Ashes Regained!

Unbelievable. England have won the 2009 Ashes, 2-1, following victory at the Oval by 197 runs. At 5:49, in the early evening light, a Graeme Swann delivery flicked off the bat and pad of Mike Hussey and nestled in the hands of Alastair Cook. Now the Ashes are back in English hands.

The cricket may not have quite matched the quality of 2005, but the scenes from the Oval today and the winning feeling are every bit as good. 2005 banished two decades of hurt, now 2009 has all but banished painful memories of the whitewash down under in 06-07.

This was a fantastic effort by the England team. To bounce back from off-pitch chaos and disappointing defeat in the Caribbean at the start of the year - not to mention on-pitch chaos and disappointing defeat only two weeks ago at Headingley - represents a remarkable achievement.

An Ashes win is the pinnacle of an England cricketer's career. Strauss and his men have deservedly triumphed after two months of the most hard and intense cricket they will ever play. They must make sure that 2009 is the start of something, not, as in 2005, the culmination.

For England, the series was not littered with outstanding individual performances - that can be worked on and improved in the future. What is less easy to manufacture, is character. No worries there; this England team have got it in spades.