Less than a month until Australia are back in action, they get their one-day tour to India underway on October 10 with a T20 before seven ODIs. England have some time off before they travel down under for the return Ashes and the first Test gets underway on November 21 in Brisbane. That's the next time you'll hear from Monty and I, we're off for a well-deserved graze in the shires. See you soon...

So that's all she wrote for the summer of 2013. It started with New Zealand causing an upset in the one-dayers before England flexed their muscles in the Tests. Then came the Champions Trophy that was cracking entertainment and a thrilling final between England and India that the hosts managed to throw away. But the big one was the Ashes, it wasn't vintage but we had four highly competitive matches and England won the moments when it mattered to take the Urn 3-0. Some T20 and one-day action has closed things out and Australia are going home with a consolation NatWest series win.

Presentation time. Out come the medallions for all and sundry. What do you reckon they do with these random medals just for showing up? Jamie Overton will get one and hasn't done anything. Man of the Match is Shane Watson surprise surprise, an extra medal and champagne for him. "That was a lot of fun, he says. "We haven't had much success on this tour so it's nice to come away with the win. I capitalised on England's fourth and fifth bowlers, we though that was the weaker part of their team. It's been an amazing tour in the end, things have changed for the better and I think everyone's very excited about what lies ahead.

Man of the Series goes to the winning Australian captain Michael Clarke, for his ton in Manchester and good showing today.

Eoin Morgan: "We did really well to restrict them to under 300 but we lost wickets regularly and no-one played a big innings for us. We haven't stuck to our guns and built up front. But we've learned a lot from the young prospect coming through. It's been really interesting for me as captain. I've enjoyed the young guys coming through and I'm getting back my own form."

The winning, yes winning skipper Clarke: "It was extremely cold but we hung in there. Shane Watson today was outstanding, to be able to play like that in what was a final for us was a great effort, and they way we bowled was a very good performances today. this series to a lot of people doesn't matter much for us it matters a great deal. We've worked extremely hard and it's a nice reward. We go to India now and hopefully we can perform well, we want to the be the No. 1 one-day side in the world. We've had a great time and the people of the UK have treated us very well." Despite the very cold conditions, out comes the champagne as Calrke holds aloft the trophy.

And like at Old Trafford, England never threatened to chase down the target. Two calamitous run-outs hampered their cause and they had Michael Carberry and especially Joe Root looking out of touch and struggling to time the ball. It was Eoin Morgan once again that was required to get the chase going. He did but only for so long and Jos Buttler and Ravi Bopara, despite looking pretty good in cameos, had far too much to do. Mitchell Johnson, Clint McKay and James Faulkner were again excellent for Australia.

Today, for the third time this season, the visitors have enjoyed the conditions far better at the Ageas Bowl. A hard, flat wicket has served up plenty of runs and Shane Watson scored most of them. He was at his brutal best striking 12 fours and six sixes in 143 that motored Australia along having won the toss, Michael Clarke also played another tidy innings and even though they again collapsed at the end of the innings, 298 gave them plenty to bowl at.

There we have it then, end of the series, end of the summer and Australia have won by 49 runs a pretty comprehensive victory in this final rubber. They have something to take home with them, it was a pretty torrid tour but in this NatWest series they have got themselves together nicely and played some decent stuff and deserved to take the series, albeit only over three matches. They take the series 2-1 with two easy wins here and in what was the first game at Old Trafford.

Ahmed returns...