Bad light denies England as Ashes ignite

With England needing 21 runs from four overs with six wickets in hand, and a capacity crowd in a state of high excitement, the umpires took their light meters out and ordered the players off

Play abandoned on grim day

The weather forecast for London was not wrong as the fourth day of the final Investec Ashes Test was abandoned without a ball bowled

England forced to grind as Australia chip away

Capacity crowds have been drawn to the Investec Ashes all summer in anticipation of another high-octane series, but England are juddering to their destination as if Australia have slipped petrol into their diesel engine.

Smith achieves his moment, England miss theirs

Alastair Cook and Joe Root safely negotiated their way to the close to leave England 460 runs in arrears after Steven Smith's maiden Test hundred

Watson lifts Australia with elusive ton

Shane Watson took the highest score of his Test career off a reshaped and none-too-convincing England attack as Australia reached 307 for 4 at the close of day one

Shane Watson and the art of self-analysis

The insularity of his approach might not necessarily mark him out as the most likeable cricketer but it makes him an endlessly interesting one

Australia's hale and hearty hero

Troubled by injuries, Ryan Harris was not a member of the Australia attack at the start of the series. By the end, he had forever written himself into Ashes lore

The Oval regales

Memories, close-in cordons, and tactical prophecies: the joys of Test cricket in England

England's late-night antics bring Morris headache

The ECB hierarchy might take a dim view of an alleged late-night celebration which ended with them urinating on The Oval pitch on which they had completed their triumph only hours before

The interactive Ashes review

Multiple-choice answers let you decide who takes what from the series

Clarke makes a game out of it

Over 440 runs in a day that included a daring declaration, a dramatic chase, lovely weather, fading light, an anticlimax, a presentation, fireworks and champagne - not a bad way to end the Ashes

Adventure almost vindicated for gambler Clarke

A few more runs on the board more quickly and a few more overs to bowl England out and Australia might almost have had a sniff of victory at The Oval

Clarke rules out pitch doctoring in Australia

Australia's captain Michael Clarke has insisted that England will not be greeted by doctored pitches when they arrive down under for the return Ashes series.

Haddin's provides some Australian success

ESPNcricinfo present the plays of the day from day five at The Oval

ECB chairman calls for light ruling change

Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, has branded the end of the Investec Ashes "totally unsatisfactory" and called upon the ICC chief executive to change the regulations regarding bad light

Root's sweep, Woakes' drive

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the third day at The Oval

Winning three consecutive Ashes series at home and fastest Test fifties

Stats highlights from the exciting final day's action at The Oval

Succour for Clarke and joy for Cook

England take a 3-0 victory but know they had more in the tank, while Australia showed gradual improvement after Lord's. Expect both sides to be at the limit of their game in Brisbane

The power of three

The importance of Shane Watson's belligerent century at The Oval can't be overstated

Light fades on Oval party

It was a celebration of England. A celebration for Test cricket. It was loud. It was fun. It was nonsensical.

Faulkner criticises England tactics

James Faulkner was unimpressed by England's defensive approach and suggested the Oval crowd should have got a refund after a slow third day

An Aussie spy at The Oval

Who wouldn't want to see KP and Ian Bell blazing away on a balmy summer's day? Apparently the England team

A modern-day Benaud?

Steven Smith has the talent to become a Test-standard bowling allrounder, the best of his type since Richie Benaud

Count the drinks, not the runs

It was a day where patience was tested all round; the batsmen showed, the bowlers used and the crowd had to find it

What's up with Watto?

Pilloried for much of the summer before playing a quite brilliant innings at its conclusion, Shane Watson had a funny old Ashes series

Steve Smith? Who'da thunk it?

All of us who wrote him off when we heard he had been picked for the Ashes will now proceed to eat our hats

The rise of Steven Smith

The Ashes dossiers

If England and Australia have been compiling intelligence files ahead of the return series, what have each of the teams learned?

'Award the opposition ten runs per over'

What will it take to get teams to keep in step with the required over rate? We asked a few insiders for possible solutions

Drizzle followed by Smith's sizzle

The allrounder lit up a day that was marred by some above-average rains and below-average bowling

Kerrigan's dream turned nightmare

Why does a cricketer's long-cherished hope of performing on the biggest stage often crumble on the big day?

What's next for England?

The nucleus of this England side is not going to change overnight, but some key players are now the wrong side of 30 and will leave tough holes to fill when the time comes

Moores hopes for Kerrigan support

Peter Moores, the Lancashire coach, has backed Simon Kerrigan to bounce back from the chastening start to his Test career

Smith shows a ton of learning

Steven Smith has shown more development than any other young Australia batsmen this year and after missing out at Old Trafford now has a hundred to show for it

Lehmann fined for Broad comments

The ICC has fined Australia's coach, Darren Lehmann, over his comments that Stuart Broad had blatantly cheated in failing to walk when he edged Ashton Agar during the first Test

England players apologise for Oval revelry

The England players have apologised for their celebrations at The Oval after winning the Ashes 3-0 on Sunday

An odd series in so many ways

For the most part, the tension of a contest has been lacking, and listlessness has been a recurring feature

Whoa Watto!

A big hundred by Australia's No. 3 even warmed England hearts

Talent frustrated no longer?

Shane Watson's innings was encouraging for Australia but its timing means the questions will remain for now

Watson plot most intriguing of many

England surprised everyone with their selections but the success of Australia's new No. 3 trumped even that

Australia celebrate Shane Watson Day

Shane Watson has appeared in several guises as an Australia player - they need him to stick with this one

Watson takes it firmly in the neck

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the first day at The Oval

Kerrigan suffers on nightmare debut

Thrown in at the deep end and despite a promising record, Simon Kerrigan produced as wretched a performance as a specialist bowler has in Test cricket for many years

Here's to ODI Tests

In which our diarist asserts, yet again, that five-dayers are washed-up has-beens

End of a barren spell for Australia's No.3s

Stats highlights from the first day's action at The Oval

Cook leads England to brink of history

ESPNcricinfo previews the fifth Investec Ashes Test at The Oval

Faulkner ready for Test elevation

James Faulkner said the prospect of coming in at No. 7 in a Test team was exciting, given the way his batting has improved over the past couple of years

Faulkner to debut, recall for Starc

Allrounder James Faulkner will make his Test debut at The Oval on Wednesday and will bat at No.7 as the Australians search for a way to end their failed Ashes campaign on a high

England seek crushing final blow

ESPNcricinfo previews the fifth Investec Ashes Test at The Oval