Five Tests, 25 days, 2000 overs, 12,000 balls, 7, 187 runs. A riveting fight from start to finish, the end always in doubt. Simon Hughes and Deep Dasgupta reflect on a classic series, highlight the stars and the turning points, declare Test cricket the winner and join all the players for a lengthy lie down. To watch our special six part series on perhaps the greatest series of all time - the 2005 Ashes - subscribe to The Cricverse - https://open.substack.com/pub/cricverse/p/oval-showstopper?r=lo2wd&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A nerve-shredding final morning concluded with India seizing a dramatic six run victory - the closest in their history - to deservedly share the series 2-2. The 55 minutes of play encapsulated the match with brilliant bowling, brave hitting, tight umpires decisions, diving attempts on the boundary, unbridled tension and England's last man, Chris Woakes, coming out to bat with his arm in a sling. You couldn't make it up. Simon Hughes and Simon Mann were there to witness the dramatic end to an epic series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An extraordinary day's cricket as this epic series headed to a climax, with an unexpected shower leaving England needing 35 to win the match and the series with four wickets in hand. Highlight of the day was Harry Brook's flamboyant hundred, an innings speckled with genius and audacity. he and Joe Root transformed the game with a nerveless and fluent 195 run partnership which totally knocked the stuffing out of India. Their dismissals let India back into the game. Simon Hughes and Simon Mann report on a breathtaking day as England sought the second highest run-chase in their history. This podcast is supported by Betfair. It is illegal to bet if you are under 18. Please gamble responsibly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A tremendous batting performance by India have set England a mountain to climb on the fourth day at the Oval. They require 374 and were shaping well with 50-0 until Mohammed Siraj yorked Zak Crawley with the last ball of the day. A tough day for England's bowlers and fielders and major work to do for England's batters if they are going to get close to securing the series 3-1. india are odds on to make it 2-2. This podcast is supported by Betfair. Do not bet if you are under 18 and please gamble responsibly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Test match and series superbly poised at the Oval with India leading by 53 with eight wickets left in seamer-friendly conditions. Simon Hughes and Simon Mann report on an absorbing day of 340 runs and 15 wickets and plenty of confrontation that Surrey and England's Graham Thorpe, in whose memory everyone sported headbands, would have loved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

India possibly have the better of the first day at the Oval where England bowled waywardly and lost Chris Woakes to what looked like a dislocated shoulder towards the end of the day. With Woakes unlikely to play any further part in the match it makes India's score of 204-6 on a helpful pitch worth more like 250. Simon Hughes and Simon Mann review a day when India's batting held up resolutely against England's makeshift attack. they also discuss whether Tests in series as intense as this should be spread out more evenly and they respond to some caustic comments from listeners after their reactions to the farce at the end of the last Test. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A preview of the fifth and final test at the Oval, scene also of Gilbert Jessop's fastest hundred for England in a Test match in 1902, a 76-ball record that still stands. Simon Hughes discusses the prospects of a Stokes-less England and a rebuilt bowling attack with Sunday Times cricket correspondent Simon Wilde who has written a new book - Chasing Jessop. It reveals much about the man who could be considered the original Bazballer and also makes claims that his hundred may have been even quicker than 76 balls, therefore laying down an intriguing challenge for Baz McCullum's men. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Five days of stretching every sinew on the field by both sides has ended in stalemate at Old Trafford. Superb tenacious batting by india - having been 0-2 - held England at bay for over one and a half days during which they only lost two more wickets. In the end the dead pitch was the winner. Simon Hughes and Simon Mann review a match that broke many batting records and was a triumph for the warrior-like Ben Stokes and his opposite number the courageous Shubman Gill and leaves the series poised at 2-1 with one match left. Lets see who's left standing in three days time at the Oval. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Despite England's huge 311 run lead and two early Indian wickets, the India third wicket remained intact for the rest of the day as KL Rahul and Shubman Gill knuckled down to the job of drawing the game. The day featured Ben Stokes becoming only the fourth Englishman to score a century and take five wickets in the same Test match. Simin Hughes and Deep Dasgupta evaluate the day and where Stokes ranks in the all-rounders Hall of Fame. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

England take inexorable control of the fourth Test at Old Trafford thanks primarily to Joe Root's faultless 38th Test hundred. In the course of it he went past Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting to become the second highest run scorer in the history of Test cricket. Only the incomparable Sachin Tendulkar has more (about 2500 more.) Simon Hughes and Deep Dasgupta assess the day and India's legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar gives his verdict on Root's monumental achievement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices