Ashes: Five ways to go four up

1. FIRST UP, LET'S PLAN

"Who the hell's going to do the planning?" Geoffrey Boycott's blunt question after England's defeat was rather awkward for James Anderson to handle.

The Aussies, though, had no such questions to ponder upon, for they had their planning and priorities set well in advance.

The Australian team management knew that for them to regain the Ashes, they needed to have their pace battery firing on all cylinders. More importantly, they needed to have them fit. And so began the process of keeping them fresh.

Mitchell Starc was rested for Australia's last Test series, against Bangladesh in August-September. Josh Hazlewood suffered a side strain in the same series, and he was wrapped in a cotton wool since.

It ensured the pace trio was on the button right from the start of the series, and save Starc missing the fourth Test, remained on the button throughout, both skill and fitness wise.              

England, on the flipside, had no Plan B to ensure the absence of Ben Stokes had minimal impact, despite being aware of the scenario well in advance.

2. WINNING THE KEY MOMENTS

Almost every player that spoke after the final Test – on either side – mentioned about Australia winning the key moments. What were those key moments?

The nervy periods where the game was right in the balance, till the hosts got an opening, swung it their way ever so slightly and ran away with it thereafter.

In the first Test, England were 246/4 before Australia cracked it open with a wicket and bundled them out for 302.

The script went along similar lines in the third rubber, where the visitors were 368/4 only to be eventually shot out for 403 on a flat deck.

Australia won those key moments with the willow too, with someone standing up to weather the storm the few times it hit them. The Adelaide Test was one such example: going from 294/6 to 442/8 declared courtesy Shaun Marsh's ton and 50s and 40s from Tim Paine and Pat Cummins. England fought, especially in the first three Tests, but Australia flew once they got the wings.              

3. VARIETY IN THE PACE ATTACK

Left-arm fiery pacer who can also swing the ball (conventional and reverse) both ways, right-arm supremely accurate bowler who can hit a coin on the same spot all day, right-arm seriously express bowler who can intimidate batsmen with the short stuff at 150 kmph.

That's Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins in a nutshell.

Unlike in the 2013-14 series where Mitchell Johnson completely ripped the English batsmen apart almost single-handedly, there was no one standout bowler for the Australians this time around.

That each member of the pace attack picked up at least 20 wickets in the series – as also did Nathan Lyon – shows how effective they all were individually as well as in unison.

England, on the other hand, came in with a largely one-dimensional attack, with none of their fast bowlers offering that extra pace or change of angle. The experienced duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad were the most disappointing.

4. SMITH WINS LEADERSHIP BATTLE

Even before the series began, there was one undisputed fact: if Australia were to snatch the Ashes, Steve Smith had to score runs; if England were to keep the Ashes, Joe Root had to score runs. Both scored runs, but at completely different levels of the scale.

If there was one thing in common between the two captains, it was that both had just one single digit score in the series. But that's where the similarity ends.

Smith translated those starts into surge, Root translated them into stutter. Smith converted those starts into three hundreds including a daddy double, Root converted them into five fifties and a grand total of zero tons. Smith steadied the ship and took it to the shores, Root steadied the ship and abandoned it midway.

The leadership battle, both with the bat and on the tactics, was won well and truly by Smith.

5. LYON ADDS SPIN TO THE TALE

A lot was spoken about Australia's fearsome pace trio and how their would set the pace – quite literally – in the series, but it was Nathan Lyon who proved to be a key game-changer in Australia's bowling attack.

Lyon might not possess a doosra or magic ball like most modern-day off-spinners, but he has the unique ability to outsmart batters with subtle changes in flight, length and pace as well as clever use of the bowling crease.

He put all that and more to optimum use throughout the series, returning with 21 wickets on pitches that offered nothing for the spinners except bounce.

Not only did Lyon back his pacers up with equal quality and accuracy, he also broke some threatening partnerships at crucial junctures to ensure Smith didn't even have to look at a fifth bowler throughout the series.

Moeen Ali, on the other hand, seemed a mouse in comparison to Lyon. Known to struggle against spin, the Aussies were hardly troubled by Ali in the series.