26 Jan 2015 | Cricket
To celebrate Australia Day and the launch of the Ashes Exhibition at the CC4 Museum of Welsh Cricket, Glamorgan will be looking back on an Ashes moments each week, as the countdown to the 1st Ashes Test Match of the 2015 Investec Series arriving at the SWALEC Stadium continues, starting with the 2009 Test...
Test cricket finally came to Wales on July 8th 2009 as Glamorgan's headquarters staged the thrilling 1st Test of the 2009 Ashes series as England met Australia in the Welsh capital city.
It was a game watched each day by a capacity crowd at Glamorgan's headquarters as well as millions worldwide, with the match going down to the last over on the final day as tail-enders Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar stoutly defended to save the game for England. With nine wickets down, and still in arrears, the pair blocked out the last 69 balls as to the delight of the capacity crowd, and many millions watching on TV, the contest ended in a draw.
Such as outcome had seemed very unlikely earlier in the game as four Australian batsmen - Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting, Marcus North and Brad Haddin - all posted centuries as Australia posted a mammoth 674/6. However, their efforts could not secure victory in the opening contest of the five-match series, and buoyed by their spirited recovery at Cardiff, England went on to win the 2009 Ashes series.