Not quite a whimper, but....

....as Rahul commented, certainly not the nail-biting exciting finishes of the last three matches that everyone was hoping for. Australia had a chance when they had England at 199 for 7 before tea- but Kevin Pietersen simply took it away. The ending was a bit farcial with the Australian openers returning to the pavilion on account of bad lights and a bit of confusion reigning over the official announcement of a by-then forgone result.

Kudos to England for regaining the Ashes (after 18 years) - I can understand the excitement of the supporters from nation where hype and expectations have mostly trumped real achievements in the field. After the first test, England certainly had the better of the exchanges with the decisive factor being Freddie Flintoff - he provided the balance in the English team - bowling fast and reverse swinging to get cruical wickets and then coming in 4/5 down to score important runs. He is probably the best all-rounder in the game at the moment. Eventually, as another cricketing-cliche goes, it was the game that was the winner. A standard has been set for competitive test cricket. Unfortunately, the two other series (Ind-Zim and SL-Bang.) currently in progress certainly won't provide that kind of intensity.