England 391 for 9 dec (Root 130, Bairstow 74, Starc 6-111) beat Australia 60 (Broad 8-15) and 253 (Warner 64, Rogers 52, Voges 51*, Stokes 6-36) by an innings and 78 runs

England regained the Ashes 10.2 overs into the third day at Trent Bridge as they completed a thumping win by an innings and 78 runs in the fourth Investec Test, reports espncricinfo.

It was 599 days since England fell apart in an Ashes whitewash in Australia. The rebuilding has been painful, but Alastair Cook's young England team has beaten an experienced Australian side that will now be dismantled.

The last act was down to Mark Wood – Australia’s last man Nathan Lyon considering a leave and instead dragging the ball back into middle and leg stump.

But the smiles had crept onto England's faces from the moment they took the field.

Ashes cricket can turn its combatants into heroes, and often it can destroy them too. Up on the Australian balcony, Michael Clarke, a captain who had failed again to win the Ashes in England, mournfully watched the final stages from the Australian balcony as Cricket Australia confirmed that he will retire at the end of the series.

“Time has caught up with me,” said Clarke. “As a player you build yourself up for big tournaments - the World Cups and the Ashes. It's not easy but it's the right time to go.”

Everybody loves winning - and winners - but there is something especially noble about a great player recognising the time to go, and departing with grace and good spirit. The applause he received - in England too - was heartwarming.

Cook, a younger man, and stubborn with it, had survived his own tough times to live a happier chapter, becoming the third England captain to win the Ashes twice on home soil. “I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “After what we’ve been through in the last 18 months to play like we have in three out of four Tests against a very good Australia side - we haven’t lost many days of cricket - is just incredible. I’m just so proud of this young team and the way they’ve taken their opportunity.”

Two captains briefly in tears at the prize giving ceremony told of what the Ashes means.

Now 3-1 up in the series, England go to the Kia Oval with the series won, but a smarting Australia side will remain desperate to summon a response to give Clarke a rousing send-off.

In the Ashes, there is no such thing as a meaningless Test. And, in south London they may experience a surface a good way removed from the traditional England surfaces that have given them so much grief in Cardiff, Edgbaston and Nottingham in turn.

Ben Stokes has been England's talisman when it mattered. Swinging the ball lavishly, he took another wicket to finish with his best Test figures of 6 for 36.

With James Anderson, one of the greatest proponents of swing bowling in history, looking on from the dressing room, Stokes made light of his absence in a manner that Anderson could admire.

England did not turn to Stuart Broad, whose 8 for 15 had as good as settled the Test on the first morning. “Cookie will tell you that on the first morning I wanted to bat,” he said. He would have been glad of the rest. It remains to be seen whether he rests out The Oval. Anderson is definitely expected to sit it out. But that will become apparent in the days to come. For England, the first task was a celebration.

BDST: 2014 HRS, AUG 08, 2015
SR