Australian Prime Minister John Howard led his nation on Tuesday in congratulating England's cricket team for regaining the Ashes trophy for the first time in 18 years, saying the real victor was the sport of cricket.
"I do congratulate England, I commiserate with Ricky Ponting and the Australian team," Howard told reporters during a visit to New York, referring to the losing Australian captain.
"It's been an amazing cricket series, a wonderful series for the game of cricket, and the true victor in this series has been this wonderful game that so many of us love," Howard said.
"I just think what is great is the way interest in cricket has been regenerated in England and, of course, sustained in Australia," he said.
"Look, there's natural disappointment but it's a situation where you give credit to the team that won," he said.
"They played very well. It's the best team that England has had for a very long period of time."
England won the five Test series for the first time since 1987 when the fifth Test ended in a draw on Monday at the Oval in London, leaving the home side with a 2-1 lead.
The result was a huge blow for Australia, the dominant force in world cricket for years and which has also been suffering a string of losses in one of the country's other main sports, rugby union.
The Ashes loss was doubly painful since it was England which beat Australia in the final of the Rugby World Cup in Sydney two years ago.
Despite the disappointing loss of the Ashes, many Australians appeared to agree with Howard that the rebirth of English cricket was a good thing for a sport that risked losing popularity because of Australia's domination.
"I think it's a good thing that England won for a change," said David, a listener to early morning talk-back radio on national broadcaster ABC.
"Now they have won and this is good for the game," he said.
Another listener, Eva, agreed, but she chided England's Queen Elizabeth II for congratulating the English team for its "magnificent achievement" without paying homage to her Australian subjects as well.
"She's the queen of Australia, too, and her Australian team did very well," Eva said.