The Ashes 2013: Biggest Highlights of the Series so Far

The 2013 Ashes Series has been as strewn with as much excitement and controversy as any other.

Whether a fan of the hosts or the visitors, spectators worldwide can appreciate the drama on display, even if it doesn’t seem all that funny at the time, depending on one’s allegiances.

As we come to the end of the second Test, it’s time to look back on some of the more memorable moments from the opening days.

For Ian Doth the Bell Toll

Eight years ago, Ian Bell made his England Ashes debut at just 23 years of age, an occasion the 31-year-old will admit he could have done better in.

In his first two innings of the 2005 Series, Bell managed just 14 runs in total, below what was expected of the middle-order batsman given his record in test cricket at the time.

Fast forward to this year’s rendition and it’s clear that experience has been a wise teacher to Bell, having recently steered himself into elite company by hitting his third consecutive Ashes century.

BBC Sport's Phil McNulty pointed out just how big an impact Bell has had via Twitter:

In each scenario, the veteran’s tons have helped in steadying the English batting ship, which might otherwise have found themselves failing to come up with big totals without Bell.

The Rise of Agar

Prior to this Ashes series, Ashton Agar was a teenager plucked from Australian obscurity, brought into the Test squad after impressing with Australia ‘A’.

However, within 24 hours of making his full Test debut, the world was made aware of the 19-year-old’s existence, the youngest Australian to debut for his nation in the Ashes since Archie Jackson in 1928.

Batting at 11, Agar amassed an incredible 98 runs from 101 balls in the first innings of the first Test, the highest score ever achieved by a number 11 batsman.

Regardless of the format or sport it might occur in, the world has a fascination with younger players and seeing starlets succeed on the bigger stages.

As a result of his early exploits, Agar has unsurprisingly been moved up the batting order and is doing a decent job when bowling.

To say the youngster has a bright future ahead of him would be an understatement.

Technical Faults?

As technology migrates further and further into the governing of sports, there’s bound to be an increase in controversy surrounding those decisions made with its use, as has been the case at Trent Bridge and Lord’s.

Michael Clarke and Alastair Cook’s use of the Decision Review System (DRS) is a topic to have risen in the public eye, with the latter seemingly making better use.

Whether it’s Stuart Broad’s decision not to walk even though he had blatantly been caught out or Jimmy Anderson’s gleaning the edge of Brad Haddin to win England the First Test, there’s been reason to both reinforce and dispute the DRS system thus far.

That all being said, one can’t argue that the format hasn’t brought us an added spectrum of entertainment to look out for as technology continues to play its role in sport.