Australia v England 2006-07
Review of the Ashes, 2006-07
15-Apr-2007
At Sydney, January 9, 2007 (day/night). Australia won by 77 runs. Toss: Australia. Twenty20
international debuts: S. M. Harwood, B. W. Hilfenhaus, C. L. White; J. M. Anderson, P. A. Nixon,
M. S. Panesar.
The switch from cricket's longest form to its shortest brought England no respite after their
Ashes struggles. Australia, with nicknames on their shirts (some less than obvious, like "Church"
Gilchrist, "Bear" White and "Andy G" Bracken) rather than surnames, found their informal
approach no handicap. They ran up the highest total in the 13-match history of Twenty20
internationals and completed a mini-reprisal to go with the Test series: England had won the teams'
only previous meeting in this format, at Southampton in 2005. The match was effectively settled
when Joyce fell in the first over of England's reply, followed by Flintoff in the second, a notable
maiden international wicket for the 32-year-old Victoria fast bowler Shane "Stickers" Harwood.
England were never in contention after that, when the main interest centred on Vaughan's comeback:
he batted tidily enough for 27 before missing an attempted reverse sweep. Earlier, Gilchrist had
given Australia a flying start, hurtling to 48 from 29 balls, with five sixes - three of them in
succession off Anderson, who finished with the most expensive analysis in Twenty20 internationals.
In all, the Australians hit 14 sixes, another record. England managed one, by Nixon, in the last
over. Symonds and White, who hit four sixes himself, piled on the agony with 66 from the last
34 balls.
Man of the Match: C. L. White. Attendance: 35,628.