The 1989 Ashes series was that year's edition of the long-standing and storied cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Starting on 8 June 1989, England and Australia played six Tests, with the Ashes previously having been held by England since the 1985 Ashes series.
The final result was a 4-0 series win for Australia, who had gone into the series as underdogs, and had been rated by the English media as "possibly the worst side to ever tour England" prior to the series. The series victory marked the beginning of a remarkable period of 16 years in which Australia would retain the Ashes over the course of 4 home and 3 away series until England eventually won them back in the 2005 Ashes series.
No one could argue that the Australian team wasn't in the middle of a slump. In the 11 tests prior to the 1989 Ashes series the Australians had recorded a disappointing 2 wins, 4 losses and 5 draws. From this poor form, Australia turned around to produce one of the most one-sided Ashes series since the 'Invincibles' of the 1948 Ashes series.
The one-sidedness of the series was highlighted by Australia only using 12 players for the whole series, compared with England using 29 players.
For details of the tour outside the Tests, see Australian cricket team in England in 1989.
Read more about 1989 Ashes Series: Squads, Post-Series, Team Records, Other Records
Famous quotes containing the words ashes and/or series:
“Surely, of all creatures we eat, we are most brutal to snails. Helix optera is dug out of the earth where he has been peacefully enjoying his summer sleep, cracked like an egg, and eaten raw, presumably alive. Or boiled in oil. Or roasted in the hot ashes of a wood fire.... If God is a snail, Bosch’s depictions of Hell are going to look like a vicarage tea-party.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“There is in every either-or a certain naivete which may well befit the evaluator, but ill- becomes the thinker, for whom opposites dissolve in series of transitions.”
—Robert Musil (1880–1942)