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It was a statistical quirk of the 2009 Ashes series that almost all of the top run-scorers were Australian and top three wicket-takers were also members of the touring side. The one exception was England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, who led by example in scoring more runs than any batsman on either side.

“When we were bad we were very bad and when we were good we managed to be good enough,” he said and that was really the story of the series. England won the crucial passages of play. One thinks back to Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar batting out 40 minutes in the first Test to save the game as being a prime example of this.

Australia captain, Ricky Ponting, seemed to agree, saying that when his side had had a bad session, it had inevitably been a very bad session. Several batting collapses put them in vulnerable positions throughout the series and conceding first innings deficits put them on the back foot in three of the matches.

The series also saw the final Test appearance of Andrew Flintoff, who will only play the shorter formats when he returns from his latest operation.

“This one is going to take some time to sink in,” he said. “Walking round the ground seeing family, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It’s a really special moment.”