Which was the spell of the English summer?

There were two questions ahead of this Test. Would England regain the Ashes? Would Stuart Broad reach 300 Test wickets? He was one wicket off but reached 301 by the end of the first over and finished with a career-best 8 for 15. Australia crashed to 60 all out and conceded the urn two days later.

Green pitch, overcast conditions, a new ball and James Anderson. Few combinations are deadlier as Australia found out. The high of dismissing England in 37 overs at Lord's evaporated as they were bundled out for two balls less and Anderson's 6 for 47 set up a three-day victory.

England fans have found a new firebrand allrounder to get excited by. Ben Stokes won them a Test against New Zealand with the bat, and here helped seal the Ashes with display of ridiculously good swing bowling that drew comparisons with Anderson.

Unselectable for two years, Man of the Match in an Ashes win. Steven Finn struck with the sixth ball of his comeback to remove then No. 1-ranked Steven Smith. He knocked Smith out again in the second innings and handed single-figure scores to three more Australia batsmen en route to 6 for 79, his best figures.

It was a fine spell of fast bowling - 5 for 85 in 34 overs - but it could not be a match-winning one because of Alastair Cook and his impeccable resolve. Trent Boult swung the ball both ways and troubled the England batsmen more than a bee in the helmet. Had he found the England captain's edge sooner than the 125th over, things could well have been different.

With the series on the line, Mitchell Marsh produced the best figures of the English summer in ODIs. After John Hastings made the early incisions, Marsh took over and helped bowl England out for 138 inside 25 overs to spearhead the victory that won the series for Australia.

In a mad cap innings, where England racked up their highest total in ODI history and later claimed their biggest margin of victory in terms of runs in ODIs, Trent Boult held his own. He dismissed England's top three and accounted for Ben Stokes at an economy rate under six.

Pat Cummins consistently hit speeds north of 90mph and troubled the England batsmen in an otherwise comfortable run chase. He struck with his second ball and finished with an impressive economy rate of 4.90 while James Pattinson and John Hastings were left nursing economy rates of over eight.

After losing the first two ODIs, England came back strongly through their spinners on a dry pitch at Old Trafford. Moeen Ali picked up career-best ODI figures and found an ably ally in Adil Rashid, who showed control as well as wicket-taking threat.

Taking the new ball in only his fifth ODI, the left-arm spinner undid Alex Hales, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan in seven balls before Johnny Bairstow and Sam Billings pulled off a heist.