2009 Series
The first Test was held at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff, the first Test match ever to be held at the ground, and resulted in England saving a draw with one wicket to spare, and Ricky Ponting surpassing 11,000 Test runs, becoming Australia's leading Test run scorer as the series progressed. The second Test at Lord's was preceded by the announcement that Andrew Flintoff would be retiring from Test cricket at the end of the series. The England all-rounder then took his first Lord's five-for to seal a 115-run victory, England's first against Australia at the ground in 75 years. Rain prevented play for large amounts of the Third Test at Edgbaston, including the entire third day, making the draw an inevitable result. Australia pegged the score back to 1–1 with an innings victory at Headingley after bowling out England for 102, their lowest Ashes total since they were bowled out for 77 at Lord's in 1997. This left the Fifth Test at The Oval to decide the series.
The 2011 Ashes series began with Australia leading by 31 series to 27, with five drawn series. Australia had won the most recent series in 2006–07 by five matches to nil, but the 2005 series, the last to be held in England, was won 2–1 by the home side.
Australia's last two Test series before the Ashes were played against South Africa, the first in Australia and the second in South Africa. Although South Africa won their tour series 2–1, Australia recovered to win the return series by the same scoreline.
Meanwhile, England warmed up for the 2009 Ashes with two Test series against the West Indies, the first in the West Indies and the second in England. The first series comprised five matches and was won 1–0 by the West Indies, but the second only included two Tests, England winning both.
The immediate preparation for the Ashes consisted of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, held in England in June 2009. Australia struggled in their group, losing to the West Indies and Sri Lanka by seven and six wickets, respectively, and were eliminated at the first hurdle. England also suffered a shock four-wicket defeat to the Netherlands in their first match, but they recovered by defeating Pakistan by 48 runs to qualify for the Super Eights. There, they were paired with South Africa, India and the West Indies, but defeat to South Africa and a narrow victory over India meant that they needed a victory against the West Indies to reach the semi-finals. They lost the match via the Duckworth–Lewis method, and were eliminated.
Australia completed their Ashes preparations with tour matches against Sussex and the England Lions, but both matches finished as draws. Meanwhile, England's schedule was completed with a draw against Warwickshire.
England won the toss and captain Andrew Strauss chose to bat. England slumped to 90/3 early but recovered with a fine partnership of 138 runs between Pietersen and Collingwood. Hauritz dismissed Pietersen for the crucial fifth wicket when he offered a simple catch to short leg, attempting to sweep from outside the off stump. England ended the day at 336/7 after Siddle picked up two crucial wickets in the last four overs of play. Swann's unbeaten 47 off 40 balls took England to 435. Australia's openers started brightly facing eight overs before lunch. Flintoff, the fastest bowler in the match, captured the only wicket when Hughes's bottom-edge was well caught by Prior. Katich and Ponting steadily took control with sensible batting. Ponting reached a major milestone in his career scoring his 11,000th run and joining Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Allan Border. By the end of the day both batsmen had scored centuries, Katich's first against England and their unbeaten partnership of 189 runs had Australia at 249/1 at stumps. Katich and Ponting added 50 runs to the overnight total before their partnership was broken by Anderson who had been given the new ball earlier. Anderson collected his second wicket of the day (Hussey) when Prior took an easy catch. Ponting was soon to follow crashing his stumps as he attempted a cut shot of Panesar. After lunch, Australia consolidated their position without losing a wicket and passing England's total and at tea were 458/4. Play was delayed unexpectedly for two hours due to rain and when play resumed it was under lights – the first time artificial light was used in a Test Match in Britain. At stumps Australia were in a strong position with 5 wickets in hand and a lead of 44 runs.
The 2011 Ashes series began with Australia leading by 31 series to 27, with five drawn series. Australia had won the most recent series in 2006–07 by five matches to nil, but the 2005 series, the last to be held in England, was won 2–1 by the home side.
Australia's last two Test series before the Ashes were played against South Africa, the first in Australia and the second in South Africa. Although South Africa won their tour series 2–1, Australia recovered to win the return series by the same scoreline.
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Australia completed their Ashes preparations with tour matches against Sussex and the England Lions, but both matches finished as draws. Meanwhile, England's schedule was completed with a draw against Warwickshire.
 Game 1 of the 2009 World |  Game 2 of the 2009 World |  2009 World Series: Game 1 |  File:First pitch at 2009 World Series Game 1 1.jpg |  Game 1 of the 2009 World |
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