Gary Pratt

You can watch five minutes of Sky TV coverage of this run–out on the ECB's YouTube channel, where it's described as "Quite possibly one of the most memorable Ashes moments ever."

In the words of The Grauniad's John Ashdown (slightly edited):

"Flintoff and Geraint Jones had helped England to 477 in the first innings, and Simon Jones's 5 for 44 had skittled the Australians for 218. They were asked to follow on for the first time since Karachi in 1988 – 190 Test matches ago.

"Matthew Hayden went for 26, and Justin Langer was poached at short leg by Ian Bell off the bowling of Ashley Giles; but Ponting had played authoritatively for two hours, to reach 48 and help his side to 155 for two – still trailing by just over 100 runs but, as far as England were concerned, moving inexorably back into the game by mid–afternoon on the third day. The old fears, the pains of the past, were emerging from the dark recesses of the English psyche.

"Then Damien Martyn called for a quick single ... "

Pratt picked up the ball in the covers, and threw directly at the stumps. Australia's captain was run out by about a foot.

According to Wikipedia, Ponting "was seen shouting up at the England balcony towards Duncan Fletcher, unhappy at England's frequent use of substitute fielders during the series. Ironically, although England may have used substitute fielders to rest bowlers between spells, this appearance by Pratt was not among them: he was replacing Simon Jones, who had been taken to hospital with an ankle injury [having taken 5 for 44 in Australia's first innings]; it was to be Jones' last test. The run out earned [Pratt] a place on the open top bus parade following the series victory."

Australia eventually scored 387, leaving England needing 129 to win the match. Three wickets for Shane Warne and one for Brett Lee had them in trouble at 57 for 4. But Flintoff and Pietersen steadied the ship, and after they were both out in quick succession (followed by Geraint Jones) it was Ashley Giles and Matthew Hoggard who saw England home with three wickets to spare.

The Fifth Test was drawn, meaning that England won the series 2–1.

Wikipedia continues: "Since the incident, Pratt has acquired a small following of grateful English fans. He had the dubious honour of having the pavilion in Sky Sports' Cricket AM named the 'Gary Pratt Pavilion'. England fan organisation the Barmy Army planned to fly Pratt out to Australia for the 2006–07 Ashes series as a good–luck charm, but failed to find sponsorship for his plane fare.

"Pratt felt that the event that thrust him into the cricketing limelight was also the one that quickened his dramatic fall from grace, ignoring his skill with the bat: 'I was just known for fielding afterwards, and I didn't really want that.' As of 2010 he was working at a cricketing equipment shop and as of 2017 skippers Cumberland, where he has scored ten Championship hundreds."