So, the last day of the final test will be starting shortly, and haven't the Ashes been fantastic this winter. For the first time, thanks to the wonders of Sky Sports, I've been watching a fair amount of the coverage, and I've been really glad that I have.
It's amazing to think that at the last Ashes test in Sydney, we were losing for the fifth time in a row to end up on the wrong end of a 5-0 whitewash by the Aussies. Mind you, we were facing a side jam-packed with world class players: Warne, McGrath, Ponting, Gilchrist, Hayden, Langer, Hussey and Lee. Not many of those guys left now, and Ponting has had a rough time, both as captain and with the bat. Mr Cricket is still a class act, and as the commentators pointed out yesterday, he is probably the one Australian who would make a combined best XI from the two squads.
The records have been tumbling for England as the series has progressed: nine centuries in the series, scored by six different batsmen, over 500 in an innings four times in the same series, and our highest ever score in an innings Down Under (644). Whilst we've really played as a team, and there have been some great performances, our Man of the Series must surely go to Alastair Cook who has scored a mammoth 766 in the series, including a 235 not out, passing 5,000 test runs in the process.
Coverage has just told us that the last time that England retained the Ashes, the song at the top of the charts was Starship's Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now. Love it!
Right, play under way - just three more wickets needed.