Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1782 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-10-17
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 510 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The 2005 Ashes Series turned out to be the most compelling, exciting and unpredictable cricket contest since Ian Botham almost single-handedly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in 1981. Twenty-four years on, and we have a new all-rounder to take the lion's share of the glory: Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff, whose fast-bowling undid the tourists throughout the series. Needless to say, however, it was not entirely a solo performance, with the series seeing sterling contributions from bowlers Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison, and some absolutely top notch batting from Andrew Strauss and a rampant Kevin Pietersen, who sealed Australia's fate in the final contest at The Oval with a masterful century.

The series started less well for the England team at Lord's as they faced a sound thumping at Australia's hands, and particularly the bowling arm of legendary Aussie fast-bowler Glenn McGrath. But as the series progressed England found their feet, and this confident young team started playing their best cricket, particularly impressing with the quality of their bowling. At the start of the final test at The Oval, the series hung in the balance with England 2-1 ahead, despite some of the best bowling of Shane Warne's long test career. A mixture of bad light, Pietersen's batting and Flintoff's impressive display of character and determination managed to wrest the Ashes from Australia's grasp for the first time in sixteen years and the atmosphere at the ground -- and indeed nationwide -- was euphoric. The 2005 Ashes Series will be remembered not just as a series in which a young England team came of age, but also as the the point at which the game of cricket returned to the nation's conciousness after some years in the wilderness. --Duncan Thomson

Synopsis
The England Team is victorious and finally brings home the Ashes after sixteen years. Includes highlights from all five test matches featuring Shane Warne and Freddie Flintoff. Also previously unseen footage from the 2005 Ashes.

From the Back Cover
3 x Disc set

Customer Reviews

What a summer!
There are some differing views on this DVD, from the guys who celebrate the achievements of the English this summer, to the review questioning the validity of this as the “greatest series” ever or from those who like to point out that England have only an 11.1% success rate in the past 18 years. Neither of the latter points I am going to discuss, suffice to say I do believe this is the greatest series I have ever seen and thoroughly recommend this DVD to any cricket fans out there.

The DVD is split into 3 discs with 2 games on each (a heap of extras with the 5th test on the 3rd disc – although you do get the feeling this extras were a bit rushed as they could have been better). This volume of footage feels about right for someone who isn’t looking to watch every ball of the series but instead is looking recall with glee the activity of the summer. It has brilliant commentary from Mark Nicholas who is ably supported by Richie Benauld, Michael Slater, Geoff Boycott et al. The latter coming up with the gem of a line “even a blind man would have given that out”. Priceless.

The cricket on show is simply stunning. Not wishing to belie the hype but this may go down as Freddie’s ashes but lest we forget the performance of Simon Jones, Kevin Pieterson, Marcus Trescothick and a whole host of other top class English players. Lets also not forgot the Aussies in this equation – a friend of mine who attended the 5th day of the Oval test regaled to me a tale of the chant that the crowd directed at Shane Warne, one moment they bowed to his undeniable great achievements during the game (and the series), then pelted him with “Warney’s dropped the ashes”. This really is the spirit in which the game was played and the DVD manages to capture this spirit and passion.

A truly magnificent test series, and a magnificent DVD that captures the action brilliantly.

Great record of a great series
Absolutely fantastic memory of a fantastic summer of cricket. Over eight hours of footage for fifteen quid - what a bargain! Ignore the sad anti-Englishness of a small number of reviewers this is sport as it should be, both sides acknowledging the abilities of the other, the partisan crowd applauding the opposition as well as their own heroes, the commentary team being fair to all. This is a DVD that should be in any sports fan's collection!

Outstanding DVD - Great Memories
Wow!!! I received my copy this morning, 15/10/2005 and I am now avidly watching the footage. The box is huge and I can't quite understand why three dvds have been put into such a large package. You get three dvd boxes with one dvd in each box and the dvd boxes are housed together in a card sleeve. If you look at the edge of the dvd boxes you will see that it makes a picture of the Ashes Urn - nice touch. The first dvd has the first two tests on it, the second dvd has the third and forth dvd and the final dvd has the fifth test along with the extras. The coverage of the games comes from the Channel 4 coverage and it is very well done and they have nice quality. With Christmas coming I reckon that these dvds are going to fly off the shelves. Just watching the games brings back lots of memories and forever and a day I will rewatch these dvds - great memories or a wonderful summer's cricket!