Don Bradman puts a consoling arm around Gubby Allen after England were caught on a wet wicket during the Melbourne Test in 1936-37. Bradman led his side from two-down to win 3-2 © Cricinfo

England 1, Australia 2 1909
Even though Australia under Monty Noble were strong, few expected them to match what was, on paper, one of the best England sides of all time, and when England won the first Test those expectations appeared set to be fulfilled. Then Australia levelled at Lord's and England's selectors panicked, making six changes, and that resulted in another defeat. With matches of only three days' duration, Australia, who won all five tosses, comfortably batted England out of the remaining two Tests

Australia 3, England 2 1936-37
After a mixed start to the tour, England upset the form book by winning the first two Tests, aided at times by Australia being exposed to rain-affected pitches. From there on in, England were undone by a change of luck and the form of Don Bradman. Australia won the third Test in front of a record 350,534 spectators after Bradman dropped himself down the order and exposed lesser mortals to a drying wicket - he made 270. His hundreds in the fourth and fifth Tests put the seal on the only instance of a side coming from two down to win a series.

England 1, West Indies 3 1950
Although West Indies had won comfortably in 1947-48, it had been against a weak England side and on home soil. This time round, West Indies, who had never won in England, were not believed to have the bowling to make an impression. But two unknown slow bowlers, Sonny Ramdhin and Alf Valentine, shared 59 wickets as West Indies came from defeat on a poor pitch at Old Trafford to dominate the series. The win at Lord's, famous for sparking scenes of unbridled delight among recently arrived immigrants, became the stuff of legend.

Australia 1, England 3 1954-55
Crushed at Brisbane, England bounced back thanks largely to the pace of Frank Tyson, who after being knocked senseless by a bouncer, ripped through Australia with 6 for 85 to level the series. Tyson and Brian Statham took 16 wickets at the MCG to give England the lead and then sealed a remarkable and unexpected series win in Adelaide.

Bishan Bedi cleans up Barry Wood as India square the series against England in 1972-73 at Eden Gardens. India won the third Test and with two more draws after, completed a superb comeback © Cricinfo

India 2, England 1 1972-73
A fence-mending series after England pulled out of a tour a year earlier, and a superb start for Tony Lewis, who captained England to victory in the opening Test. But India's famous spin quartet were in their pomp - only five England wickets fell to pace in the five-match series - and it was only after India won the second and third Tests that the tourists' batsmen started to get a grip on how to play them. BS Chandrasekhar took 35 wickets and Bedi 25, while England leading spinners, Derek Underwood and Pat Pocock, only managed 29 between them.

England 3, Australia 1 1981
As the sides left Headingley on the third night of the third Test, England were almost down and out. One-down in the six-match series, they were 6 for 1 in the follow-on. What happened next transformed the summer and gave the English game a surge in popularity that boosted it for years. Ian Botham hit 149 not out and then Bob Willis took 8 for 43 to bowl England to an amazing series-levelling win. An equally pulsating victory followed at Edgbaston, and the comeback was completed at Old Trafford. The reputations of Botham and Mike Brearley, England's captain, were made.

West Indies 2, England 1 1989-90
England had not won in the Caribbean for 16 years, and Wisden described the victory in Kingston as "one of the most outlandish results in Test-cricket history". The scenes of jubilation when Wayne Larkins hit the winning runs in Jamaica had to be seen to be believed. Fittingly, it was the first time an overseas Test other than one from Australia had been shown live in the UK. England should have gone two-up but for some blatant and unsporting time-wasting from Des Haynes, standing in as captain. England lost their captain and standard bearer, Graham Gooch, with a broken hand, and thereafter, with injuries mounting, West Indies took charge. But the citadel had been breached and would never be quite as daunting again.

Allan Donald cannot believe his appeal against Angus Fraser has been turned down. England clung on to a draw and the series turned on that one decision © AFP

England 2, South Africa 1 1998
With South Africa one-up after two Tests, England salvaged a draw at Old Trafford in the third when, during their follow-on, their No. 11, Angus Fraser, somehow survived the final over of the day from Allan Donald. A raucous leg-before appeal in that over could have gone either way, but Doug Cowie turned it down and England were still in the contest. Their in-house psychologist, Steve Bull, noted that the result, on paper a losing draw, felt like a victory. The series was levelled in an epic Test at Trent Bridge, best remembered for a fiery battle between Donald and Mike Atherton, and England scraped the decider by 23 runs, thanks partly to eight leg-before decisions and some questionable umpiring by Javed Akhtar.

India 2, Australia 1 2000-01
Possibly the greatest comeback of all. One down after a ten-wicket defeat in Mumbai, India, following on 271 in arrears in the second Test in Kolkata, were 115 for 3 when Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed, and seemed headed for another loss. Then came VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid's fifth-wicket stand of 368, followed by Harbhajan Singh's 6 for 73 as India secured an unbelievable 171-run win. The boot was almost on the other foot as India, chasing 155 to clinch the third Test, in Chennai, slid from 76 for 1 to 135 for 7 but Sameer Dighe held his nerve to see them home by two wickets.

At the end of a long summer ... © Getty Images

England 2, Australia 1 2005
Rarely can it be said that pre-series hype fails to match what happens on the field, but that was the case in 2005. From the moment Steve Harmison rapped Justin Langer on the elbow in the first over at Lord's, right through to the pulsating final day at The Oval, the nation was captivated and football was banished to the inside of the sports pages. Australia romped to victory at Lord's but then lost an amazing game at Edgbaston by two runs. Old Trafford went down to the final over with Australia's last pair holding on, and England went 2-1 up with a nail-biting three-wicket win at Trent Bridge. Tickets for The Oval were changing hands for hundreds of pounds, and it took a brilliant fifth-day 158 from Kevin Pietersen to keep Australia at bay. England had regained the Ashes after 16 barren years and, briefly, the country was cricket-mad and in raptures.

South Africa 2, India 1 2006-07
"India arrived for their fourth tour of South Africa with low expectations, and lived down to them," Wisden rather pithily observed. A whitewash in the one-day series did not bode well, but they stunned the hosts by winning the first Test, their first victory in South Africa, a result Sunil Gavaskar described as "one of India's best ever". The delight was short-lived. With two of their biggest guns, Dravid and Tendulkar, misfiring, the next two Tests were South Africa's. "A lack of new faces and talent in domestic cricket," explained Dilip Vengsarkar, India's lambasted chairman of selectors.

Martin Williamson is executive editor of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo