England regain The Ashes

There were spectacular scenes at The Oval yesterday as Andrew Strauss lifted the tiny Ashes urn, after his side claimed all 10 Australian wickets in one day.

The whole affair was an emotional roller-coaster, with some expecting Australia to break every record in the book, score 540-odd runs and win the match. The opening partnership between Simon Katich and Shane Watson certainly had them worried, but when Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann dismissed them both on Sunday morning, things looked good for England.

But then Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey dug themselves in and the runs started accumulating again. Suddenly they needed about 350, and they had a day and a half left to bat. Oh no, we thought, we aren’t going to do this.

But then the wickets started falling again, with two run outs in quick succession – the first two Australian run-outs of the series – and a stumping from Matt Prior.

The tail-enders also stood firm for some time, and it looked like we might all be back on Monday. But then up stepped Steve Harmison and took wickets 8 and 9 in consecutive balls – the crowd was willing him to win back the Ashes with a hat-trick, which would have been a fitting way to end another brilliant series. It wasn’t to be though, and we had to wait for another few overs before the celebrations began.

it was a dramatic finish, and an incredible effort from Strauss and his men. When they capitulated so horrifically at Headingley, we thought there was no way back, but Broad and Swann’s bowling attack on Friday, and then Strauss and Jonathan Trott’s innings on Saturday won us back the Ashes.

Andrew Flintoff has played his last test match for England, and no doubt he was at the heart of the celebrations last night (and probably this morning, if 2005 is anything to go by).

We’ll be reflecting on the series over the next few days, and then looking forward to the Twenty20 and One Day series that is coming very soon.

For now though, let us know what you think. Were these two average sides, as some critics have argued? Should Ricky Ponting be dropped? Did Strauss carry his whole side to victory over a weaker Australia team? Or did Australia deserve to win?

August 24, 2009