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Message: <blockquote data-quote="chandikagunawardhana" data-source="post: 5379776" data-attributes="member: 11539">The Ashes at stake in Oval battleFor the second time in four years, the destination of the Ashes will be decided at the same venue where the legend was conceived way back in 1882. In 2005, The Oval in South London was the stage for one of the most wildly celebrated draws of all time, as a jittery England overcame their final-day nerves, thanks to an eye-poppingly aggressive 158 from Kevin Pietersen, a performance that carried his team clear of disaster and all the way to an open-top bus parade through Trafalgar Square the following morning.This time, Pietersen will not be around to mop his colleagues' brows - his dodgy right Achilles underwent surgery after the second Test, and he might not even be fit in time for the tour to South Africa this winter. Instead, all of England's hopes and prayers are invested in their other modern-day colossus, Andrew Flintoff, who missed the fourth-Test debacle at Headingley due to doubts about his right knee, but is certain to be thrust into the fray for what is scheduled to be his final Test appearance.Flintoff has said that success in this summer's Ashes would be an achievement to surpass even his magnificent performance four years ago, and those sentiments have been echoed by Australia's captain, Ricky Ponting, who has spent most of the year playing down the significance of that defeat, but has now gone on record as saying that this week is the perfect opportunity for vengeance. The quality of the cricket may not have touched the heights we saw when Australia were last on England's shores, but the level of competitiveness has scarcely diminished a notch.</blockquote>

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