Strauss toasts 'special' England series triumph
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Andrew Strauss acclaimed England's emphatic first Ashes series triumph in Australia for 24 years as "pretty special" as his team inflicted a record third innings drubbing in the final Test on Friday.
England wrapped up an innings and 83-run victory early on the last day in Sydney for their first series victory down under since Mike Gatting's team mastered Australia 2-1 in 1986-87.
The series culminated in an overpowering England performance against the one-time titans and plunged Australian cricket into the depths of despair and inquisition.
"It feels pretty special if I'm honest," skipper Strauss said.
"Until an Ashes series is finally over you've got half an eye on what's to come, so even in Melbourne (fourth Test) we were still very conscious that we wanted to finish on a high and show people that we deserved to win this series.
"Now we've done that I think we can have a big sigh of relief and be very proud of what we've achieved because not many sides have come out here and won, certainly not many that (have won) as emphatically as we did in the end.
"If you look back at the history of Ashes confrontations, what we've achieved here will be remembered pretty fondly."
The tourists posted their highest-ever score in Australia on 644 and dismissed the hapless hosts for 280 and 281.
It was probably England's most comprehensive performance of the series with Alastair Cook (189), Matt Prior (118) and Ian Bell (115) all claiming centuries in an overpowering first innings lasting 177.5 overs and 758 minutes.
Their bowlers, led by leading series wicket-taker James Anderson, exposed the gulf between the two attacks by twice dismissing Australia cheaply.
Steven Smith and Peter Siddle showed some fight with an 86-run eighth-wicket partnership before Siddle holed out to Anderson on the square leg boundary off Graeme Swann for 43 off 65 balls.
Ben Hilfenhaus fell to Anderson caught behind for seven and debutant Michael Beer was the last Australian wicket to fall, bowled by Chris Tremlett for two.
Smith remained unbeaten on 54 in 132 minutes.
England were a potent force during the series, overpowering Australia in huge wins in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, with the Australians winning the third Perth Test. The opening Brisbane Test was drawn.
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