The Ashes are gone. Ponting fails to shake off his Oval hoodoo and again we must grieve the loss of that little brown urn.
Not one Aussie run-out all series. Then two in five balls, dismissing the captain and vice-captain, buried any hopes of a record run chase. A few hours later and The Ashes were lost.
Despite his cut lip, acquired in battle yesterday, skipper Ponting kept a brave face speaking after the match.
“You look back through the stats and scratch your head and wonder how it’s turned out like it has.” he said, reflecting on the fact that his relatively fresh faced team scored more centuries and returned the better bowling figures of the two sides.
He added, “Full credit to them (England) though, they deserve what they’ve got.”
A gleeming victorious England captain Andrew Straus thanked Ponting and his Australians, saying, “They played some great cricket and played in a great spirit.”
www.australiantimes.co.uk/cricket
Ashes loss redeemed
