The Ashes are over, and in the euphoria of an England victory, I am going to do my personal awards. And then get drunk.<br />
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<b>Player of the series: Andrew Flintoff</b>. 400+ runs, 24 brilliant wickets. Not just for the stats, but the manner and timing in which he came good after a shaky start. The best all-round cricketer in the world right now, he could be one of the greats.<br />
<b>Runner up: Shane Warne</b>. 40 wickets. 4th-best 5-match series haul of all time. Silly little beard, but a legend of a player.<br />
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<b>Surprise of the series: Simon Jones</b>. Came of age as a bowler<br />
<b>Runner up: Brett Lee</b>. We thought he might be 12th man and a bit of a dick. He is actually a superb bloke, played with passion and humour, and the series was the better for it.<br />
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<b>Disappointment of the series</b>: close this. Jason Gillespie got 3 wickets for 300 runs in 3 tests. That’s very very shit. Adam Gilchrist didn’t get one 50. And he averages 52 in test cricket, so he was a massive flop. But we knew Gillespie was rubbish from the one-day series, so <b>Gilchrist </b>gets the nod. Shame, as he is a good chap.<br />
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<b>Catch of the series: Andrew Strauss</b> held that flier to his left to dismiss Gilchrist off Flintoff, and every time I see it I blink. Stunning.<br />
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<b>Ball of the series: Steve Harmison</b> to dismiss Michael Clarke at Edgbaston. Slower delivery, swung and took the off-stump. The final ball of the 3rd day, it gave England belief, and was perhaps the moment when the Ashes first swung England’s way.<br />
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<b>Over of the series. Flintoff, at Edgbaston</b>, bowling Langer and getting Ponting caught behind. He bowled with such venom it made the hairs stand up on your arm.<br />
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<b>Innings of the series</b>: lots of candidates here, with Vaughn’s 166 and Pietersen’s 158 pretty special, plus 2 innings by Flintoff swung a couple of tests. But <b>Ricky Ponting</b> at Old Trafford, with a match saving 156, gets the nod. He saved the game, showed his team how to play, and kept Australia in the series. <br />
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<b>Test of the series: Edgbaston</b>. Can’t find the words to sum that one up. Too much happened.<br />
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<b>Commentary of the series: Richie Benaud</b>. A gem in his last series in England. As Shaun Tait wandered across his stumps and got bowled behind his legs by Harmison, Benaud remarked: “That’s, not, very, sensible…. even for a tail-ender.”
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