Australian excellence makes lasting impression

London, August 28: The Australians came here wanting 5-0 but had to settle for 4-1.

However, let no one be in any doubt that Australia, who wrapped up their seventh successive Ashes series victory with an innings and 25 run victory over England at The Oval on Monday, could easily have come away with a 4-0 triumph.

That would have matched the achievement of cricket great Don Bradman's 1948 "Invincibles" who did not lose a match on their England tour and are rightly regarded as one of the great cricket sides of all time.

But the present vintage should not be disregarded simply because they lost two games, the fourth Test and a match against English county Hampshire.

In both cases Australia, who could have easily played out a draw in both but instead went for a victory that inevitably exposed them to the possibility of defeat.

"We declared at Headingley not because we wanted to make a game of it but because we thought that was the best way we could win," said Australia captain Steve Waugh, who missed that match because of a double tear of his left calf sustained in the previous Test.

"But Mark Butcher (173 not out) played a brilliant innings," said Waugh.

"Sometimes we push too hard for victory. We don't take a step back and maybe we need to give the opposition a little more respect. They are allowed to play well too," he added.

But the way in which the Australians congratulated Butcher on his innings proved that not only were they champion cricketers, they were champion men too.

Only one side in Ashes history has won a series 5-0 - Warwick Armstrong's 1920-21 Australians on home soil.

That is no coincidence. There is one factor all touring sides coming to England underestimate at their peril: the weather.

Rain usually ensures that at least one match in an English series of any length is a draw and that would have been the result at Headingley but for Australia's bold declaration.

Australia coach John Buchanan admitted the series "had fallen short of expectations."

That in part explains why they did so well. Their aims are so high that even if they fall short the standard reached is likely to be of real quality.

It was here. In fast bowler Glenn McGrath and leg-spinner Shane Warne, Australia had the two best attacking weapons on either side. The pair took 63 wickets between them and no one knew their worth better than opposing captain Nasser Hussain.

"You have to give credit to McGrath and Warne. They came at us for an hour and broke our backs," said Hussain after McGrath, five for 43 and, Warne four for 64 had yet again tormented England at The Oval.

"We've shown in this series that we can get runs against them but the accuracy of McGrath and the variation of Warne means you are never safe. They are two world class bowlers," admitted Hussain.

But the batsmen deserve their share of credit too.

The depth of the Australian batting - wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, who came in at number seven, made 340 runs at an average of 68 including a blistering 152 in the first Test at Edgbaston that set the tone for the whole series.

The speed with which the Australians scored their runs gave their bowlers more than enough time to finish the job.

Damien Martyn, a fringe player before the first Test, was described as the "outstanding batsman" of the tour by his captain.

Nearly 400 runs from a player who started out unsure of his place at an average of over 76 tells its own story.

As for England, they were hard hit by injuries to key middle order batsmen including their captain.

But even a fully fit England batting line up might have struggled against this attack even though hostile express paceman Brett Lee was not as accurate as he would have liked.

Their bowling and batting never functioned well in the same match. But what really cost them was their fielding.

Chance after chance was dropped. The quicks often made inroads into the Australian top order but the fielders' 'butterfingers' usually gave one of their opponents a life on the way to a big score.

Waugh said he had been impressed by England paceman Andrew Caddick. "He was their outstanding bowler. He did not have a lot of luck but he was always dangerous," he said.

Butcher, like Martyn, an outsider at the start of the summer, was another plus for England, even before his monumental Headingley innings.

But the outstanding figure of this series was Steve Waugh himself. His guts and determination in making 157 not out at The Oval following his leg injury were as good an example of leadership by example as was possible to witness.

"This is most probably my last tour of England. I'll be 40 next time we're due here and it will be time to give one of the younger guys a chance.

"I'm 99 percent certain," said Waugh. "But you never say never." England though will hope fervently they have suffered their last Waugh wound.