Can we play you every weeeeeek, can we play you eveeeeeery week?!England have won the Ashes! Ah the pleasure in typing/thinking/saying/shouting/singing that is indescribable.
Andrew Strauss and his boys have done the nation proud in regaining the little urn, by thrashing the Aussies in our own back yard. England have won the 5th and final Test by a massive 197 runs. Graeme Swann took 4 wickets on the final day, while Steve Harmison cleaned up the tail with 3 quick wickets. Emotional and jubilant scenes followed, as not only have England brought back the Ashes, but Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff has bowled his last ball in a Test match. Not his greatest match, but his run-out of Ricky Ponting was definitely a turning point in the afternoon. Ironic for such a great all-rounder that his final contribution in the whites is a run-out from mid-off. Gotta love the man.
England got off to a flyer by taking the wickets of Simon Katich (43) and Shane Watson (40) early on in the day, but Captain Ricky Ponting (66) and Mike Hussey (121) dug in for the tourists, until that decisive Flintoff run-out. From then on in, wickets continued to fall throughout the afternoon, until Alastair Cook clung on to the winning catch off Mike Hussey. Graeme Swann taking the last wicket of the series.
Andrew Strauss was given the award for England's player of the series, while Michael Clarke won Australia's award. Stuart Broad won man-of-the-match for his wonderful spell of 5-37 in the first innings, plus some important runs down the order. So Freddie gets the greatest send-off he could have hoped for, and the celebrations have begun.
"I'm gonna take the mrs out for a meal tonight and then spend the day with the family tomorrow", he claims. As if! As Ian Botham said, "he'll be taking the mrs out for a Bacon & Egg roll at five in the morning!". Great scenes at the Oval, and the great thing is, they'll be at it again in 18 months time!
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