1998–99 Ashes Series
Date	20 November 1998 – 6 January 1999
Location	Australia
Result	Australia won the five-Test series 3–1
Player of the series	Steve Waugh (Aus)
Teams  Australia  England Captains Mark Taylor Alec Stewart Most runs Steve Waugh (498) Michael Slater (460) Justin Langer (436) Nasser Hussain (407) Mark Ramprakash (379) Alec Stewart (316) Most wickets Stuart MacGill (27) Glenn McGrath (24) Damien Fleming (16) Darren Gough (21) Dean Headley (19) Alan Mullally (12)

The England cricket team toured Australia in 1998–99, playing a five-Test series for The Ashes and a number of tour matches against Australian domestic teams. They also played a tri-nation series which included Sri Lanka.

Australia won the Test series 3–1 and retained the Ashes, which were in their possession since 1989. The player of the series was Steve Waugh from Australia. Of the five matches, one was drawn, Australia won three and England won one. Australian captain Mark Taylor won all five coin tosses at the start of each Test.

Test series

1st Test

20–24 November 1998 Scorecard

Australia	v	England
485 (158 overs) IA Healy 134 (229) AD Mullally 5/105		375 (128.2 overs) MA Butcher 116 (236) GD McGrath 6/85
237/3d (62 overs) MJ Slater 113 (139) DG Cork 1/18		179/6 (68 overs) N Hussain 47 (122) SCG MacGill 3/51

Match drawn The Gabba, Brisbane Umpires: KT Francis (SL) and DB Hair (Aus) Player of the match: GD McGrath (Aus)

• Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
• Play on Day 1 reduced to 89 overs due to bad light.
• Play on Day 3 reduced to 75 overs due to bad light and thunderstorms.
• Play on Day 5 reduced to 29 overs due to thunderstorms.

2nd Test

28–30 November 1998 Scorecard

England	v	Australia
112 (39 overs) AJ Stewart 38 (29) DW Fleming 5/46		240 (89.2 overs) MA Taylor 61 (144) AJ Tudor 4/89
191 (70.2 overs) GA Hick 68 (73) JN Gillespie 5/88		64/3 (23 overs) ME Waugh 17 (37) D Gough 1/18

Australia won by 7 wickets WACA Ground, Perth Umpires: DJ Harper (Aus) and S Venkataraghavan (Ind) Player of the match: DW Fleming (Aus)

• Australia won the toss and elected to field.
• AJ Tudor (Eng) made his Test debut.

3rd Test

11–15 December 1998 Scorecard

Australia	v	England
391 (125.5 overs) JL Langer 179 (350) DW Headley 4/97		227 (82.5 overs) N Hussain 89* (204) SCG MacGill 4/53
278/5d (98 overs) MJ Slater 103 (191) PM Such 2/66		237 (89 overs) AJ Stewart 63* (122) GD McGrath 4/50

Australia won by 205 runs Adelaide Oval, Adelaide Umpires: SA Bucknor (WI) and SJ Davies (Aus) Player of the match: JL Langer (Aus)

• Australia won the toss and elected to bat.

4th Test

26–29 December 1998 Scorecard

England	v	Australia
270 (76 overs) AJ Stewart 107 (160) SCG MacGill 4/61		340 (98.3 overs) SR Waugh 122* (198) D Gough 5/96
244 (80.2 overs) GA Hick 60 (82) MJ Nicholson 3/56		162 (46.4 overs) ME Waugh 43 (81) DW Headley 6/60

England won by 12 runs Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: SA Bucknor (WI) and DJ Harper (Aus) Player of the match: DW Headley (Eng)

• Australia won the toss and elected to field.
• No play was possible on Day 1 due to rain.
• MJ Nicholson (Aus) and WK Hegg (Eng) made their Test debuts.

5th Test

2–5 January 1999 Scorecard

Australia	v	England
322 (87.3 overs) ME Waugh 121 (205) DW Headley 4/62		220 (80.1 overs) JP Crawley 44 (75) SCG MacGill 5/57
184 (64.5 overs) MJ Slater 123 (189) PM Such 5/81		188 (66.1 overs) N Hussain 53 (129) SCG MacGill 7/50

Australia won by 98 runs Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia Umpires: RS Dunne (NZ) and DB Hair (Aus) Player of the match: SCG MacGill (Aus)

• Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
• Darren Gough took a hat-trick. It was the first Ashes hat-trick by an Englishman in almost 100 years and the first hat-trick taken in Sydney in almost 107 years.

References

• Playfair Cricket Annual
• Wisden Cricketers Almanack