England's great escape: James Anderson, Monty Panesar and Paul Collingwood on 2009 Cardiff draw

It was England's great escape.

Last-wicket pair Monty Panesar and James Anderson saw off 69 deliveries in tandem to earn an unlikely draw for England in the 2009 Ashes opener in Cardiff and leave Australia one scalp shy of victory.

It proved a crucial result for the hosts, who went on to win the series 2-1 to regain the urn they had shipped in Australia in 2006-07 while losing 5-0.

Getting on for 11 years since that memorable fifth day in Wales, Panesar and Anderson were part of a special Sky Cricket Watchalong and shared their memories and insights from the partnership that thwarted Australia.

I can’t think of a better person at the crease than Brigadier Block, a nickname he got after getting two from 50 balls in Hamilton. He was a gutsy, gutsy cricketer. He could always adapt to the situation of the game and if he needed to block it he would do.

Paul Collingwood joined us, too, to reflect on his gritty half-century - the batsman living up to his Brigadier Block moniker with 74 from 245 deliveries.

But when he was dismissed with around 50 minutes remaining, leaving England nine down and still six runs behind, it fell to the unlikely batting heroes of Anderson and Panesar to foil Ricky Ponting's side…

JAMES ANDERSON

"I was thinking pretty clearly, actually. As 10 and 11 you are not expected to get us home. We just tried to focus on each ball, each over and we talked to each other quite a lot. I quite enjoyed being out there, one of the only times I have ever enjoyed batting!

"We knew if we got past Australia they would have to bat again and it would take overs out of the game, so we were still trying to get runs. Getting past them took the heat of us as we knew if we got through four or five overs that would do the job. The calling wasn't overly great but we got there in the end, which was the main thing!

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"There was a tension when we came together but you could then sense the excitement building and people thinking, 'they might be able to do this'. We noticed the crowd cheering every dot ball. It felt a bit mad at times, trying to get information from the umpires about how long we would be out there for. Was it overs? Was it time? No one seemed to know the answer.

"When they brought [part-time spinner Marcus] North on, I thought we had it. Any of the seamers were much more of a threat than him. Even Michael Clarke, spinning it into the rough with two left-handers in, would have been more dangerous.

"There was a sigh of relief when we walked off and there was still a little bit of disbelief that we had got through. Without that performance there was a good chance we wouldn't have won that Ashes - it gave us confidence we could compete against Australia. Hearing that the Australian wives and girlfriends had the champagne delivered to their box at nine down buoyed us as well [for the rest of the series]."

MONTY PANESAR

"A lot of the players were cheering me in the dressing room before I came out to bat but inside I was thinking 'I don't know how many balls I am going to last!'

"Jimmy just said 'watch the ball and give it your best. If it is short, make sure your hands are down and if it's on the stumps, play nice and straight'. Jimmy was brilliant in giving me strict instructions.

"I didn't expect us to draw and for me to last as long but when I hit that four off North, I thought we had it in the bag. It was a pretty good cut shot from me, I thought! I hope my batting buddy, Collingwood, was happy with my performance.

"I was really calm at the crease and I didn't realise the pressure of it all until I watched it back. I can't really believe we had such a great escape and I couldn't wait to see my team-mates afterwards and give Jimmy a high five.

"[That draw] changed everything in the series. It was a very special day and something I will always remember, especially with it being my last home Test and doing it with Jimmy, who is probably our greatest cricketer ever. We went on to win the Ashes and I was very happy I was able to contribute."

PAUL COLLINGWOOD

"I wasn't thinking about runs all the way through the day, I wasn't even looking if we were close to Australia's score. When you get focused and have a job to do of literally just staying in, all you are thinking is 'if it is missing the stumps leave it, if it's on the stumps block it'. My back-lift was embarrassingly low, but I wasn't bothered how I looked.

"The closer we got to their score was what took me away a little bit, then I started to think 'how many runs will we need?' All these equations came in. It almost brought me out of the box and I made some different decisions.

I think the intensity of the cricket all day drained me quite a lot and I remember going into the Lord's Test mentally fatigued. I also struggled with my technique - I couldn't pick my bat up. It sounds ridiculous but I had got into this complete block-a-thon and it ate into my game physically and technically.

"It took me completely out of the tunnel vision I had had for hours. The ball I got out to was a shocking shot, a horror shot, prodding way outside of off stump. I thought the game had gone then, 100 per cent.

"I thought 'you've done all the hard work and the game is gone. You have just handed it back to Australia. You've got Monty coming in and it's game over'. I didn't think he had a hope in hell's chance. I was devastated.

"You knew the importance and consequences of trying to get a draw out of this. We knew if we could get something out of it, it could prove to be a massive momentum shift and that proved the case. It crucial, a huge turning point in the series."

England return to Test action against West Indies in July in a behind-closed-doors series at The Ageas Bowl and Emirates Old Trafford. Click here for full details with every ball to be shown live on Sky Sports Cricket.