Four Times England Snatched an Away Ashes Test Match Defeat From the Jaws of Victory

A new Ashes series looms on the Australian horizon, and for England supporters, it’s an exercise in both anticipation and scar tissue. When Ben Stokes leads his side onto the searing West Australian turf later this month, the tourists will be confronting not only the world’s most intimidating hosts, but a decade-and-a-half spanning narrative of missed chances and brutal reversals. 

Since that golden winter of 2010/11—when Andrew Strauss’s men pulled off a historic 3-1 away triumph—England have unraveled in front of the world’s eyes: 15 tests, 13 defeats, and precisely zero wins on enemy territory. Statistically, it’s a drought bordering on the medieval, emblematic of how swiftly optimism can be reduced to dust in the land of the Baggy Green. This winter, online sports betting outlets once again don’t fancy their chances. 

Heading into the series opener at Perth’s stunning Optus Stadium, the latest online sports betting at Bovada odds make England an 11/5 underdog to reclaim the Ashes at long last. Their Aussie hosts, meanwhile, are the 3/4 favorites. But it’s not just the margins of defeat that haunt the English psyche. It’s the manner: those Tests when dominance and hope shimmered, only to be crushed in acts of self-destruction so emphatic they’ve become part of Ashes folklore. 

Let’s painfully revisit four electrifying occasions England appeared poised on the brink of victory, and then conspired—magnificently—to lose.

Adelaide 2006/07: From Dominance to Dust

Picture it: Andrew Flintoff’s England, the 2005 Ashes already immortalized, facing an Australia finally showing cracks. For once, the English headed Down Under with genuine hopes of claiming the urn on enemy territory, even without their iconic captain Michael Vaughan, who was out for the series with injury. In Brisbane, those hopes were immediately dashed with a 277-run shellacking at the Gabba, but Adelaide’s deck looked like a batting paradise where the visitors could shine. 

England immediately responded, racking up a mighty 551/6 declared in their first innings. Paul Collingwood’s 206 was majestic, rugged English stoicism; Kevin Pietersen’s 158 was artistry in motion, fearless and grandiose. With such a mammoth score, England held all the cards, but when the Aussies racked up 500 runs of their own, the draw looked like the only viable outcome. 

Yet in Ashes cricket, especially on enemy territory, English collapses can defy logic. On a surface offering little and with the clock ticking on day five, Shane Warne spun a new mythology. His 4-49—flippers, zooters, and all—began England’s slide from 59/1 to 129 all out, a collapse as sharp as it was inexplicable. When captain Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey, and Michael Clarke chased down the 168 needed to win with a minimum of fuss, they didn’t just steal a victory. They strip-mined English momentum, bulldozed hope, and set the course for a 5-0 sweep.

Melbourne 2013/14: Respite That Turned to Ruin

By the time Melbourne’s 2013 Boxing Day Test began, England were battered—3-0 down, pride in tatters, their golden era crumbling. But for a stretch at the MCG, the script threatened a twist. Kevin Pietersen’s counter-attacking 71 helped England to 255, then Jimmy Anderson (4-67) and Stuart Broad (3-45) engineered one of the series’ few genuinely threatening bowling displays, hustling out Australia for 204. For the first and only time in the entire tour, England seized a first-innings lead—a narrow one, but a pulse of hope through a flatlining campaign.

And then, as if preordained, England succumbed to the undertow. Ryan Harris, ice-cold and incisive, whipped out five wickets for 25; England were dusted for 179 in 62 overs, again survivors only in name. The hosts sauntered to their 231-run target, Chris Rogers serenely notching his maiden Test hundred on home soil. It ended with Australia barely breaking a sweat—and England, once more, examining the autopsy before the body was cold.

Brisbane 2017/18: Mirage at the Gabbatoir

England headed down under for the 2017/18 Ashes series, poised to march into a new era, led by young captain Joe Root, facing off against an Australia side with fissures of its own. The tourists opened at the Gabba with poise—James Vince, all clipped drives and smooth tempo, posted 83; Malan assembled 56—before Starc and Cummins recalled the old hostility, but 302 was a statement on a pitch that rarely gives. Day three saw Australia at 209/7: England had a sniff of tilting the scales.

Instead, Steve Smith—temple of composure, wrecking ball of English plans—marshalled the tail with a championship innings of 141 not out. Australia eked out a 26-run lead, and for the remainder of the contest, England barely registered resistance. Second innings: 195 all out, the same failings, the same brittleness. David Warner and Cameron Bancroft then eviscerated the paltry chase, reaching 173 with the loss of precisely zero wickets.

Perth 2017/18: Hope Drowned at the Last WACA Ashes

Perhaps the cruelest of all because hope, real and rational, throbbed for two straight days. Malan’s 140 at the WACA was the innings of his life—a declarative statement by a player on the periphery. Jonny Bairstow played with infectious bravado, dancing his way to 119. England compiled 403, their biggest total of the series, then reduced Australia to 55/2. This was the window: break it open, and the Ashes could yet live.

Cue Steve Smith—again. He produced a Perth epic for the ages: 239, implacable, granite-willed, the sort of monument batsmen build when they want to be remembered a hundred years from now. Mitch Marsh’s 181 turned the knife; Australia piled up 662/9 declared, and left England to chase memories. The second-innings collapse was a mercy killing; 218 all out was a statistic, the real pain was the loss of belief.

By stumps, the Ashes were lost, the urn staying home, the headlines already writing themselves. Perth was a masterclass in seduction and execution—England beguiled, then betrayed by their own hopefulness. After all, it is the hope that kills you.