7. Australian Bullies

Legends of the Ashes

Australia reinvented the game in the late 1990’s with three aggressive opening batsmen: Matthew Hayden, Michael Slater and Justin Langer.

To compound England’s woes, they were followed by greats Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh and adding the coup de grace – Adam Gilchrist, wielding his bat like a Samurai sword.

They intimidated England’s attack, sending them into submission, then Warne and McGrath cleaned up the batsmen. England barely won a match in six series.

Langer and Gilchrist take us inside the Australian dressing room and explain how the ethos they created led to such domination.

England’s Michael Vaughan reveals how intimidating it was to line-up against this 'invincible' side and how he eventually managed to fight back.