The Ashes: Unchanged Australian team achieves a rare feat

Zee Media Bureau/Chaitan Papnai

Sydney: Yes it’s a clean sweep! At last, after facing humiliation in the Ashes for quite some time, Australians are back with a bang. With the wicket of Boyd Rankin off Harris` on the third day of the fifth and final Test, Australia sealed the match by 281 runs and won the return Ashes 5-0. With that Michael Clarke has become only the third Aussie skipper in the history of the game to lead his team to an Ashes clean sweep – after Warwick Armstrong and Ricky Ponting. In the return Ashes, no Australian player was replaced in the any of the five matches ie the same 11 boys outplayed the mighty England side, which looked all pumped up before the start of the series. All the boys contributed well throughout the series, but a few performed exceptionally well to make it a memorable series for Australia. Not taking any credit away from any of the team members, Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris and Steve Smith were the ones who delivered at times when the team needed them the most. Apart from them, skipper Clarke played his role quite well. He led the team from the front and at the end got his dues - a rare whitewash in the Ashes. Ageing speedster Mitchell Johnson made an exceptional Test comeback in the series by scalping 37 wickets in five Tests. He was the one who set the tone for Australia in the series and made them believe that they can rip apart the visitors. Rightly in the end, he was rewarded with the `Man of the Series` - a well deserved one.