2019 Ashes: Drawn 2-2 (Australia Retain) — Smith 774 Runs Compton-Miller Medal, Stokes 135* Headingley Greatest Chase (Leach 1*), Archer 22 Wickets on Debut Series, Labuschagne First Concussion Sub, Warner Dismissed 7 Times by Broad

The 2019 Ashes (5 Tests, August-September 2019) ended 2-2. Australia retained the Ashes trophy. Steve Smith won the Compton-Miller Medal with 774 runs at an average of 110.57 — available for only 7 innings after missing the 3rd Test with concussion. 1st Test Edgbaston (Aug 1-5): Australia won by 251 runs — AUS 284 & 487/7d; ENG 374 & 146. Smith scored 144 in the 1st innings and 142 in the 2nd — twin centuries in the same Ashes Test, only the fifth Australian to achieve this. Pat Cummins took 7 match wickets including his 100th Test wicket (removing Bairstow, 4/32 in one innings) in just his 21st Test. 2nd Test Lord's (Aug 14-18): Match drawn — ENG 258 & 258/5d; AUS 250 & 154/6. Jofra Archer made his Test debut and bowled at 96mph+, striking Smith on the neck/back of the head with a bouncer. Smith initially continued but was subsequently withdrawn with concussion. Marnus Labuschagne replaced Smith as the first concussion substitute in 142 years of Test cricket — top-scoring with 59. Archer took 5 wickets on debut (3/32 in the 2nd innings). Stokes scored 115* in England's 2nd innings declaration. 3rd Test Headingley (Aug 22-25): England won by 1 wicket — AUS 179 & 246; ENG 67 & 362/9. Smith was absent (concussion). Set 359 to win — England's highest successful 4th-innings chase in Tests at the time — Stokes scored 135* (8 sixes) in one of the greatest Ashes innings in history. He shared a last-wicket stand of 76 with Jack Leach (1* off 17 balls). Archer took 6/45 in Australia's 2nd innings. 4th Test Old Trafford (Sep 4-8): Australia won by 185 runs — AUS 497/8d & 186/6d; ENG 301 & 197. Smith scored 211 in the 1st innings and 82 in the 2nd. This win confirmed Australia had retained the Ashes. Cummins took 4/43 in England's 2nd innings. 5th Test The Oval (Sep 12-15): England won by 135 runs — ENG 294 & 329; AUS 225 & 263. Broad took 4 wickets and Leach took 4 wickets in Australia's 2nd innings; Matthew Wade scored 117 for Australia but it was insufficient. David Warner finished the series with 95 runs in 10 innings (average 9.50) — dismissed 7 times by Stuart Broad across the series. Cummins took 29 wickets (series leading for either side). Broad took 23 wickets for England. Archer 22 wickets in 4 Tests. Jason Roy, selected as England's Test opener for the first four Tests, managed approximately 110 runs in 8 innings and was dropped for the 5th.

Stokes 135* at Headingley: The Greatest Ashes Run Chase

Ben Stokes's 135* at Headingley — chasing 359 in the 4th innings to win — is widely considered among the greatest innings in Ashes history. England were 286/9 — needing 73 more runs with Jack Leach as the last batsman — when Stokes began hitting with the savagery and precision of a player who had surrendered all caution. Leach, facing 17 balls for his 1*, survived while Stokes scored 75 of the partnership's 76 runs. Stokes hit 8 sixes in his innings. On three occasions in the final moments, Stokes survived: Marcus Harris dropped him, he survived a run-out attempt by Nathan Lyon with 2 runs needed, and an lbw review had been used up before what would likely have been a decisive decision. England won by 1 wicket. Archer's 6/45 in Australia's 2nd innings — his first 5-wicket haul in Tests — had been the bowling foundation; Stokes provided the batting miracle. The 362/9 at Headingley was England's highest successful 4th-innings run chase in Tests at that time.

Smith 774 Runs and the Labuschagne Concussion Substitute: Two Ashes Landmarks

Steve Smith's 774-run Ashes series (in 7 innings across 4 Tests — he missed Headingley after Archer's bouncer at Lord's left him concussed) was described by ESPNcricinfo as one of the greatest batting performances in a single series. His twin hundreds at Edgbaston (144+142) were only the fifth instance of an Australian scoring centuries in both innings of an Ashes Test; his 211 at Old Trafford was his third Ashes double century. Returning from the 12-month ball-tampering ban that had cost him the 2018-19 Australian summer, Smith's dominance against England's attack — particularly his ability to hit the ball into areas nobody had prepared for — was the defining story of the series. The Jofra Archer-Smith confrontation at Lord's produced Test cricket's first concussion substitute: Marnus Labuschagne replaced Smith under the new law, batting in the match as a like-for-like replacement. Labuschagne scored 59 in the role, launching a Test career that would take him to the top of the world rankings within a year.