Ashes glory.

a position at 217 for two with The Oval crowd increasingly nervy and thoughts turning realistically to the prospect of a triumphant record run chase? Where will Ponting go from here? Not home to Australia any time soon if he has any sense after becoming the first Australian captain since Bill Murdoch in 1990 to lose two Ashes series in England.

Maybe it is harsh to conclude that Ponting threw away The Ashes when he took on Flintoff's throw.

But Australia were progressing so serenely, so doggedly that the impossible was becoming merely the highly improbable. There was no need to take risks. At that stage some might even have been backing the fact that Aussie sportsmen are not renowned for rolling over. Do not know the meaning of surrender.

Even early setbacks when openers Simon Katich and Shane Watson went within the space of four balls only seemed to heighten the resolve.

Australian jaws were jutted, teeth gritted. And nervous murmurs reverberated around the ground as Ponting and Hussey went remorselessly on in heroic fashion.

Yet great sporting prizes often turn on twists of fate. Invariably wrest on iconic moments. Moments determined by fractions of inches.

The irony at the Oval was that two more of the tightest decisions seen this series were to follow in swift succession. First, Michael Clarke being dismissed after his leg glance hit Alastair Cook on the foot and ricocheted to Andrew Strauss who palmed the ball on to the wicket.

Then Marcus North being stumped by Matt Prior in the tightest of decisions.

But that, after the whitewash and humiliation of 2007, is what has made this such a compelling series.

Heroic batting such as the 121 of Hussey. Brilliant bowling such as Stuart Broad's five wickets in that unforgettable spell on Saturday afternoon.

The hostile spell thrown in by Steve Harmison as the shadows drew in to prise out Australia's tail.

And, of course, the brilliant fielding of Flintoff. What a match. What a series. What an ending. For England and Flintoff. Sport simply does not come better than that.

CAPTION(S):

Last throw of the dice: This is the moment England won The Ashes, Australia captain Ricky Ponting run out by Andrew Flintoff who (inset) throws his floppy hat in the air.