England won the famous 2005 series against Australia under the captaincy of Michael Vaughan but one of the key elements of that win was the injury to Glenn McGrath, who was forced to miss the second Test. England levelled the series there and yet again when McGrath missed the fourth Test due to injury, they won a thriller. That Ashes triumph was England’s first in 18 years.
On the morning of the second Test at Edgbaston after he had won the man of the match award in the first game, McGrath had slipped on a ball lying on the ground, and was ruled out. But here is the story behind that injury, with “karma” according to Nigel Stockill (England strength and conditioning coach), and England’s physio Kirk Russell.
“The Australians started a childish turf war before play every morning. It cost them in the end,” Stockill has now told the UK newspaper Telegraph.
Russell explained what happened during the first Test at Lord’s during training sessions.
“Fletch [Duncan Fletcher, the England head coach] had got word that Australia would warm up where we normally warm up on the outfield at Lord’s. We got there before 8am and sure enough they had been in and laid their cones out. By the time the guys wanted to bowl, the Aussies were out warming up close to the wicket. Ashley Giles wanted a bowl. I would take a mitt and Ash said politely to the Aussies ‘can you just move a bit because we want to bowl?’ Fair to say their response was not ‘good morning, yes of course’. It was basically ‘f— you’. Anyway it was the most high-pressure mitting experience I ever had because I had a couple of the Aussie guys by my feet. The fun and games started early on.”
Russell claims that Australia’s captain Ricky Ponting wasn’t that nice to him during the first Test at Lord’s. “I would say ‘good morning’ to Ricky Ponting every day and I would get nothing back. Just silence. I always found that really weird. Perhaps he thought it was showing weakness to say hello to a physio.”
When the caravan moved to Edgbaston for the second Test, there was more drama in store. The S&C coach Stockill takes up the story here.
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“When we went to Edgbaston, they decided they would have our side of the pitch to train on again. Buchanan put balls out to mark their territory rather than plastic cones. It was one of those balls that McGrath stood on. There is a bit of karma there. They tried to upset the balance of things and if ever there was a backfire, that was it.”
McGrath was taken to hospital for a scan that revealed two ruptured ligaments and bone damage in his right ankle. Later he would talk about the moment. “It was tough sitting there watching,” he says.
“Not so much that we lost, but I always wonder what positive impact could I have had on the team. It’s not so much the bowling impact, it’s the impact on the mental state of the opposition. All of a sudden, I’m not playing. I’d bowled well at Lord’s, then I’m out, which gives a lift to the opposition that wouldn’t have been there otherwise,” he had told BBC.
It was McGrath’s replacement Michael Kasprowicz who became the last wicket to fall in that thriller. Kasprowicz had made 20 in a 59-run partnership with Brett Lee when he gloved a Steve Harmison bouncer down the leg side to give England victory by two runs.
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“If we had got those last three runs, it would have killed the series there and then,” said McGrath. “England’s confidence would have been shattered.”
