England retain the Ashes with innings win

England have retained the Ashes in Australia for the first time in 24 years, after inflicting one of Australia's heaviest losses, with a margin of an innings and 157 runs on the fourth morning at the MCG. It took less than 90 minutes for England to collect the three wickets they needed for victory, and when Tim Bresnan picked up his fourth wicket, an edge behind from Ben Hilfenhaus, the celebrations began.

Bresnan finished with 4 for 50 and was mobbed by his team-mates when the final wicket fell, and the big collection of England fans at the MCG burst into full voice. It was a wonderful moment for England, who will now aim to turn their 2-1 lead into a series victory at the SCG next week, but as the holders of the Ashes before the tour they have done enough to retain the urn.

For the first time in history, Australia have lost two Tests in a home series by an innings, and the margin was their worst defeat in Australia in 98 years, and their eighth-worst of all time. There was some fight from Brad Haddin and Peter Siddle, who put together an 86-run partnership after the early loss of Mitchell Johnson, but it was only ever a matter of time for England.

During the Haddin-Siddle stand, both men cleared the boundary off Graeme Swann, providing something to cheer for the Australian fans who had turned up despite the certain result. Haddin's half-century came in 86 balls and Siddle posted his highest Test score, before the end came in a rush with Siddle and Hilfenhaus falling in quick succession, and the injured Ryan Harris unable to bat.

Smart Stats The innings-and-157-run defeat was the eighth-worstdefeat for Australia in Tests. Six of those have come against England. It is also the second-biggest margin in a Test at the MCG after the innings-and-225-run loss to England in 1912. It is Australia's worst Ashes loss since Manchester in 1956, when Jim Laker took 19 for 90 and England won by an innings and 170 runs. Australia have lost by an innings three times since the beginning of 2009, but only twice between 1992-93 and 2009. This is the first time that Australia have lost two Tests in a home series by an innings. The previous occasion that they lost more than one Test by an innings was in England in 1985-86 when they lost at Edgbaston and The Oval. England retained the Ashes for the first time after their consecutive series wins in 1985 at home and 1986-87 in Australia. In 4 matches in the series, Australia's batting average is just 28.40 while England's average is 45.47. The last occasion that Australia averaged less than 30 in a home series of three or more matches was in 1996-97 against West Indies, when they won 3-2. England's average of 45.47 is only the third occasion that a visiting team has averaged over 45 in a series (minimum three matches) in Australia.

Johnson was bowled by Chris Tremlett in the second over of the day for 6 and it seemed like the morning's play would be over in a rush, before Haddin and Siddle came together. It took a while for the next wicket, Siddle (40) caught on the boundary straight down the ground when he slogged Swann, and England knew their goal was almost achieved.

Now, the questions turn to Sydney and what each team can achieve with the Ashes already decided. For England, the goal is obvious - win or draw and ensure they take the Ashes outright, rather than simply retaining them.

For Australia, the series can still be drawn, but they must decide whether to make changes, including whether to risk Ricky Ponting with his broken finger. Ponting had x-rays during the morning, and when he spoke straight after the defeat he didn't know the results, but was still hopeful of playing at the SCG.

"I've got a point to prove to myself and the team, with my performances in the past four Tests," Ponting said. "I will be doing everything I can to be ready for Sydney. I still think I've got a lot to offer the Australian cricket team."

"It's pretty hard to accept," Ponting said of the loss. "We haven't deserved it, that's the bottom line, haven't played well enough. It was tough, but wasn't a 98 all out wicket. They showed us how to bat. We can still level the series, which has got to be the motivation for us. Get to Sydney and salvage some pride. We've let ourselves down and our supporters down."

After the past 18 months were all geared towards regaining the Ashes, Australia's future must involve some changes. Andrew Strauss and his England team can celebrate a much-deserved triumph.

Full Score board :

ustralia 98 & 258 (85.4 ov)

England 513

England won by an innings and 157 runs

• The Ashes - 4th Test
• Test no. 1986 | 2010/11 season
• Played at Melbourne Cricket Ground
• 26,27,28,29 December 2010 (5-day match)

	Australia 1st innings		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	SR Watson	c Pietersen b Tremlett	5	14	12	0	0	41.66
	PJ Hughes	c Pietersen b Bresnan	16	58	32	2	0	50.00
	RT Ponting*	c Swann b Tremlett	10	51	38	2	0	26.31
	MJ Clarke	c †Prior b Anderson	20	121	54	2	0	37.03
	MEK Hussey	c †Prior b Anderson	8	43	41	1	0	19.51
	SPD Smith	c †Prior b Anderson	6	54	15	0	0	40.00
	BJ Haddin†	c Strauss b Bresnan	5	22	16	1	0	31.25
	MG Johnson	c †Prior b Anderson	0	8	4	0	0	0.00
	RJ Harris	not out	10	38	23	2	0	43.47
	PM Siddle	c †Prior b Tremlett	11	25	15	1	0	73.33
	BW Hilfenhaus	c †Prior b Tremlett	0	9	8	0	0	0.00
	Extras	(lb 2, nb 5)	7
	Total	(all out; 42.5 overs; 227 mins)	98	(2.28 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-15 (Watson, 3.2 ov), 2-37 (Hughes, 13.1 ov), 3-37 (Ponting, 14.2 ov), 4-58 (Hussey, 25.2 ov),5-66 (Smith, 29.3 ov), 6-77 (Clarke, 33.4 ov),  7-77 (Haddin, 34.5 ov), 8-77 (Johnson, 35.2 ov), 9-92 (Siddle, 40.3 ov),10-98 (Hilfenhaus, 42.5 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	JM Anderson	16	4	44	4	2.75
	CT Tremlett	11.5	5	26	4	2.19	(1nb)
	TT Bresnan	13	6	25	2	1.92
	GP Swann	2	1	1	0	0.50

	England 1st innings		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	AJ Strauss*	c Hussey b Siddle	69	232	167	5	0	41.31
	AN Cook	c Watson b Siddle	82	212	152	11	0	53.94
	IJL Trott	not out	168	499	345	13	0	48.69
	KP Pietersen	lbw b Siddle	51	123	89	7	0	57.30
	PD Collingwood	c Siddle b Johnson	8	26	15	1	0	53.33
	IR Bell	c Siddle b Johnson	1	19	13	0	0	7.69
	MJ Prior†	c Ponting b Siddle	85	219	119	11	0	71.42
	TT Bresnan	c †Haddin b Siddle	4	21	17	0	0	23.52
	GP Swann	c †Haddin b Hilfenhaus	22	49	28	3	0	78.57
	CT Tremlett	b Hilfenhaus	4	7	7	0	0	57.14
	JM Anderson	b Siddle	1	4	6	0	0	16.66
	Extras	(b 10, lb 2, w 3, nb 3)	18
	Total	(all out; 159.1 overs; 713 mins)	513	(3.22 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-159 (Cook, 51.1 ov), 2-170 (Strauss, 55.3 ov), 3-262 (Pietersen, 86.3 ov), 4-281 (Collingwood, 91.3 ov),5-286 (Bell, 95.3 ov), 6-459 (Prior, 141.1 ov),  7-465 (Bresnan, 145.4 ov), 8-508 (Swann, 156.3 ov), 9-512 (Tremlett, 158.1 ov) ,10-513 (Anderson, 159.1 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	BW Hilfenhaus	37	13	83	2	2.24	(1w)
	RJ Harris	28.4	9	91	0	3.17
	MG Johnson	29	2	134	2	4.62	(2nb, 2w)
	PM Siddle	33.1	10	75	6	2.26	(1nb)
	SR Watson	10	1	34	0	3.40
	SPD Smith	18	3	71	0	3.94
	MJ Clarke	3.2	0	13	0	3.90

	Australia 2nd innings		R	M	B	4s	6s	SR
	SR Watson	lbw b Bresnan	54	132	102	6	0	52.94
	PJ Hughes	run out (Trott/†Prior)	23	47	30	2	0	76.66
	RT Ponting*	b Bresnan	20	100	73	2	0	27.39
	MJ Clarke	c Strauss b Swann	13	80	66	0	0	19.69
	MEK Hussey	c Bell b Bresnan	0	7	7	0	0	0.00
	SPD Smith	b Anderson	38	86	67	6	0	56.71
	BJ Haddin†	not out	55	126	93	4	1	59.13
	MG Johnson	b Tremlett	6	23	22	0	0	27.27
	PM Siddle	c Pietersen b Swann	40	65	50	4	1	80.00
	BW Hilfenhaus	c †Prior b Bresnan	0	5	4	0	0	0.00
	RJ Harris	absent hurt	-
	Extras	(b 1, lb 6, w 2)	9
	Total	(all out; 85.4 overs; 342 mins)	258	(3.01 runs per over)

Fall of wickets1-53 (Hughes, 11.3 ov), 2-99 (Watson, 31.6 ov),  3-102 (Ponting, 35.4 ov), 4-104 (Hussey, 37.5 ov),5-134 (Clarke, 52.5 ov), 6-158 (Smith, 61.5 ov),  7-172 (Johnson, 67.5 ov), 8-258 (Siddle, 84.2 ov), 9-258 (Hilfenhaus, 85.4 ov)

	Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
	JM Anderson	20	1	71	1	3.55	(1w)
	CT Tremlett	17	3	71	1	4.17
	GP Swann	27	11	59	2	2.18
	TT Bresnan	21.4	8	50	4	2.30	(1w)