It was the manner of victory that was so satisfying after 24 years of failure.
Australia had administered hidings in the last five Ashes series down under culminating in the 5-0 reverse of 2006/07 when England got it so hopelessly wrong. This time the shoe was on the other foot as England confirmed their superiority in Sydney with a third innings victory of the series.
All the mistakes of the previous 24 years: confused selection, poor preparation, reckless batting, impotent bowling and abysmal fielding were laid to rest in stunning fashion. England’s batsmen scored nine hundreds as they racked up totals in excess of 500 four times in seven innings. Alastair Cook amassed 766 runs and Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Matt Prior and skipper Andrew Strauss all averaged over 40 for the series.
The bowlers executed the plans drawn up by Andy Flower, bowling coach David Sakar and Strauss with a ruthlessness that reminded one of Larwood and Voce in 1932/33, Tyson in 1954/55 and Snow in 1970/71. James Anderson proved once and for all that he was not a homer with 24 wickets at 26 and received sterling support from the reborn Chris Tremlett, Tim Bresnan and Steve Finn.
The gulf between the sides, already vast was compounded by Australia’s woes: Ponting and Clarke both had series to forget whilst their bowlers looked like they were operating on different wickets to England’s – Perth apart.
Worst of all, the selection strategy was atrocious from naming a 17 man squad at the outset of the series at the behest of Cricket Australia’s marketing department to the amazing selections of spinners Xavier Doherty and then Michael Beer, the neither fish nor fowl all-rounder Steve Smith and the out-of-form Phil Hughes.
For once it was Australia who resorted to an in-depth investigation as to what went wrong whilst England went on to achieve their goal of becoming the number one Test side in the world.
Happy memories indeed.
Where next?
How England won the Ashes: Part 1 - Preparation
How England won the Ashes: Part 2 - Inspired selections
How England won the Ashes: Part 3 - Hunting as a pack
How England won the Ashes: Part 4 - Runs, runs, runs...
Ashes 2010/11: Australia series marks out of 10
Ashes 2010/11: England series marks out of 10
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