In September 2005, England wrested the Ashes from Australia after sixteen long years amid scenes of ecstatic thanksgiving at the Oval. The rematch in Australia fourteen months later was awaited with unparalleled expectation, not least by an Australian team thirsting for revenge. English fans maintained their optimism even as injury and illness depleted their ranks, leaving Andrew Flintoff in charge of a team also short on preparation time. But when Steve Harmison's first ball at the Gabba arrowed to Flintoff at second slip, it was the beginning of a seven-week nightmare: the first 5-0 Ashes whitewash in 86 years.

It was the turn of Australian fans to salute the best cricket team of modern times, for four of whom it was a last joyous hurrah: the master bowlers Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, the prolific Justin Langer and Damien Martyn. The series also saw the emergence of Australian cricket's next generation, in Michael

Hussey and Stuart Clark, and confirmation of the class of captain Ricky Ponting and vice-captain Adam Gilchrist. In All Out, Gideon Haigh explains how Australia did not just outplay England, but outplanned, outthought and outworked them.