to the second new ball, I think Jimmy and Brody and Stephen Finn, I think they just, they actually bowled brilliantly against Haddon and Hussey who obviously batted brilliantly. But somehow they got through that there. They both got big hundreds. But you know that, that little spell gave us a lot of confidence with the Kookaroa ball that we could get things moving. I remember them talking about things and actually I know we got five. It's after the first, after the game. But when we're saying, I know they got 500 and we didn't run through them. But actually there was like stuff there that if we did that with runs on the board, we would, we would, we would be able to take our 20 wickets. But yeah, I remember thinking the end of the third day we said we. I batted, batted pretty much the first day, you know, then I was a hat trick. So we're, we're pretty much. I don't know if we bowled the end of the first day, but I was definitely in the field all the day two and then all the day three. Obviously I do, I think, you know, as an opening batter, you're thinking, you know, when you get those wiki sinking right, I am going to have a little, we are going to have a little tricky period. And they're never nice, no matter how you approach them. You try and say, look, you know, if you get your low score, you get a low score, you're going to get a low score in the morning, but you do want to be not out overnight. Trying to end up. I do remember feeling my heavy. I did feel heavy legs in that. They're going out to batting. Geez, I was tired. But all the, obviously all the distraction was on Strauss, whether he was going to bag him or not in the first game. But he got off them. I don't know what we were overnight. And then it was just a case of, of, of regrouping, getting through that little period. I think we had 40 minutes or so, but they bowled, they definitely bowled Marcus North a little bit, a bit of off spin.

So they're both. They bowled 15 overs of you that third evening. You were 19 without loss.

Fastball that on it.

Cook on six. So a deficit of 221. You've only taken 19 out of it. So at the beginning of that fourth day, you are still really up against it.

Yeah. And it was a case of, I, I, I don't remember the messages or anything, what we spoke about, but it was just a case of everyone got, it was an experienced side. It was just a case of someone. We just got to get in, we just got about it. The pitch, the pitch had no demons in it. So, you know, you weren't, you weren't expecting to get rolled over. It's just a case of showing a bit of fight and if you got in, making sure that it. And actually Strauss got him. Strauss played beautifully and actually he, he really set the tone almost for the rest of that tour with the way he went about his hundred because, you know, maybe not in the modern day compared to what's happened recently, but certainly then it was quite an attacking hundred and it's certainly attacking hundred for Strauss and talk about leadership and leading from the front and words and all that actually actions there, he, he went out and when we needed, we did just need to survive, but obviously runs are important. You can't just survive. And he went and he actually took the attack to Australia kind of un. In a not unlike Strauss manner, but actually on the front foot and played beautifully. The pictures of Belter, I think he got to 100. I was on 60 odd. I think when he got to his hundred and then he got stumped by Marcus north and then, you know, you, you think I had a big punch, 170, 180 odd. And they're like, that's not, you know, then you need another one. And then if you ever want someone to come in and bat for your life in the kind of situation on the flat wicket. Trolley trolley was the man. And we just, we just grew really like into a part. I don't know what we were at the end of day three, but end of day four, but it was a walking off there. Yeah. Not out there thinking that that is, that was a, you know, really good day and a day I really, really felt I, I think it was my 14th hundred, the first time I'd really contributed to a, to an innings. 100 weight really mattered, where it really made a difference to the game. So, you know, that night I was, you know, I was obviously pleased. Cook on 99 Siddles on his way, running in hard. He bowls to him outside the off stump back and cuts him for four. And Alistair Cook punches the air. The second englishman to make 100 here today. What a fight back. What resilience. What an intriguing game this is becoming. A hug from Jonathan Trott, he read, raises back to those hordes of England supporters down at third man, where that ball is now being retrieved from. Alistair Cook has faced 204 balls. It was his ninth boundary. More patient, more measured innings actually, than that of Andrew Strauss.

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You'd gone from 19 without loss to 309 for one on that fourth day. And I just wonder what it was like from the start of that day when a lot of Australian fans would have been turning up thinking, you know, this might even be the day that we win this match. To the end of the day, 309 for one. England have completely turned it around. What did the atmos, did it change inside the gabber and those sorts of things.

APPLAUSE for Alistair Cook. He's batted all day and he's batted so well to hold England together. A memorable performance from him. His second century against Australia. I, I, I don't remember that, but I do remember the change room being quite like cock a hoop at the end of day four. But, you know, like, but there's still that underlying edge. I think we're only ahead by 80, weren't we? And it doesn't take, it doesn't take much, does it? You can have a good day and cricket, and Test cricket in particular, I do think when you played it, you can't win many games in, in, in an hour, but you can suddenly lose, go a long way to losing it. And so even there we felt we'd done a lot of hard work. Flowers message. I remember he taking me to the side beginning of day five and went, brilliant hundred yesterday. But your job's not done yet, you know, do not, you know, do not think your job is done. You've got such a big part to play today as well. I was like, oh, God, yeah, I actually do it. And sometimes you just do need that. The harsh reality of reminding, you know, 130 odd knot out is a great place to be as a batsman overnight. You know, everyone pats on your back, you get all your messages on your phone, but the job wasn't done and, you know, you suddenly, two down very quickly the next morning, lose two wickets and runs were important, so it was important that we Got. We got in again and. But. But what you did know is that if Trotter and I, Trotty and I did get going, you know, there is such a long day for Australia, isn't it? Like, you get through the initial burst, you know, the first hour, hour and a half, and in warm conditions, after bowling for a day, the day before, you knew it would. As that lead kind of got bigger and bigger, you knew that they couldn't. They couldn't win the game. And that was kind of batting. It's never easy in Test cricket, but that was kind of just a lovely period to bat once you got, you know, past, I suppose my first double under. After that, it was just. Yeah, nice. I think what a lovely word to use nice, but it was just nice. So Doherty to Cook, 199 and he sits around the corner. There's hesitation, there's a miss field and he gets the run and he's made 200. In a test match against Australia. That is a wonderful achievement from Alistair Cook. He raises his bat, he raises his helmet. And he gets a pat on the back too from Ricky Ponting as he walks past him. Alistair Cook becomes the fourth English batsman to score a double century in Ashes tests in Australia.

You know, 517 for one. A number that's, I don't know, etched almost into English Ashes folklore. Strauss 110 end Cook. 235 not out. Trot. 135 not out. The lead was 296. What did that do to the context of the series as to what that did to. To in the England team, the Australian team, but also the Australian fans? Because it was played out, wasn't it? Almost in an almost entirely empty gabber.

Yeah.

Apart from some England fans who were loving every minute of it.

Well, it was pretty loud. It felt pretty loud, actually. But it was just generally English people. I mean, I don't know what the GABA holes was it. It. Is it 40,000, 35,000. But you know, to say there's probably seven or eight and it was just only, you know, English Englishmen and English women there. And, you know, David Lloyd said. I thought his fancy dress. They all came, they all come dressed as a seat, the Aussie fans. I remember that. I didn't obviously remember the line, but I've heard that line since. I'll tell you what it did do. It gave us a lot of belief that this Australian side, you know, was there for the taking in terms of like, you know, they're not this, you know, obviously haven't won for 20 odd years. We got a chance here. You know, we, we got out of jail, but we got out of jail with such a way that it gave us a load of confidence. I said the bowlers, even though they conceded 500 odd, there's periods where they put Australia under huge pressure. And then I suppose that what you can only link that to next actually the effect maybe and this is maybes, ifs and buts. You know, the next test match, Adelaide Australia win the toss, they bat and they're naught for two in the first three balls with a. Like a kamikaze, like a run out. As in all for two. I think they were when they. Or something like. Pretty sure like. And then ponting nicking off, you know and Jimmy's first over like Cat is run out without facing and potting ponting, nicking off first ball. So whether that Brisbane had any effect on there. But we've gone from, you know, beginning of day three, end of day three looking down the barrel, going one nil down to an hour into Adelaide and they're four down on an absolute, you know, featherbed a belting wicket. And yeah. And you're thinking, well we're, you know, how quickly, you know, in a week, a week of sport we're getting, we're getting ahead in this series.

Yeah. They were naught for two and three for two on that first morning at Adelaide after they, they won the toss and chose to bat all of Katic Ponting and. And Clark gone inside three overs. Australia bowled out for 245. England batting by the end of the day with strauss and Cook one without loss.

Well, that was a. Actually we got him out right at the end, didn't we? And, and it was a warm day but the. Because I don't know what the rules were. But there was one over left. And you know how. You know, you've, you've commentated alongside me a lot and when they keep these rules and things, you come back and you go, I don't know what's happening but you should know, Cookie, you played for however many years, I just don't know. But got into changing room and flower rattles down said, are we having a night watchman? You know, I said, well if it's one wicket and you come off, then definitely night watchman. But he then said, he then said no, I think the rules that then I don't know why this would be the case. But he thought if there's a wicked falls, you'd. You'd Finish the over is one of. I don't know. I don't know why that was the case. You know, maybe the rules have changed since, like, maybe because it wasn't time or whatever. So I was like, well, there's no way Jimmy's going out to bat. He takes a first ball, Strauss, he takes a non striker's end. Jimmy gets out, I have to then go out. So, like, there's just no way. Because then imagine the stick you're getting from a the Australians. Dave then got pumped up anyway, I'm watching for five and then everything's out of my control. So I said to Straussy, I don't care, I will take number one. He always took first ball if. But I'm going out there now for that over. You do what you want. And Straussy then went, okay, I'll do it as well. So it was. I know, I know. It was. I just remember that discussion. I was like, we should know the rules. But to get. It was a great day at Adelaide the first day. And then, you know, the next day again, we just kind of piled on the runs, you know, after Strauss got out early trot again, it was a warm. I remember that being a very hot day. And I suppose anytime you're a sportsman, when you back up success with another bit of success, it means probably even more actually, because, you know, like, you're 230 or the week before, how easy is it just to get a little bit complacent, not find that rhythm? I don't think my rhythm was there to start with, but I got into it and it was just a belting wicket to bat on. And again, you know, when you've been struggling for so much, you know, struggling the whole last summer, you know, there's one thing you can always be is hungry. And what better place to be hungry on a flat Adelaide wicket when it's 40 degrees?

So from a sliding doors moment of Jimmy Anderson possibly opening the bat in as England's night watchman, at the end of the first day, we go to.

I did, I did. I did think. I did think Strauss, Strauss would not let me take first ball. So I kind of bluffed him a little bit and I thought, he'll never get a strike. Anyway, I think he got a strike first ball with a leg butt high. So I ended up facing five balls. I was like, oh, that hasn't actually worked out. And how. I thought it was going to work out. But. But yes, it was a sliding doors.

Moment with Jimmy, but England was still batting two days later you made 148, Trot 78, Kevin Peterson 227. That point when Australia were bowling bouncers to him with it's what seemed like every fielder back on the leg side 620 for 5 declared. And from your point of view having made that double hundred in Brisbane to now making a century in Adelaide, I mean you must have felt 20 foot tall.

Yeah, I did. I was annoyed. I kind of got out that third morning to be fair because I think quite again I struggled getting back into that thing. But what a brilliant game. My kind of hundreds like other setting up games like that, you know the KP's double hundred there was a real marker of dominance actually. You know dominance of taking Australia down and a marker from the whole team. Obviously he led it but it was like we are. We got ourselves ahead of the game. So they got 240 and was as soon as we kind of got. I don't know when the partnership was, wasn't it? I mean Trotty say 160 odd maybe if he got 70. So we're pretty close to their score and he just came out and he just absolutely hammered Australia into the ground. I was there for a little bit of it and it was Xavier Doherty.

And Doug Bollinger were taken apart and hit out, hit out of the series.

Well I mean they picked Doherty in the of a left arm spin to play against Cap who had a few issues against there which also great for left hand because the ball turning in much rather that than an off spin up. So that was great for two games for me. And actually I don't actually think Dougie bow particularly badly but when he did bowl at the, you know he bow quite nice opening spells and stuff but it was pretty warm and fatigue as. As it does come in when you get 600 odd and you know bowling at someone who's 150 not out it's on a flat. On a flat flat wicket is not a good place to be. But yeah you know they dominant. But again going back to that game, you know how lucky we issue. We declared trying to get the declaration right because of the rain on day five and actually that wicket KP got Michael Clark the end of day four after partnership between him and Hussey who's again scored a lot of runs in that. In that game. I think he got Clark out last ball caught short leg. And if, if we hadn't got that wicket it's. But what. Oh no, actually the next day there's only three hours cricket to be Played really. So, you know, it was, it was nip and tuck there really for a minute even though we'd totally dominated the game.

You guys are obviously on such a high after. After Adelaide 1 nil up after 2 when it could have been different, you know, with everything that had happened in Brisbane was, was Perth and you know, pretty heavy defeat there. 267 runs that Australia won by. And a little bit of, I don't know, foreshadowing of what Mitchell Johnson could do with the ball. How did you guys feel after that? Did it feel like you were, you know, level or did you still feel like you had the beating of Australia?

The scores were. I think we bowled them out fairly cheaply, didn't we? Wasn't. There wasn't a particularly high scoring game. I think they win the toss, batted.

England won the toss in that third Test, asked Australia to bat. Australia made 268 mainly thanks to a partnership between Hussey and Johnson because at one point Australia 137 for six, Hussey 61, Johnson 62 gets them up to 268 which is, you know, something they can work with. And then England after being 82 for 1, 78 for 1 8, 78 without loss. That was a partnership between yourself and Andrew Strauss. Strauss made 50. Cook 32 from 78 without loss to 187 all out. Johnson 6 for 38.

Yeah. Again, whether looking back at that game, you know, we, we had a team meeting, I think straight after it. I wasn't, I was part of the leadership thing. I wasn't sure it's the right thing to do do. But it turned out to be the right thing to do because Flower kind of straight normally, like it's really hard to do meetings after games. It wasn't at the ground, it was a hotel because normally people just want to switch off, kind of bury, you know, bury it or celebrate it. And we, I thought we need to just bury and come back the next day. But Flowers absolutely determined to like almost wonder how we lost that game from 80 for naught after bowling him out for 260 and then a few, you know, Mitchell Johnson did bowl incredibly any incredibly well anytime he swings it back into the right hand, you know, he got a few LVWs. He's very hard to play because he actually doesn't really mean to do that. I don't mean that disrespectful like he is that slinging action occasionally he gets absolutely spot on. He swings back when he gets it to swing back into the Right hand or away from the left hander, you know, he. It's almost impossible to play. And he got in that spell. He bowled beautifully and, you know, and we couldn't, we couldn't stop it. So there's an element of that. But there's also. We had the meeting end of it saying, did we. Did we don't know. We never know the answer. Did we take the eyes, you know, off, you know, eyes off. What we were doing and thinking about the end result, thinking 80 for naught. Did we think we'd done all our hard work? We're going to win this game now. It's going to be like Adelaide. We'll get a big score past. And. And we started thinking maybe as a side subconsciously, or maybe we did. I don't know about winning the Ashes or retaining Ashes there at Perth, whether that was in our training. You know, there's all these questions you don't, you don't know the answer to, but I think it was quite important to get them out there to get. And then a few people said this and that. Now we don't know whether the words are right or not wrong. But what we did do then we went to Melbourne and that game was buried. It was basically two match series then, wasn't it? 1 1. You're talking about sport, momentum. You say Australia had all the momentum. Australia were flying. They're all over the papers. You know, Boxing Day newspaper, Christmas Day newspaper. You know, not boxing. Yeah, it would be boxing. Everyone's saying, how great is Australia? They're going to come back, they're done, the English are done. And there's pictures of, of ponting all over the paper, Santa Claus, all that kind of stuff building into it. But we kind of, kind of had that little bit of going. Well, we actually have dominated quite a lot of these test, these Test matches, a few of the days. So there's still confidence in there. But I just think it's like it's kind of the now there moment. And obviously Boxing Day turned out to be a pretty good Boxing Day.

Well, that might be an understatement because it could be, I don't know, maybe, maybe the greatest day, greatest single day England have ever had in an Ashes Test down under. Certainly in recent memory. England winning the toss, choosing to field first in conditions that were relatively helpful to the bowlers, but I don't think anyone could have expected what came next. Australia 98 all out, four for Anderson, four for Tremlett, two for Bresnan, who'd come into the side for Stephen Finn, who'd bowled well in the first three test matches. And by the end of the day, England 157 without loss, Strauss 64 and Cook 80. I mean, as days go, that was almost perfect, wasn't it?

There was disbelief at the end of that day. There wasn't disbelief in me and Strauss of clearing the MCG with our batting. I mean, I think most people want to go home when we were batting, but actually we did clear the mcg. I think we started off and they're very proud, the Aussies, of how many people then get in on boxing. David, at the time, I think it was a record. I think it's a record every year. But by the end there was only 20 odd thousand English people watching Strauss and I crud it around the mcg. But it was an extraordinary day. We actually dropped a couple of chances as well. I know there's a big humming and arring about the toss. I remember that thinking, you know, are we, are we right? Obviously the bowlers thinking we need to, you know, we need to bat first. It'll. It'll nip about for an hour or two hours and then it'll be flat. That. And we just need to get through that first couple of hours and. And they were right. It was. But actually the damage we did, I think that's as good as bolt seam bowling and swing bowling. I think I've been a part of as a group. I'm not talking about express pace. I'm not talking about, besides getting blown away. I'm talking about the lengths and the lines that those guys hit. Brezzi, Tremlet and, and Jimmy, I just can't really remember a bad ball. I think every, every dismissal was nicked, was caught behind or in dips. It was just, I think, you know, talk about a little bit of luck. There was about three player misses. I think every house is either defended nicely or nicked. It was. It was an extraordinary bit of bowling, good bit of catching and yeah, you're walking off at tee early tea thinking that's a start. Then that's obviously thinking it's gonna, it's gonna nip around a bit for us. We've got to get through it. And actually, when Strauss and I went out, it was just flat. It was just flat where the heavy roller had done its job and it was just lovely to bat. And again, if you go back to any one day and play the whole day of a test match in my career, certainly that would be right up.

There as a Collective Group trot made 168not out of England's 513. Australia bowled out for 258 in their second innings. England win by an innings 157 runs. So the Ashes are retained in Melbourne at the mcg, you know, almost that fortress of Australian cricket. And England celebrate on the outfield doing the sprinkler.

Yeah, the sprinkler was the thing in that tour, I think. So, you know, so are Swanny's diaries which were just, you know, again, probably the first time, you know, certainly under kind of, certainly under Andy Flowers kind of regime where a bit of inside access to the side and it was, you know, the humor was, you know, was good. It obviously helps when you're.

Did you feature in the diaries?

I tried not to, I tried not to. I certainly watched a lot on Getting Fit, filmed trying to stay behind it, but it was brilliant. And obviously when you win all that stuff, you know, adds to the moment. It was a great tour in terms of that. We won all our warm up games. There's a good feel about it. Everyone was there in a bit of form and you know, tours are better when you're winning and obviously Australia is a serious place when you win. I've been there three, four times and lost on three times. So the one time it was, it was, it was an incredible place to go and play and not turn the public on the Australian side. But they certainly, you know, you turn up and as the guys will know, turning up now and get there to Australia, it's tough. But then we kind of won them over with our cricket. But yeah, watching the sprinkler, which was kind of the dance move of the thing, I felt a little bit uneasy of it doing it and just because, you know, we hadn't come there to, to win, to retain the Ashes, we'd come there to, to win it. And I, yeah, I remember again, just my mentality, I enjoyed that, the dressing room at Melbourne. But after I didn't actually go out, a few of the lads went to the Barmy army and had a great night with them. But I was like, we haven't finished yet, we haven't finished. I, I, you know, we really. Two, two would have felt a bit of an injustice for that side against the Australian side, I, I believe and I think so. However good Melbourne was, I just remember going, see, we've got Sydney, we've got Sydney, we can't mess up Sydney 5. You can't play for a draw. You've got to go and win there's if it's on the line and, you know, it's easier said than done actually, that after, you know, if you're achieving retaining the Ashes, which is a thing, but you know, it's actually to back it up and try and win it was important, but luckily it went okay.

And that Test match in Sydney, you know, upheaval for the Australians. Ricky Pontin has gone as captain. Michael Clark replaces him. Pontin's not even in the team and I know you're saying about still feeling like you've got a job to do because you want to win the Ashes and not just retain them, but I don't know. From an England point of view, Sydney almost felt like a bit of a party atmosphere throughout because England were so dominant in that game. They bowled Australia out for 281st innings and responded with 644. Your third century. 189. Bell 115. Prior 118. Going on to win a third Test match by an innings. Is that how, how you felt in that Test or did it feel nervousness, on edge going in it?

Definitely nervous. I think Ponting had broke his finger at Perth and he dropped, dropping a catch. Who played at Melbourne with a. With blockers in his hand finger. So that's the reason he didn't play at Sydney. I think he tried, but just. He tried at Melbourne, but then obviously at Sydney it was too, too hard for him. So Clark, there was upheaval, but obviously there's. When there is upheaval, you know, I think Phil Hughes had come back. He had played the previous game. Then Kawaja made his debut. There's a bit of a fuss about Kwaja Clark being captain for the first time. So, you know, they were looking back now, you know, they, you don't say they're in disarray, but, you know, when there's so many changes, you, you feel as if England had such a big psychological advantage. But when you're in it, when you're in the, in the pressure, Cook, you're in the moment. You are. I, I didn't feel like that. You know, actually. 280. You know, they, they. I think Johnson whacked a few to got 70 or down the end of the order. So actually that they felt like too many. And Hilfonous kept hitting. You know, he, I think he had, he had a couple of, you know, good blows. And the only thing which, that I bet, I remember Strauss saying, if Hilven House can hit our new ball bowlers wherever he wanted, it must be A good wicket. I remember that was kind of like the message he got when we, you know, bowled over 2 8. Because 280 is like a, you know, you still feel you in the game. 280 is not a match winning score by any stretch of the imagination, but you still feel like you're in the game. You bowled them out for 350, you know, 400. You still, you still got a chance of third innings. But you know, I think Strauss whacked a 50 off. Not many balls to get us going. And then found out it was, it was again a lovely flat wicket and all the, all the kind of work we'd done in that series are getting big. Going big. Yeah, kind of probably Australia had a bit of Here we go again. Lots of time in the dirt and we felt we had bowl guys who were inform and wanted to cash in. And you know, 640 is a, you know, it's a good score in it. I was always thinking, you're not going to lose many games at 640, especially when you only needed to draw the.

Game that final morning. What turned out to be was the fifth day and final day of the series. Australia were 213 for 7 in their second innings overnight, miles behind. They're going to lose the game. England just need to take three wickets to win the Ashes and that could have been done in no time whatsoever. And in, in the SCG on that final morning of the series, it felt like, I don't know, every backpacker hostel had been emptied and down from Bondi beach and everyone who was English had turned up that morning to get involved in this party of England winning the Ashes in Australia.

Yeah. But actually get the fourth night that the SCG was I. Because we took the extra half an hour, which took the extra half an.

Hour because it could have been one that night.

Could have been one that night. And you know, Tremlett, they had a bit of a partnership and then turn it, bounced out Haddon out of nowhere again, I think has scored a few runs. But out of like he played well that series, as he always seemed to do against us, us. And then out of nowhere, Tremlett bounced him out, gloved him, looped her to Maddie P. Behind the stumps. And then the Mitchell Johnson song, the famous Mitchell Johnson song was just as he kind of serenaded as he walked out to the wicket. I've never heard atmosphere like it. I remember talking to tremors who had the ball at that stage. I'm just gonna try and bowl this as fast as I can. And he just bowled his absolute jaffa to Mitchell Johnson, who I think maybe thought it might have been short. It was close to 90 miles an hour. Pitched up. Bowled it, man. I've never heard noise like it.

Tremlett goes in to bowl to Johnson.

Oh, he's out with W. Bowled him. He's bowled him. And Tremlet's on a hat trick. Johnson's on his way.

And England could wrap this up tonight, 171 for seven.

They're dancing all around the ground.

So much English support. The off stump has been knocked back and Chris Tremlett is on a hat trick. Australia seven down, England, three wickets away from 3 1.

And I thought we were going to win that night. I honestly thought that was it. That was going to be the moment. And, you know, it didn't quite happen and men had to come back the next day a little bit frustrating. And then the next morning, although the atmosphere was incredible, like, you know, the barmy army and all this. English, British supporters, English sports, they didn't stop singing. It felt like an age. It felt like an age to get that wicket and you're just desperate for it to finally happen. You know, you just, you know, you knew you're going to win. Even I, the most kind of pessimistic person, like the opposition can win from any anywhere. I knew we were going to win. It was just a matter of when, but it felt like forever. But there were moment that Chris Tremlett got beer out, you know, bowled him. I was at short leg. It's just that moment of, like, pure elation. Job well done, you know, incredible. Like an incredible moment. The one good thing about winning during the day, like early, is you so much time to really soak it in and enjoy the occasion. I don't know when we left the ground, but we didn't leave for absolutely ages. Spent so much time there on the outfield in the change room. It was very, very special. And you don't get it very often in sport and certainly you don't get it when you, you know, you're always looking. You're always looking at for the next game, but that kind of, that next 24, 48 hours of just of satisfaction, I. I just felt that kind of person on a personal. I don't think I could have scored. I couldn't have played any better. And then to be part of a side, you know, the difference that feeling I had in 2009, 2010, 11, was, you know, was absolutely, you know, chalk and cheese and, you know, Very. But very lucky to be part of a side who had played so well and done something which is pretty rare for an English team.

And just as a final thought, how do you reflect on it now and how often do you maybe think about it? How often do you get asked about it and yeah. How do you feel when you, when you reflect back on that time of your life?

I look back with, with fondness that it was such a good team to be part of. Yeah. Like, you know, there's always been these bits afterwards about how tough Flower was and Strauss, you know that kind of regime was very regimented. But we had that time of our lives. And it is true when you win games of cricket or you go part of any time when we've won away from home, it was unbelievably special. It was a great environment to be. Yes, it was hard work, but international sport is hard work. Yeah. Like look, you kind of forget the tough times, you forget like the nervousness, you forget all the anxiety which went into to that thing. But I look back just with, you know, like a little bit of proud prideness because you can go, yeah, I, I played a significant part in a series which will always be, will always be spoken about as a. You remember the time when England beat Australia 31 and all three games were won by an innings. You know that, that just doesn't happen. And so yeah, it's very special and I need to, I need a one day sit down and watch some of it.

Incomes tremors, beer waits for him.

He's there and he bowls and he's played into his wicket. It's all over, he's bowled by Tremlett. And England have won their first series in Australia for 24 years. It's their third innings victory as well and they're gathered together jumping up and down in that celebratory dance that we saw at Melbourne when they retained the Ashes in the previous match. But now they've done it all in style. They've won the series 3:1.

That was the 2010-11 Ashes, according to Alistair Cook. Remember, we will have daily podcasts from Australia throughout this series, so make sure you're subscribed so you get a notification every time we upload. You can listen to live ball by ball commentary of every Test on BBC Sounds. And it all gets underway again in the early hours hours of Thursday morning. Thanks for listening, we'll speak to you next time. This winter, cricket's oldest rivalry is reignited.

England and Australia do battle to compete.

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