Leicestershire senior coach Tim Boon's inside view of how to win the Ashes
Steve Harmison struck Justin Langer a painful blow on the arm at Lord's, then drew blood as he ruffled the feathers of Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.
It was the start of the most incredible, most intense white- knuckle ride that cricket in this country has ever witnessed.
At the heart of it was former Leicestershire batsman Tim Boon, now the County's senior coach, who was a key member of the England backroom staff which plotted what was to become the most famous of series wins.
Boon was an assistant coach and analyst, where his eye for detail was to prove vital for England head coach Duncan Fletcher and captain Michael Vaughan.
"Part of my job was to provide the head coach and players with evidence and history of how the Australians played," he said, with England and Australia set to start the first Test at Cardiff today. "My role was to ensure that our players went into the series with clarity and were able to play instinctive cricket.
"We worked together to ensure the players were challenged and fully prepared for an Ashes series although, like anything else, the players had to take responsibility for their actions."
This year, most pundits would agree that the sides are evenly matched. Four years ago, England were underdogs.
Looking back, Boon said: "I think we knew the enormity of the task. It was something we were building up to and it had probably been in people's minds for the previous year.
"We'd had a good series in South Africa and had played some hard cricket there. That gave us a really good grounding.
"Duncan Fletcher brought the management team and players together. I would sit down with him and show him what I had got. I'd done a lot of research on all the Australians and put together a video library for him and Michael Vaughan to look at.
"It looked at their weaknesses, how they had got out in the past and flaws in their technique."
Before the major business got under way, England handed out a thrashing to the Aussies in a Twenty20 game at Hampshire's Rose Bowl.
It showed Australia were not invincible, but Boon believes it was also growing evidence of an England side which was ready to meet its biggest challenge.
"Everyone was fit, the team spirit was excellent and the players had started to come of age," he said. "We had a quartet of fast bowlers who were peaking. Andrew Flintoff was bowling superbly and Steve Harmison had bowled unbelievably in the West Indies in 2004.
"At 6ft 6in and bowling at 90mph, he was someone the Aussies thought about a lot.
"Simon Jones came on the scene. He was a real athlete and had been learning how to reverse swing the ball. That started to happen consistently around the time of the Twenty20 match.
"Matthew Hoggard was a foil for the other three, so we had a fantastic quartet emerging.
"After the Rose Bowl game there was a surge of energy which went through the changing room. Darren Gough had a big part to play in that, but Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen were starting to emerge and Australia knew they were in for a battle."
There was a dose of reality at Lord's where, despite a bright start from England, it was Australia who went one up. But, as the sides warmed up before the start of the second Test at Birmingham, England received a massive boost when Glenn McGrath was injured and ruled out of the game. "When McGrath was carried off at Edgbaston that was a huge moment in the series,'' said Boon. "He and Shane Warne had been instrumental in a lot of their success in the previous decade.
"We'd lost the first Test and McGrath had played a big part in that. Then, half an hour before the start of the second Test, he was ruled out."
Another piece in the jigsaw was Vaughan's captaincy, keeping his cool when it would have been easy for anybody to fold in the pressure-cooker atmosphere.
"I have to pay tribute to Michael Vaughan," Boon said. "He inspired the players and his man-management was excellent.
"Everything fitted in at the right time. The fast bowlers, batters who could score hundreds and a leader who was exceptional. The side had hit its peak. It had gone through its formation and bedding-in over the previous two years. The whole cocktail was a great mix."
So can Andrew Strauss' side mirror that his year? "I would say the team now is still forming in certain parts," said the County coach. "The batting isn't as established as it was. Strauss is still in there, Alastair Cook has a good record and Ravi Bopara has scored a couple of hundreds recently.
"Kevin Pietersen is world- class. So, when you look and compare with 2005, England probably lack a bit of experience, but may still be capable of producing the same result."
It is a similar story with the bowling, though England could have something special in their locker if the top men fire.
Boon says he is intrigued by the make-up of the attack.
"Both Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson can bowl at 90mph with control. I'm absolutely delighted with Stuart. His action has come together. He is looking stronger and has added a yard of pace – he's got the world at his feet.
"It is fantastic that we can look back and say that he played cricket here in his formative years and people here gave him some direction.
"Graham Onions is bowling with pace and Harmison is in the wings having taken Championship wickets. He also had a great performance with the Lions last week.
"So the cocktail is different but the result can be the same. I think it will be very close. We went through five Test matches in 2005 for it all to be decided on the last afternoon."
If the players need any extra inspiration it may be a case of looking outside the confines of their own game to recent events in London.
"These guys have to look at other sports," Boon suggested. "Roger Federer winning Wimbledon, for example. He had two minutes when he broke Andy Roddick's serve in that final set. It is about taking the hits, soaking it up and having total belief and commitment that you will come out on top."
Nothing else will do. It really is as simple as that.
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