The ball sent down by Steve Harmison that was gloved down the legside to a diving Geraint Jones to seal a gripping two-run win was the spark that lit up a golden Ashes summer, setting England on their way to regaining the urn for the first time in 18 years.
Australia needed 62 more runs to chase down their target of 282 when Kasprowicz, in at No 11, joined Brett Lee at the crease.
“We were used to that, we’d played in India, all over the world, but the noise of that English crowd was incredible.”
Kasprowicz, seen here with Shaun Tait and Justin Langer, played 38 Tests for Australia (Photo: Getty)Kasprowicz says: “Andrew Flintoff was bowling to Brett Lee and he bowled a ball that went down the legside, hit the footmarks and went for four byes.
“All of a sudden it just went quiet. From all the noise, the energy, there was nothing. I remember thinking ‘Wow. Now we can win.’”
“Brett has absolutely smoked it,” he says.
“One run. I was on strike and having successfully got through short deliveries, Harmison came in and the ball I was actually given out on didn’t feel like it was halfway down the wicket. It was one of those where it just appeared all of a sudden in front of me, hence why my hands were up, out of instinct. The ball flicked off the glove and went through to Geraint.”
However, Kasprowicz remains adamant he should not have been given out, arguing his right glove was off the bat handle when the ball struck.
With the Decision Review System (DRS) still three years away, there was no recourse to technology.
England’s Ashes wait would have surely gone on and the greatest series of all time would probably have been yet another one-sided Aussie cakewalk.
“This guy came up to me and said: ‘Thank you for single-handedly saving Test cricket,’” he adds.
“At which stage I had to point out, that single hand he was talking about was actually off the bat at the time. It flicked my right glove on the way through, which was off the bat. If we’d had DRS, that would have been picked up and the MCC laws of cricket says that’s not out. It would have been the right result.”
“I think maybe yes. It was good for cricket and if we’d have won that Test it would have been forgotten. It would have just paled into all the other awesome wins by the Australian cricket team.
Andrew Flintoff consoling Brett Lee is the defining moment of the 2005 Ashes (Photo: Getty)
The enduring image of that dramatic summer – Flintoff, England’s star of the 2-1 series win, consoling Lee moments after his side’s victory was sealed at Edgbaston – has also gone down in Ashes folklore.
“I was the bloke who got out and no-one came down to me. Everyone’s too busy cheering, celebrating and the rest.
Kasprowicz was only playing in that second Test after Glenn McGrath ruptured ligaments in his right ankle treading on a stray ball during the warm-ups on the opening morning.
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“I remember being down on the ground and then over my left looking and seeing McGrath fall over and then a bit of a laugh and joke. Everyone thought he was mucking around. But all of a sudden you realise he wasn’t.
Memories of Edgbaston 2005 came flooding back during England’s nervy 22-run victory against India at Lord’s last week.
As for this winter’s Ashes in Australia, Kasprowicz is adamant England will be hammered if they attempt to Bazball their way to victory.
“I’m not sure Bazball is still a thing, is it? As soon as it came out I said to a few other guys, it’s either hero or bust.
“To play like that not so much disrespects Test cricket but if England come out to Australia and try to do Bazball there’s no way it’ll work. You’ll have good days but overall it won’t work. In the words of the great Glenn McGrath, it’ll be 5-0.”
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