Australian women's cricket team in England in 2005 played on 31 July, Australia beat the Irish women's cricket team by 240 runs, Karen Rolton and Lisa Sthalekar both making centuries as Australia made 295 for 3, and Cecelia Joyce top-scored for Ireland with a paltry 18 - Shelley Nitschke taking four for 15 as Ireland collapsed to 55 all out in 26 overs. England got an excellent start to the first women's Test at Hove, where two debutants were to take centre stage; but the match petered out into a draw. In one of the highlights of the first day of play, Belinda Clark — arguably Australia's best
Test matches in England in 2005 teams had to return to the dressing-rooms to wait for a formal finish. The situation became somewhat farcical. With the match effectively over, the crowd were eager for the Ashes to be presented to England, and the celebrations to begin. After a period of some uncertainty and confusion, at 18:17 BST umpires Koertzen and Bowden removed the bails and pulled up the stumps to signal the end of the match. With no result in this fifth and final Test, England took the series 2–1, regaining the Ashes for the first time since 1987. Kevin Pietersen, having scored his maiden Test