Pietersen injury blow as heel fails to heal

The Lord’s Test ends before lunch on the final day

Australia start to dig themselves out of a very big hole.

England firmly in control at Lord’s

It’s a nice day for ducks at Lord’s.

A captain's innings, and a muppet's bowling, help England to 364-6

England's talisman calls time on Test cricket career

Day five: England get out jail for free.

Day Four: Australia build, England crumble

Day Three: Australia bat. And bat, and bat, and bat.

Don’t have time to follow the Ashes? These pass notes should tell you all you need to know…

England finish Day One of the First Test on 336-7.

It’s all here: 2005’s secret turning points, the best bits you forgot from that epic win and the contest’s history, plus statto-silencing trivia that keeps you credible in the retelling.

Never mind whether England can win back the urn, who’s going to win the traditional war of words on the pitch? We put England and Australia’s best Ashes sledges to the test.

So, the Ashes 2009 begins, and so will the sledging…

Andrew Flintoff's importance to England's Ashes challenge is undoubted, says one of his greatest adversaries.