5 modern players who made their name through their Ashes exploits
England against Australia has produced some fantastic Test battles over the years. We’ve seen countless players stand up in an Ashes series, and we’ve also seen many fail to hit any great heights in the pressure cooker environment and fade away into obscurity. For the players who excel at this level though, fame and respect amongst the cricketing world is almost a given.The 5 players who made this list certainly stood up in the Ashes and delivered some memorable performances, cementing themselves as household names. Here they are:
#1 Kevin Pietersen
When a young Kevin Pietersen strolled out for his debut Test series against the all conquering Australians in 2005, complete with a blonde mohawk and his trademark cocky persona, few would have predicted the star he would become.
After back-to-back fifties in his first Test and a spectacular maiden ton in the Fifth Test at the Oval, KP quickly became a household name. Kicking on from his brilliant Ashes antics, the big-hitting right-hander became one of England’s greatest ever Test cricketers, scoring over 8,000 runs at 47.28 in 104 matches, with 23 centuries and 35 fifties.
He continued to terrorise Australia for the length of his Test career, scoring 4 tons against them including his highest Test score of 227.