England celebrated an emphatic Ashes triumph in Australia on Friday, their first Down Under in 24 years, after inflicting a record third innings drubbing in the final Test. England wrapped up an innings and 83-run victory early on the last day in Sydney for their first series victory in Australia since Mike Gatting's team won 2-1 in 1986-87.
The series culminated in an overpowering England performance against the one-time titans and plunged Australian cricket into the depths of despair and inquisition. "It feels pretty special if I'm honest," England skipper Andrew Strauss said. "Until an Ashes series is finally over you've got half an eye on what's to come, so even in Melbourne (fourth Test) we were still very conscious that we wanted to finish on a high and show people that we deserved to win this series.
"Now we've done that I think we can have a big sigh of relief and be very proud of what we've achieved because not many sides have come out here and won, certainly not many that (have won) as emphatically as we did in the end," he said. "If you look back at the history of Ashes confrontations, what we've achieved here will be remembered pretty fondly."
The tourists posted their highest-ever score in Australia on 644 and dismissed the hapless hosts for 280 and 281. It was probably England's most comprehensive performance of the series with Alastair Cook (189), Matt Prior (118) and Ian Bell (115) all claiming centuries in an overpowering first innings lasting 177.5 overs and 758 minutes. Their bowlers, led by leading series wicket-taker James Anderson, exposed the gulf between the two attacks by twice dismissing Australia cheaply.
"For me the most impressive thing is the number of runs we've scored consistently which has been a bit of a weakness for us in the past," Strauss said. Australian captain Michael Clarke, standing in for the injured Ricky Ponting for the Sydney Test, said the hosts had been comprehensively beaten.
"No doubt England have outplayed us through this series, in all facets of the game," said Clarke, who later announced he would quit Twenty20 cricket to focus on the longer formats. "They've showed us discipline and execution with the ball, to make the batters play a false shot. With the bat they've showed us how to go on and get big scores once you get a start," he said.
"Throughout this series we've been extremely inconsistent." British Prime Minister David Cameron led the congratulations, describing the Sydney victory as "the icing on the cake" of a successful Ashes tour. "I've spoken to Andrew Strauss this morning and congratulated the team, coaches and everyone behind the side on this tremendous victory," he said.
The British media revelled in the victory after enduring decades of agony at the hands of far-superior Australian teams. "Shout it from the rooftops. England have a cricket team to be proud of while Australia are about to embark on the sort of soul searching that has been an English prerogative for far too long," gloated the Daily Mail. "This humbled, chastened and - yes - humiliated nation came to terms with the reality that their era of greatness has finally come to a crushing end while another takes hold. "The era of English dominance."
A long era of rebuilding awaits for the Baggy Greens, and Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said a thorough review into the drubbing would take place. "Right now we're clearly not on top and we need to find a way to get back on top as quickly as we can," Sutherland told reporters. "This has been a bad series and it's a reason for us to have a very good look at where we're up to, what we do, how we can get better, how we can get back on top. Scoreboard Australia 1st innings 280 (M. Johnson 53, S. Watson 45; J. Anderson 4-66): England 1st innings 644 (A. Cook 189, M. Prior 118, I. Bell 115; M. Johnson 4-168):
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Australia 2nd innings (overnight 213 for 7:
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S. Watson run out (Pietersen) 38
P. Hughes c Prior b Bresnan 13
U. Khawaja c Prior b Anderson 21
M. Clarke c Prior b Anderson 41
M. Hussey c Pietersen b Bresnan 12
B. Haddin c Prior b Tremlett 30
S. Smith not out 54
M. Johnson b Tremlett 0
P. Siddle c Anderson b Swann 43
B. Hilfenhaus c Prior b Anderson 7
M. Beer b Tremlett 2
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Extras: (b11, lb4, w3, nb2) 20
Total: (all out, 84.4 overs) 281
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Fall of wickets: 1-46, 2-52, 3-117, 4-124, 5-161, 6-171, 7-171, 8-257, 9-267, 10-281
Bowling: Anderson 18-5-61-3 (1w), Tremlett 20.4-4-79-3 (2nb), Swann 28-8-75-1, Bresnan 18-6-51-2 (2w)
Result: England won by an innings and 83 runs
Series: England won 3-1
Man-of-the-match: Alastair Cook (ENG)
Man-of-the-series: Alastair Cook (ENG)
Toss: Australia
Crowd: 19,724
Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Billy Bowden (NZL)
Third (TV) umpire: Tony Hill (NZL)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI).
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