Joe Root plundered a superb century to defy Australia as England recovered from a poor start to post 343 for seven on the first day of the first Ashes Test on Wednesday.
Joe Root again put Australia's bowlers to the sword and together with Ian Bell gave England the platform on Friday to push for victory in the first Ashes Test after setting the tourists 412 to win with two days remaining.
Steve Smith made a brave unbeaten 78 to lift Australia to 287 for three on the first day of the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval on Thursday.
Chris Rogers and Steve Smith plundered superb centuries to lead Australia to a commanding 337 for one on the first day of the second Ashes Test against England at Lord's on Thursday.
England crumbled meekly to 107 for eight in reply to Australia's 481 to put the touring side firmly on course for victory in the final Ashes Test after a dramatic second day at The Oval on Friday.
Australia repelled a brief England fightback led by Alastair Cook and Ben Stokes to remain firmly in control of the second Ashes Test on the third day at Lord's on Saturday.
England skittled out shell-shocked Australia for 60 and piled up 274 for four in reply to take control of the fourth Ashes Test on a dramatic first day at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
Centurion Steve Smith praised Australia's bowlers after they reduced England to 107 for eight in the first innings to set up a victory bid in the fifth and final Ashes Test on Friday.
Australia secured a consolation victory in the final Test by an innings and 46 runs on Sunday before England captain Alastair Cook lifted the Ashes urn at the end of a dramatic and fluctuating series.
Stuart Broad took eight wickets as England skittled out Australia for 60 in a historically quick 111 balls and moved within sight of an Ashes-clinching win on the first day of the fourth Test at Trent Bridge.
Ian Bell guided England to an eight-wicket victory over Australia in the third test at Edgbaston on Friday to put the hosts 2-1 up in the series with two matches to play.
Stokes took three quick wickets late in the afternoon session to quash a brief Australian fightback and two more victims late in the day helped England restrict the touring side to 241 for seven at the close, still 90 runs behind the hosts.
England captain Alastair Cook is all set to break India's legendary batsman Sachin's Tendulkar's record by becoming the youngest batsman in the history of the game to score 10,000 Test runs. Cook is just 36 runs shy of reaching the milestone and once he gets there, he will also become the first English batsman to reach the feat. Cook will be targeting the mark in England's first Test against Sri Lanka at Headingley on Thursday. Tendulkar's 10,000th Test run came against Pakistan in Kolkata in March 2005, a little more than a month before his 32nd birthday. Cook meanwhile, turned 31 on Christmas Day last year, meaning if he scores the 36 runs required in the opening Test against the visiting Sri Lankans, he would have reached the 10,000 barrier five months younger than India's batting legend.
Chris Rogers fell for 95, failing to turn a half-century into a hundred for the seventh Test innings in a row as Australia ended the second day of the first Test on 264 for five, 166 behind England on Thursday.
England batsman Kevin Pietersen was awarded a silver bat on Friday, during the lunch break of Day 3 of the fifth Ashes Test at the Oval for becoming the highest run-scorer for England in all forms of the game.
England paceman James Anderson ripped shellshocked Australia to shreds with six wickets to bowl the tourists out for a paltry 136 on the first day of the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston on Wednesday.
Australia reduced England to 203 for six to move to the brink of a consolation victory on the third day of the final Ashes Test at The Oval on Saturday.
Ben Stokes took five wickets to put England on the verge of a famous victory that would win back the Ashes as Australia finished on 241 for seven after a compelling second day of the fourth Test at Trent Bridge on Friday.
Mitchell Johnson has set his sights on equalling the record of mentor Dennis Lillee after becoming just the fifth Australian to take 300 Test wickets last week.
Cricket Australia's high performance director Pat Howard has taken the blame for the Ashes capitulation and put himself forward as the first person to be held to account in a post-series review.
England captain Alastair Cook will be eyeing a place in history when his side's three-Test series with Sri Lanka begins in Leeds on May 19. Cook boasts 9,964 runs and is just 36 runs short of completing 10,000 runs in Test cricket. More notably, the 31-year old can eclipse master blaster Sachin Tendulkar's record of being the youngest to reach the 10,000-run feat. Tendulkar's 10,000th Test run came against Pakistan in Kolkata in March 2005, a little more than a month before his 32nd birthday. Cook meanwhile, turned 31 on Christmas Day last year, meaning if he scores the 36 runs required in the opening Test against the visiting Sri Lankans at Headingley, he would have reached the 10,000 barrier five months younger than India's batting legend. While Cook looks likely to become the youngest man to 10,000 Test runs, he won't be the fastest to reach the milestone in terms of innings played.
Although Steve Smith was named man of the match after scoring 273 runs it was Australia's rejuvenated pace bowlers who made the biggest statement in their side's brutal mauling of England in the second Ashes Test.
The Australian media were united in their view that the Mitchell Johnson-inspired humiliation of England at Lord's marked a decisive shift in the balance of power in the Ashes series.
Centurion Michael Clarke played a true captain's innings as Australia shrugged off another umpiring controversy to produce an Ashes fightback and rack up 303 for three on the first day of the third Test on Thursday.
Mitchell Johnson reopened old mental scars as Australia morally seized the Ashes lead with their thumping series-leveling victory over England at Lord's, Australia's media said as they reveled in the win.
Australia captain Michael Clarke said the way his side bounced back at the World Cup after their defeat by New Zealand should encourage them following a crushing loss in the first Ashes Test.
Australia railed at suggestions their team resembled a 'Dad's Army' but the evidence supplied by the first four Ashes Tests against England suggests it was not an unfair moniker.
England skipper Alastair Cook, who will make his 134th Test appearance in Chittagong against Bangladesh on Thursday, would reach yet another landmark in his illustrious career which has been continuously rewriting the record books. Four years ago, Cook captured the record for the most number of Test centuries by an England batsman. Later this year, he became the first Englishman to score 10,000 runs in the longest format of the game and now, he is set to overtake Alec Stewart as his country's most capped Test cricketer. After travelling 16,000 miles on a round-trip home to attend the birth of his second child, the left-hander is all set to lead the team in the first of seven successive Tests on the sub-continent between now and Christmas.
Australia captain Michael Clarke said he could not have asked for a better performance from his team following their 405-run mauling of England in the second Ashes Test at Lord's.
India captain Virat Kohli fell out of the top-10 while Ashwin climbed up the bowlers and well as the all-rounders' chart
Ian Bell joined an elite trio on Thursday with his third Ashes century in successive Tests after England had lost three cheap wickets on the opening day of the second Test against Australia at Lord's.
England fast bowler Steven Finn has replaced injured Liam Plunkett for the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford starting Thursday.
Supremely positive, aggressive and efficient, the Black Caps amply justified their status as the world's third-ranked Test side in a 1-1 draw with their hosts which fluctuated from the first ball to the last. New Zealand are a team to be reckoned with.
Tom Latham and Luke Ronchi lifted a New Zealand side bristling with attacking intent to 297 for eight at the close on a rain-disrupted first day of the second Test against England at Headingley on Friday.
Joe Root hit an unbeaten 102 and Moeen Ali impressed on his debut as England recovered from the loss of three early wickets to reach 344 for five on the first day of the opening Test against Sri Lanka at Lord's on Thursday.
Alastair Cook was always destined to break batting records and it was no surprise that he became England's Test run-scorer on Saturday, beating the record of his mentor and great friend Graham Gooch.
Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara has been named as the Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2015 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.
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