Last day of the Ashes. The Brit Oval. England are 2-1 up in the series. England and Australia have each had one innings. England go into the last day with a 40-run lead and only Andrew Strauss's wicket gone. Sounds simple, but if they avoid a collapse, they win the series

Ashley Giles England bowler
I remember leaving the hotel that morning and it felt like walking to the gallows. It had all come down to that one day.

Justin Langer Australia batsman
We were still hopeful. We felt we could chase down anything.

Tony Greig Commentator and former England captain
At the start, I was worried. I still thought England could mess it up. Australia had these fantastic, bigmoment players.

Giles I remember Fletch [Duncan Fletcher, then the England coach] speaking in the team warm-up and his voice was a bit croaky - and that made us feel better. If he was feeling it, then we were OK to as well.

Paul Sheldon Surrey chief executive
I always go out on to the pitch before play starts. I chatted to Giles and Strauss and they seemed extremely tense. But everyone was. Everyone was in absolute turmoil - apart from the Australians, whose confidence was far more overt, Gilchrist in particular.

Greig But while this was about to unfold, there was something else: it was the last day of Channel 4's cricket coverage and, in the commentary box, we went into it with a sick feeling. It was Richie Benaud's swansong as well, which made it even more poignant.

Glenn McGrath takes the wickets of Michael Vaughan and Ian Bell in consecutive balls. England are a nervous 67 for three. Kevin Pietersen goes out to bat

Sheldon Part of my job is to do the rounds, to the media, police, sponsors, the boxes. But I remember no one being very welcoming that morning. No one was interested in anyone or anything other than the cricket.

Giles As the morning wore on, you kept thinking, “Have we blown it?” I normally watch every ball, but it got to the stage where I couldn't. So Hoggy [Matthew Hoggard] and I went off to the dining room and played four or five hands of rummy.

Greig The whole day was dominated by the question: will they win? In situations like that, you need a special player, a player like Kevin Pietersen.

Warne, at slip, drops Pietersen on 15

Langer We didn't think that would be costly. The way KP was batting, we thought we'd get another chance. He wasn't on good form. Brett Lee was all over him.

Lunch. England are 133 ahead with five wickets remaining

Sheldon I remember the quietness and misery of lunchtime. We were facing the ignominy of losing again. We worked out that we needed to bat until 3.30 to be safe. But we all thought we'd lost.

Giles After lunch I sat in the coaches' office shaking with nerves and adrenalin. One or the other or both.

Sheldon Beer consumption between 1and 3 o'clock was very low. No one would leave their seats.

Geraint Jones is bowled by Shaun Tait. England are 199 for seven. Giles is next in to bat

Giles I can recall the whole thing to the finest detail. You're nervous, you're walking down the steps. I don't think I've ever been sharper. That was the adrenalin. When I got out there, KP was brilliant. He said, “Let's enjoy it.” We started by counting down six balls at a time. Let's get through six balls. Then 12, let's get through 12. The most we got up to was three overs.

Langer By now KP was playing magnificently, he had the courage to play with conviction and aggression. That's what great players do. When you're playing someone like that, it feels horrible and hollow, like someone is stealing something from you.

Giles To be at the other end of the KP show was incredible. He flat-batted a bouncer over deep mid-wicket, the longest boundary in the ground. I thought, “These are just not normal shots.” And we were in such a zone. There was never a stage when KP and I said: “We've won the Ashes.” It was just, “Let's bat out the day.” I remember getting to teatime and I kept myself away from everyone. They were sensing that we were on the verge. I sat in the coaches' office again.

Pietersen has already gone for 158. Giles is bowled for 59, leaving England on 335 for nine. Two balls later, they are all out

Giles Warne bowled me round my legs and I was really disappointed. But then I looked up. I hadn't seen or heard the crowd until then, but they were standing and applauding me. I then remember the reception from my team-mates, Boy's Own stuff, hugs, head rubs. It was only then that it really struck me: we had done it.

Australia start their innings, needing 342 to win, but the series is gone and, after four balls, they are offered the light and take it. At 6.17, the umpires remove the bails and stumps to indicate the end of the match

Langer I had to face Harmie [Stephen Harmison]. But the competition didn't let up. Those four balls were as quick as anything I'd faced all series.

Giles We came off after only four balls, but it was really nice that we all got to go out and field together. At last we had done it.

Greig At the end, I had to walk across the ground with Richie. I will never forget it, this man who was so admired and the cheers that he got. A very special moment.

Giles Then we broke open the champagne and cigars. We had about half an hour together on our own in our dressing room, then the Aussies came in, then we went back to theirs. We stayed at the Oval until about 10o'clock. That summer will live with all of us for the rest of our lives.

Sheldon I went into both dressing rooms. I was so absorbed emotionally and professionally, I only had an inkling of the sense of history, but that hits me more and more four years on.

Langer It was the toughest series I ever played in, but the feeling between the teams was great. In fact, one of our strategies in 2007 was to be a bit less friendly, a bit more hard-nosed.

Greig The celebrations seemed to go on for ever. I remember getting home to Australia, switching on the TV and the celebrations still hadn't stopped.