Mark Butcher reflects on almost quitting cricket before his unbeaten 173 in 2001 Ashes and Shane Warne's classy gesture

Mark Butcher was on the verge of hanging up his bat, but one fateful summer in 2001 changed everything.

Amid personal challenges away from the pitch and a slump in form, the England batter became so frustrated with his game that he admitted he even began to "hate" cricket.

"How lucky everything was for me that summer," Butcher told Sky Sports Cricket. "I'd had a very rubbish time of things, which were my fault."

Prior to 2000, Butcher had been an established member of England's Test squad, having won 27 caps, but after struggling with his game, he was dropped following England's 1999-2000 winter tour of South Africa.

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It was a phone call to his dad around Christmas in 2000 that paved the way for his sensational return, and one of the greatest innings ever struck by an English Test batsman on home soil.

"I was lucky that my dad was a brilliant batting coach. I was going to quit the game," Butcher, who spent over two months rebuilding his technique, said.

"I called him and asked if he could remodel the way I batted and make it feel as though I had a chance to start enjoying things.

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"I was working on everything. I had come to the end of the road with it. I was hating it.

"I changed my grip, stance, went back to year zero and rebuilt everything from nothing.

"Because I was in such a bad place with it all, I didn't disagree with my dad's coaching at any point."

'A sliding doors moment'

England had been struck by a series of injuries in the build-up to the first Test of the 2001 Ashes series in Birmingham, with Michael Vaughan, Graham Thorpe and Mark Ramprakash all unavailable for selection for the opening match.

Butcher, who had worked his way back into Surrey's first team, was subsequently recalled by England captain Nasser Hussain.

He played in the first three Tests as England went 3-0 down in the series. Apart from an 83 in the second Test at Lord's, Butcher struggled to find big scores. He admitted Hussain "probably should have dropped me" for the fourth Test in Leeds.

"I actually did drop you," Hussain added. "Mark had had a few misdemeanours off the field and was on his final warning. We turned up to Lord's for a selection meeting - myself, Duncan Fletcher, Geoff Miller, David Graveney. 'We've got to do something about Butch… we're going to have to leave him out,' we said.

"David Fulton was making a shed-load of runs for Kent, at the top of the order. 'Right, we're going to pick Fulton'. We hadn't named the squad and I was driving back to Chelmsford, and it didn't feel right, nothing against David Fulton, but we were leaving out one of our best players [Butcher].

"I rang Fletcher up, and we brought back Butcher, and it was one of those sliding doors moments."

Butcher's incredible knock 25 years on

At Headingley, Australia won the toss and elected to bat first, posting a first-innings score of 447, with Ricky Ponting striking a majestic 144. England responded with 307, Butcher making 47 off 110 deliveries before he was run out.

Rain caused havoc on the fourth day, with Australia opting to declare having built a 315-run lead. Atherton and Marcus Trescothick would open for England in the final innings, but were dismissed for eight and 10 runs respectively.

Butcher arrived at No 3 and, alongside Hussain, mounted an epic comeback, swiping 23 fours and one six on his way to an unbeaten score of 173 which would ultimately seal a six-wicket victory for England.

On the 25th anniversary of Butcher's colossal knock, his innings remains tied with Sir Donald Bradman as the fourth-highest individual score in a successful fourth-innings run chase in Test cricket history.

"I can feel the intensity of my concentration and the crowd going completely nuts," Butcher said.

"It wasn't a case of looking at 315, the target. It was a case of: if I was batting and concentrating well, playing every ball the way it should be played, then we would get there."

It was England's first century of the 2001 Ashes series, the third of Butcher's Test career, and alongside his captain Hussain the pair wrestled the game back from Australia.

He bludgeoned away Australian pacers Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie expertly, in a knock that was described by Hussain as one of the greatest he has ever witnessed.

"It was the type of thing that if you could bottle it and do it every day, things would be very different," Butcher said.

After sealing his century, a brief interaction with Shane Warne stands out most to Butcher.

"My favourite moment was the high-five with Warnie [Warne] as I ran back for the third run to go over the line," he said.

"Warnie put his hand out and high-fived me on the way past. I'll never forget that. It was magic."

'Don't complicate things Nasser'

Hussain, who made 55 before he was dismissed, recalled how Butcher had kept him calm out in the middle as the pair faced a barrage from the Australian bowlers.

"I was an intense cricketer, so a run chase like that, I'm captain and Butch is trying to save my job," Hussain said. "I am intense. Butch is the most laid-back guy, what you see now is what he is like in the middle.

"'Don't complicate things, Nasser', he said. I was so focused on the game, whereas Butch was like: 'It's another game of cricket'. So he was a joy to bat with because of how calm and composed he was."

"It was a joy to be at the other end; he played as well as he's ever played," Hussain added.

Butcher enjoyed a glittering career in Test cricket, going on to play another 39 Tests for England, and across his 71 Test appearances, he would make 4288 runs and eight centuries.

"It's safe to say without that particular day, never mind the three years of Test cricket after that, but also doing this job for Sky Sports Cricket, they have all joined into something I'm proud of," Butcher said.

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England vs Pakistan Test series schedule

All games live on Sky Sports; all 11am starts UK and Ireland

• First Test (Headingley) - August 19-23
• Second Test (Lord's) - August 27-31
• Third Test (Edgbaston) - September 9-13