 Ian Botham in full swing at Headingley in 1981 |
England enjoyed their most profitable period in recent Ashes history through to the early eighties, holding on to the famous urn through seven series. Ray Illingworth led England to victory in 1971, and while Australia bounced back to record two wins, their hopes were soon hit by World Series Cricket.
England romped to an easy win in 1979 and won three of the next four clashes, including "Botham's Ashes" in 1981.
The final victory came in 1987 when England last lifted the Ashes.
England made a winning start to the 1970s, claiming a 2-0 victory under Ray Illingworth, with the pace of John Snow proving decisive.
Pace bowlers were to the fore in England in 1972 again as honours finished even.
Bob Massie's eight for 84 and eight for 53 on his debut for the tourists at Lord's was the pick of the bunch. Despite that haul, Massie's overall tally of 23 wickets was overshadowed in the final analysis of the tour by Lillee's 31.
Vitally for the tourists, 10 of those dismissals came in the last Test when Lillee claimed a five-for in each innings to help Australia level the series at 2-2.
In a six-match series down under in 1974-75 Lillee was again on fire, in partnership with Jeff Thomson.
The deadly duo tore into England's batting line-up with devilish intent, helping Australia to an overwhelming 4-1 victory with 58 wickets between them at an average of a little over 20.
 | ASHES RESULTS: 1970-87 1970-71: Aus 0-2 Eng 1972: Eng 2-2 Aus 1974-75: Aus 4-1 Eng 1975: Eng 0-1 Aus 1977: Eng 3-0 Aus 1978-79: Aus 1-5 Eng 1981: Eng 3-1 Aus 1982-83: Aus 2-1 Eng 1985: Eng 3-1 Aus 1986-87: Aus 1-2 Eng |
Thomson, in his first complete series, took 33 wickets, while first-change bowler Max Walker finished with 23. The triumvirate maintained their form through to that summer's four-Test trip to England when they took a total of 51 wickets, each bagging a five-for in the decisive innings victory in the first Test.
Controversy over Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket (WSC) saw Mike Brearley replace Tony Greig as England captain in 1977. Geoff Boycott's recall and Ian Botham's call-up were key factors in England's 3-0 win.
With WSC robbing Australia of several stars, England romped to a 5-1 tour victory in 1978-79. A full-strength Aussie side gained a 3-0 revenge in 1979-80, but the Ashes were not at stake.
The next Ashes series in 1981 has gone down in cricketing legend as Botham's finest hour, but it started badly for the all-rounder.
After 13 winless Tests as captain, he was replaced, after a loss and a draw, by Brearley.
England faced an innings defeat at Headingley in the third match, but Botham's famous 149 not out - a knock he has since described as "bloody awful" - and Bob Willis's 8-43 sealed an unlikely victory. Botham's bowling secured another win at Edgbaston, then a second innings 118 from 102 balls helped England triumph at Old Trafford for a 3-1 winning margin.
The Ashes returned to Australian hands in 1982-83, with Geoff Lawson's 34 wickets and 469 runs from Kim Hughes helping the home side to a 2-1 win.
Home advantage helped England, with skipper David Gower leading by example with 732 runs, take the 1985 Ashes series 3-1.
They retained them under Mike Gatting in 1986-87, winning 2-1 down under.
Chris Broad starred with three centuries in a series England dominated, taking a two match lead before losing the last Test in Sydney. That win signalled the start of Australia's resurgence and England have been on the receiving end ever since.
MMIX
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