The ball that will haunt Kasper!

Michael Kasprowicz has already played it over in his mind a thousand times, and on Sunday admitted the Steve Harmison delivery that brushed his glove to hand England the series-levelling second Test by an agonising two runs would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Kasprowicz and Brett Lee nervelessly carried Australia to within a breath of a famous victory. The ball reared up into his glove and was brilliantly caught by much-maligned wicketkeeper Geraint Jones.

"I will leave [here] with the most vivid delivery that I will replay over in my mind for the rest of my life," Kasprowicz said. "Afterwards there is maybe a sense of pride, but initially there is disappointment to get that close.

"In a lot of ways it's cruel to get that close and to just miss out in the end."
Australian captain Ricky Ponting expressed pride rather than emptiness after watching his tailenders' exploits almost snatch victory.

It was the closest winning margin in Ashes history and the second-closest in Test history as the last three batsmen put on 104 before Kasprowicz fell, sparking wild celebrations among the England players, who moments earlier had seemed on the brink of a morale-sapping defeat.

"I'd rather flatten them [achieve an easy win over England]. Then at least I'd have some fingernails left," Ponting said. "It's probably the most nerve-racking end to a Test I have ever played in. It's right up there with any game I have ever played in.
"[But] I don't feel shattered at the moment. I actually feel pretty proud of the way we've played over the last couple of days. There are probably a couple of batters in there, Kasper and Brett, who feel quite shattered at the moment.

"Standing in front of guys bowling 150 kilometres an hour and combating it the way they did this morning I thought was outstanding.

"I was disappointed, when you see that one balloon off the glove and the game is taken away from you, if you like. But we can take a lot out of this game, especially after what's happened over the last two days. Hopefully that can spur us on to playing some better cricket in the third Test."