Technically it should read England retain the Ashes. But the manner in which the team has constantly rallied back, it would only be fair to say that in retaining the Ashes, they have really won the traditional battle. Australia will have plenty of reasons to want to bury their head today as England not only ran away with the Melbourne Test but also, their first Ashes victory down under in twenty-four years.
England needed four wickets to complete a famous victory and they did not have to try too hard. A quarter of a session of the morning was enough to annihilate Australia emphatically by a margin that will go down in history as well.

Australia were dismissed for 258 in their second innings on the morning of the fourth day’s play of the fourth Test of the Ashes 2010 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Peter Siddle’s valiance with the bat for forty runs alongside the unbeaten Brad Haddin on a half century were not near enough for Australia as England won the series by a margin of an innings and 157 runs by a 2-1 margin, with a Test to go in Sydney.

Tim Bresnan had a superlative Test match given that he was playing his first Test of the series, picking up four Australian wickets in the second innings including three of the top five Australian batsmen.

For England, it was a great validation of their self belief despite losing dramatically in Perth that allowed Australia to come back into contention. To close out the series with a Test to go will not only give England huge relief but more freedom and relaxation of the main goal achieved going into the New Year.