Daily Cricket News

England retains the Ashes

England has retained the Ashes for the first time in 24 years with a crushing innings and 157-run victory over Australia in the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The tourists claimed the remaining three wickets just before lunch on the fourth day to end Australia's second innings at 9 for 258, with the injured Ryan Harris unable to bat.

The triumph hands England a 2-1 series lead, enough for it to keep its hands on the famous urn for the first time since 1986/87, despite a match still left to play in Sydney.

"It's pretty hard to accept, but we haven't deserved it, that's the bottom line," Australian captain Ricky Ponting told Grandstand.

"We haven't played anywhere near well enough this week to give ourselves even half a chance to get away with a draw in this game.

"We can still level the series, which has got to be our motivation for us from now on.

"We have been beaten badly, we have to try and put that behind us if we can, learn some lessons from the game and get to Sydney and try to salvage some pride for the group and for all the supporters who have come out and watched us."

England captain Andrew Strauss hailed a total squad performance for England's success over the summer.

"We have worked really hard, we have prepared well for this tour, we thought we had a strategy that would work out here," he said.

"But it's up to the players to go out and deliver it, and I take my hat off to all the players who have come out here and stood up when it matter and that's they key to it all.

"You need strength in depth, if we only relied on 11 then it would have hurt us pretty badly when Stuart Broad got injured.

"Those back-up seamers showed what they could offer against Australia A and they have transferred it into the Test match.

"Performances have come throughout the whole side, we haven't relied on one or two players in this series and if you want to be a good side that's what you need."

Kevin Pietersen paid tribute to the travelling English fans after embracing in a victory 'sprinkler' dance with the famous Barmy Army.

"We have the best fans in the whole of the world," he said.

"They follow us around the world and they have had 24 years of pain here in Australia and for us to do this for them today is absolutely amazing," he said.

The MCG loss is the second massive defeat for Australia this summer after going down by an innings and 71 runs in he second Test in Adelaide to hand England a 1-0 series lead.

Australia emphatically levelled the series with a 267-run victory in Perth but was convincingly outplayed after a disastrous start to the fourth Test.

The hosts were skittled for 98 on Boxing Day and their pain was compounded when Jonathan Trott's unbeaten 168 helped England to a huge first-innings total of 513 and a lead of 415 runs.

Australia's top order folded again in the second dig with England reducing its rivals to 6 for 169 at stumps on day three.

Brad Haddin and Peter Siddle delayed the inevitable for nearly 17 overs on the fourth morning with an entertaining 86-run partnership for the eighth wicket after Mitchell Johnson was dismissed in the second over.

Siddle eventually holed out for a Test-best 40 before Ben Hilfenhaus was the last man out, caught behind from the bowling of Tim Bresnan.

Haddin remained 55 not out.

Bresnan, playing in his first Ashes Test, finished with figures of 4 for 50 in the second innings, his removal of Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey in the space of five overs on day three proving the catalyst for England's victory.

"[Bresnan] has come here under a lot of pressure in a Boxing Day Test match," spinner and good friend Graeme Swann said.

"He ripped out their top order and it was so fitting he was bowling at the end to take that wicket I thought."

It is also only the second time in the last 12 Test matches Australia has lost at the MCG. The other defeat came against South Africa two years ago.

The last time England won an Ashes series in Australia was also after an innings victory in Melbourne.

England has now won or retained three of the last four Ashes series since 2005.