England celebrate after winning the Ashes

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

England only needed approximately 45 minutes to dismiss the last three Australian batsmen and regain the Ashes via an innings and 78-run drubbing.

For England, the victory couldn’t have tasted any sweeter as they endured a reoccurring nightmare during the last Ashes series against Australia in 2013-14. During that series, they lost batsman Jonathan Trott to a stress-related illness and spinner Graeme Swann to retirement. To top it all off, they were humiliated by the end of the series as they were whitewashed 5-0.

But, those memories became a thing of the past as all-rounder Ben Stokes and pace bowler Mark Wood dealt Australia the knockout blow just 10.2 overs into the third day in Nottingham.

Starting out the day on 241/7, Australia left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc was the first to go as he was caught by Ian Bell at second slip off the bowling of Stokes for a duck.

Just three overs later, Josh Hazlewood was back in the pavilion after his middle stump was uprooted by Wood.

England didn’t have to wait much longer for their moment of redemption and glory as Wood cleaned up Nathan Lyon for four runs to seal the deal and hand England an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series.

However, while England were celebrating after regaining the Ashes, Australia batsman Adam Voges could only look on in utter dejection as he finished unbeaten on 51 off 118 balls, which included seven boundaries.

Stokes was easily the pick of the bowlers with a career-best six wickets, while Wood snapped up three and Stuart Broad claimed one.

Australia captain Michael Clarke admitted that his side were outplayed in all departments, while also confirming that he will be retiring at the end of the series.

“England showed us how to execute with the ball in this series, we have to be honest and say the have outplayed us in this series,” he said. “I will have one more Test in my career and then retire. I don’t want to jump ship now so I’ll have one last Test. You never want to walk away from the game but my performances have not been acceptable to me. You build yourself up for the big series, I’ve tried my best but now it’s time for the next captain to try and get the team ready for the next Ashes.

“It wasn’t from lack of trying, the Australian boys have given it their all but we’ve been beaten by the better team. When you think you’re doing well, you’re just one duck away from playing poorly. When England have had the momentum, they have run with it. Anderson, Broad and Stokes in this game showed what you need to do in conditions like this. A tour too far? Maybe for the captain. I’ll always hold myself accountable and I have been nowhere near where I want to be and certainly haven’t lead from the front.

“Retirement isn’t the hardest decision when you perform as I have performed over the last series. It’s the right time to walk away now. I’ve been very lucky to play over 100 Tests. I’ve had the chance to learn from some older players and now have had the chance to give back. There’s so much talent in that dressing room, the guys can bounce back. The potential is there.”

England skipper Alastair Cook was over the moon to have regained the coveted urn, and said: “To Michael from the England team, you should be remembered for being a fantastic cricketer, congratulations. But I can’t believe what we have achieved this week. When you lose five-nil, there’s a turnover of players but you see what talent there is in the country and we saw the end potential here. Ben Stokes was fantastic here. Joe Root has gone from strength to strength – they have driven this side forward – and the senior players have led so well.

“Broad and Jimmy, the support I receive from them means a lot. It comes down to hard work and a lot has been done over the past months. Peter Moores isn’t here but the development started with him. Today is about the team going through that ‘journey’ and the tough times and that moment when Woody gets the last wicket is what you play for. The players have embraced showing off their talent and I had to try and follow that too. Trevor has just turned up so let’s not give him too much credit! He has allowed us to go out and play the way we have. Paul Farbrace has been the constant and has led this turnaround. We want to go to The Oval now and put on a good display.”

Broad was named Man of the Match for taking a career-best eight wickets in the first innings.

“It’s been an amazing series,” he said. “I wanted to bat first! But it turned out a good toss to win and the catching was spectacular. A lot of hard work has gone into these last four weeks. Our last four innings, different guys have got five-fors and that shows how well we have bowled as a group. The balance of the bowling unit has been perfect – the first time we’ve been able to settle into a five-man attack since Freddie was around.”