ALL OVER BAR THE RECRIMINATIONS.

So, despite the last 3 wickets adding more than 100 runs, England finally completed the demolition of the Australian cricket team. Australia's performance in this series has been hard to explain, woeful in 3 matches, clinically victorious in one and at least holding their own in the other but, overall, the home side have been humiliated.

If Australia were poor, how good were England ? That their bowlers were so often frustrated by the Australian tail has to be a concern. There was a time when the last 3 wickets were considered easy pickings for the 'quicks' but no more, it seems; is this because the bowlers are less good or the batsmen better than before ? In this series, perhaps it was really a combination of both; far too many top-order Australian wickets fell to catches behind the wicket or in the slips - this smacks of poor technique from the batsmen rather than brilliance from the bowlers. Given this, the lower-order batsmen probably had less of a hard time from the bowlers than they might have expected and simply had to avoid 'chasing the ball' outside the off-stump.

Whatever the analysis, England won and won well. Cook had an outstanding series with the bat and was well supported by by Trott, Bell, Pieterson, Prior and Strauss, all of whom hit centuries and averaged over 40. In the bowling stakes, Anderson took the principal plaudits with 24 wickets at 26, but was also well supported by Tremlett, Bresnan, Finn and Swann, though the last 2 were more expensive, Swann very much so. The catching was another success area, with Prior snaffling 23 behind the stumps and Collingwood with 9 and Strauss with 8 taking full advantage of the Aussies' lax play. Set against this, only Hussey, Watson and Haddin scored significant runs for the home side and were the only players to average over 40; only Hussey and Haddin scored centuries. The bowling was equally disappointing, only Harris, Siddle and Johnson taking more than 10 wickets.

Under Andrew Strauss, England have won 16 out of 32 matches and lost only 4. Since Strauss was appointed permanently in the winter of 2008/09, England have won series against both Australia and the West Indies at home and away, in South Africa, and against Bangladesh and Pakistan at home. 2011 sees the remaining 2 major sides, Sri Lanka and India, visiting England and  more victories could see England soon topping the international league table. Whether this will happen is, of course, another matter but by the end of the year, we should have a good idea as to just how good this team really is.

As for Australia, they will undoubtedly now have a huge re-think. Ricky Ponting has surely reached the end of a magnificent career, and they have to look for a new, young and dynamic captain, but the real problem is that the team is an ageing one and there seems to be a dearth of young talent waiting in the wings. It may be several years before we see any real resurgence from 'down-under'.