Greatest Ashes moments: Top 10 iconic feats in series history between England and Australia

The fierce rivalry between England and Australia has produced some great moments that have been etched in Ashes history.

A determination to get one over the old enemy has led to players from both countries pulling off incredible feats, like Ben Stokes's match-winning heroics at Headingley in 2019.

Stokes's current group of players will be hoping to achieve more impressive feats when they face Australia in the 2025-26 Ashes series.

Ahead of the five-match affair, Sports Mole delves into the history books to pick out the top 10 greatest moments in history.

10. Pratt runs out Ponting (2005)

The impact substitute is usually reserved for sports such as football, but back in 2005, an unknown sub-fielder, Gary Pratt, made his presence known in a big way in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge.

Ponting was 48 not out and Australia were 155 for two in the follow-on after being bowled out for 218 in their reply to England's 477.

With Australia still 104 runs behind, Damien Martyn knocked a delivery from Andrew Flintoff into the offside and quickly called for an ill-judged single.

Pratt quickly picked up the ball and threw down the stumps to leave the Australian captain well short of the crease to the delight of the Trent Bridge crowd.

Ponting voiced his displeasure as he made his way off the field, believing that England were using substitute fielders to allow bowlers to take breaks.

England would go on to win the Test by three wickets, which proved decisive in their successful bid to win an Ashes series for the first time since 1986-87.

9. Australia's first triple century in test cricket (1930)

Don Bradman had only played four Test matches when he arrived in England in 1930, but he gained plenty of test batting experience throughout the five-Test series.

A 21-year-old Bradman amassed 974 runs across the series, with 334 of those arriving in the third Test at Headingley.

Remarkably, Bradman scored 309 runs on the first day, making him the first Australian to hit a test triple century and only the second player to reach that milestone after England's Andy Sandham had hit 325 against the West Indies in April of that year.

Bradman's innings was not enough to win the drawn game, but he did go on to rack up 232 crucial runs in the final Test to guide his team to an innings victory and a 2-1 series win.

8. Warne reaches major milestone (2006)

Shane Warne's glittering career could produce its own top ten greatest moments list, which includes his 700th Test wicket in the 2006-07 series.

Warne announced in the lead-up to the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne that he would retire from international cricket at the end of the fifth Test in Sydney.

Just days after his announcement, the game's greatest spinner took his 700th wicket at his home ground, the MCG, in front of nearly 90,000 people on Boxing Day.

Andrew Strauss attempted to drive a ball that pitched outside off-stump, only for the ball to spin back through the gate and into the middle stump.

As a bewildered Strauss looked hopelessly back at his stumps, Warne wheeled off in celebration and eventually stopped to hold the ball aloft in front of his home crowd.

7. Jimmy and Monty salvage unlikely draw (2009)

James Anderson and Monty Panesar were included in the lineup for the first Test of the 2009 series for their bowling attributes.

However, the pair were required to draw upon what little batting skill they had to hold out for a draw on the fifth and final day in Cardiff.

England looked set to lose when Paul Collingwood was caught by Michael Clarke off Nathan Hauritz's bowling, leaving Panesar to join Anderson at the crease with England six behind Australia's total.

Sensationally, Panesar and Anderson managed to frustrate Australia's attacking, blocking and scraping together enough runs to put England in the lead, and crucially, take 10 minutes out of the game for the potential change of innings.

However, Australia never got the chance to bat again as the two tailenders survived 69 balls to see out time and salvage an unlikely draw for Andrew Strauss's side.

6. Waugh's SCG heroics (2003)

Australia had already wrapped up the series and were on the verge of a series whitewash when they arrived in Sydney for the final Test of the 2002-03 series.

Despite overseeing an Ashes win, Australia captain Steve Waugh was under pressure after enduring a tough spell with the bat, leading to speculation that the match would be his final outing as a test cricketer.

Waugh walked out to bat with his team 56 for three in their reply to England's 362 in the first innings at the SCG.

The Australian skipper rolled back the years to rack up the runs to leave him on 98 with one ball left to go in the day.

Waugh carved the final delivery for four before punching the air and holding his bat aloft to his adoring faithful, with the moment immortalised with a statue at the SCG.

5. Broad's perfect spell (2015)

Broad established himself as one of the Ashes' greats during his test career and proved to be a particular thorn in the side of Australian opener David Warner.

So with that in mind, it is quite incredible that Warner avoided being one of Broad's eight scalps in one of the best spells of test-match bowling on the first day of the fourth Test.

Playing at his home ground of Trent Bridge, Broad got Chris Rogers to nick off to Alastair Cook at first slip to take his 300th Test cricket.

Incredibly, he had 307 under his belt by lunch after taking eight wickets for 15 to bowl out Australia for 60 from just 18.3 overs.

The wicket of Adam Voges will live long in the memory for Stokes's diving catch at fifth slip, which left Broad in disbelief.

4. Jim Laker's bowling masterclass (1956)

In the 1956 series, Jim Laker achieved something that has never been replicated since, taking 19 out of a possible 20 wickets in a single Test match.

The spin bowler took nine for 37 to skittle Australia out for 84, before he collected all 10 wickets in the subsequent follow-on, guiding England to a mammoth victory by an innings and 170 runs.

Laker finished the match with figures of 19 for 90 runs, helping him reach 46 wickets in the series, which England won by a 2-1 scoreline.

3. Botham sparks comeback with century (1981)

Ian Botham gave up the captaincy after the first two matches of the 1981 series, with England trailing 1-0 ahead of the third Test at Headingley.

England appeared to be sliding towards a 2-0 deficit when Botham joined Geoffrey Boycott at the crease with the scoreline 105-5 in the follow-on.

Two more wickets fell to leave the all-rounder with the tail, but rather than be deterred by the situation, Botham rose to the occasion by striking 149 runs from 148 deliveries, including 27 fours and one six.

Botham's innings gave England a fighting chance before Bob Willis took eight for 43 to dismiss Australia for 111 to ensure that his teammate's remarkable innings took place in a winning effort.

2. Stokes produces magical innings (2019)

Other batters have produced bigger scores, but Stokes's display in the fourth innings at Headingley has a strong case to be regarded as the best innings in Test-match history.

The all-rounder initially battled hard to get himself in during England's chase of 359 in the third Test of the 2019 Ashes series.

However, he was left with no choice but to let loose when Jack Leach joined him at the crease, with England needing 73 with just one wicket left.

Stokes took on the fielders in the deep in a brutal display of batting power and skill to get England close to the total, before he stepped onto the back foot to cut away the winning runs off the bowling of Pat Cummins.

His innings of 135 from 219 deliveries included 11 fours and eight sixes, which, amazingly, is only the third-highest amount of sixes that Stokes has hit in a Test innings.

Unfortunately for Stokes, his heroics were not enough to reclaim the Ashes because Australia went on to win the fourth Test to ensure that they would not lose control of the urn in a series that eventually finished 2-2.

1. Ball of the century (1993)

Back in 1993, Warne delved into his box of tricks to unleash a delivery that will have a place in cricket history for all of eternity.

Warne was brought into the attack on the second day of the first Test of the 1993 series, with Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting at the crease in England's reply to Australia's 289 first innings score.

The score was 80-1 when Warne got a delivery to drift and pitch comfortably outside of Gatting's leg stump before it turned sharply to clip the top of off.

Gatting, who was regarded as a strong player of spin, was simply left bamboozled by the delivery, which he later described as "surreal".

Warne would go on to take four wickets in both innings of a 179-run victory, before continuing to wreak havoc among the England batting lineup to finish the 4-1 series win with 34 wickets to his name.