The Ashes 2006

Australia beat England by 10 wickets with more than a day to spare to win the fifth and final cricket Test in Sydney and secure the first 5-0 Ashes sweep in 86 years.

England, resuming at 114-5 on day four, lost five wickets for 33 runs to slump to 147 all out, leaving Australia chasing 46 runs for victory. Justin Langer, playing his final Test, combined with Matthew Hayden to reach the target. Hayden smashed Sajid Mahmood for six and then took a single to complete the win.

Australia won the first three Tests to regain cricket's oldest international trophy in record time following its 2005 loss in England. Ricky Ponting's team added victories in Melbourne and Sydney to become only the second team to take an Ashes series 5-0 after Warwick Armstrong's Australians in 1920- 21. The teams have faced each other in 64 Ashes series.

"It's been the best five or six weeks of my life,'' Ponting, who was named man of the series after scoring 576 runs at an average of 82.3, said at the presentation ceremony. "There's been some emotion and some great cricket.''

Shane Warne, the record Test wicket-taker with 708, and Glenn McGrath, five-day cricket's most successful fast bowler with 563 wickets, also quit after the match.

"To finish off the way we have is just sensational,'' Warne told the Nine Network. "Five-nil is a fantastic achievement. This team has played some exceptional cricket.''

Win Streak
England's 15-month Ashes reign was the shortest in the 124- year history of the contest as the rematch between the top- ranked teams ended in a mismatch. Since losing the Ashes on Sept. 12, 2005, Australia has won 16 of 17 Tests.

Australia extended its win streak to 12 matches, the second-longest in Test history. The record of 16 was set by Steve Waugh's Australia team between 1999 and 2001. That group was also coached by John Buchanan, who is quitting after this year's World Cup and today completed his final Test series.

Langer, Australia's sixth-highest run-scorer in Tests, was given a guard of honor by the England players as he made his way to the middle. He finished 20 not out as Australia took 44 minutes to get the runs. Hayden reached 23 not out.

England's lower order, which contributed just four runs in the first-innings total of 291, earlier collapsed for the second straight time before Steve Harmison and James Anderson rallied with 24 runs for the last wicket.

Kevin Pietersen, England's series top scorer, started the slump by getting caught behind off McGrath from the third ball of the morning. He didn't add to his overnight score of 29.

Monty Panesar was run out by Andrew Symonds for naught chasing England's first run of the session. Brett Lee had Chris Read caught at second slip by Ponting and McGrath bowled Mahmood with a delivery that nipped back off the pitch.

McGrath, who wrapped up the innings when he had Anderson caught by Mike Hussey at mid-on, finished with 3-38. Lee also took three wickets. Fast bowler Stuart Clark was man-of-the- match for his 35 runs in the first innings and five wickets. He finished with a series-topping 26 wickets.

but then their bench strength is just too good - anyways lets hope Aussies
feel the pinch

Australia's departing players have no worries about the side dropping from the top of the world rankings after spending the past decade keeping them there. And Ricky Ponting believes the group of low-profile replacements is capable of stepping into the gaps created by three of the country's longest-serving performers.

As the Australians accepted the applause for a 5-0 victory from a heaving SCG, Ponting spoke to Michael Clarke about the responsibilities of the new generation, which faces its first Test challenges against Sri Lanka and India towards the end of the year. "Make sure the next time we play an Ashes series we give it our best shot for the same result," Ponting told Clarke, who scored two centuries in the contest.

"For the next few years hopefully it's Clarke and I and Michael Hussey leading our country. I see it as a pretty exciting time." Ponting also expected players such as Adam Voges, who was in the squad for Perth, and the bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus would help replace Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer.

"It's not so much the unknown because I've got a good feeling about the next crop," he said. "When you get young players in the squad there's excitement around. The nucleus of this group will still be together and I can see us being a very dominant team."

The last time Australia lost three significant figures they suffered five years of misery, but Warne is confident the trough will not be repeated. In 1983-84 Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh and Greg Chappell retired on the same day at the SCG and the side struggled to recover.

However, Warne believed Australia were currently so far ahead of the second-best side that the next batch of players would be able to hold the lofty position. "We're very fortunate that first-class cricket in Australia is a good breeding ground for talent," he said. "There are some wonderful cricketers out there.

"It'll be interesting to see which way the selectors go. Will they go for some 30-year-old players to replace us, or will they go for some youth? It's a good time to get some younger players into the Test side while it's been so successful and there is a decent gap between the next best side."