More than a trophy

The Australian cricket team will have woken up this morning to the confirmation that they are officially no longer the best Test side in the world. After a run of six years, not only have they lost the top spot in the ICC Test rankings to South Africa, but they have also slipped to fourth behind Sri Lanka and India, and just ahead of England.

In that light, an observer might wonder exactly why the Ashes are such a big deal. After all it's just a trophy contested by two countries - and two middle-ranking ones at that.

Well, the Ashes are to English and Australian cricket supporters what the North London derby is to Arsenal and Tottenham fans, or what the University Boat Race is to students of Oxford and Cambridge, or what England versus Scotland at pretty much any sport is. It doesn't matter whether it is a contest between the two best teams or two distinctly mediocre ones; it is important simply because it is representative of a historic rivalry which carries just a soupçon of enmity (and frequently a lot more) about it.

With the Ashes, this rivalry is magnified because it is only conducted (in Test form, at least) twice every four years, and because each series unfolds over the course of an entire summer and not a matter of minutes. There is ample opportunity for the story to ebb and flow; for stars to emerge and for the stories of supporting characters to be fleshed out; for raised hopes and false dawns, and for the tension to be slowly cranked up to a final, dramatic denouement. This is what makes the Ashes so special: it combines the adrenalin rush of a one-off derby match with the slow-burn, emotional investment of a league season.

This summer's series has been an exceptional one not because of the quality of the play, but because of the quality of the narrative, with the advantage swinging wildly from one team to another, and culminating in a fifth and final Test where England needed to win to regain the Ashes - and promptly delivered.

In a series between two well-matched sides, but which the visitors dominated in terms of individual statistics, Australia could be excused for wondering how this series slipped away from them. Their batsmen scored eight centuries to England's two; three of their bowlers took at least 20 wickets, whereas Stuart Broad led for England with just 18.

But, in hindsight, the series turned on three key passages of play, all of which went in England's favour. In Cardiff, Australia's bowlers failed to dislodge England's last wicket pair of Jimmy Anderson and Monty Panesar, as unlikely a pair of batting heroes as you will ever find, who saw out the final 69 balls of the first Test to preserve a draw. In the second Test at Lord's, with Australia chasing a target of 522 to win, the talismanic Andrew Flintoff took 5/92, breaking a 185-run partnership between Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin which had been turning the match in the tourists' favour. Finally, at the Oval on Friday, Flintoff's heir apparent Broad took five wickets in a devastating spell which reduced Australia from 73/0 to 111/7 and swung the pendulum decisively in England's favour.

In the final analysis, although the Aussies performed more consistently than England, they were found lacking inspiration at crucial junctures. And perhaps no single moment was more inspiring than Flintoff's match-turning intervention yesterday, breaking a burgeoning 127-run partnership between Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey with a glorious pick-up, throw and direct hit from mid-on to run out the Aussie captain by nearly a full yard. Somehow, despite providing little more than the odd crowd-pleasing cameo with bat and ball in his final Test, it was inevitable that 'Freddie' would provide the defining image of the day: standing statuesque, both arms thrust aloft in celebration, drinking in the adulation of a capacity Oval crowd.

And so ends a rollercoaster series in which England veered from near-disaster in Cardiff to momentum-turning triumph at Lord's; from being in command of a weather-affected draw at Edgbaston to the humiliation of an innings defeat at Headingley, and finally to four dramatic, nail-biting days in the must-win finale at the Oval. The overall quality may have been a notch or two down on the benchmark 2005 Ashes series; the spectacle, however, has been equally magnificent.

England will now travel to South Africa this winter for a series against the world's new number one Test side; however, the one truly important battle of the year has already been won.

After all, to paraphrase the words of the late Bill Shankly, the Ashes are not a matter of life and death; they are much more important than that.