Ruthless England polish off Australia, regain the Ashes

NOTTINGHAM - England ripped out the last three Australia wickets for 12 runs to win the fourth Test by a crushing innings and 78 runs at Trent Bridge on Saturday and regain the Ashes. Ben Stokes had Mitchell Starc caught by Ian Bell at second slip for nought and Mark Wood bowled Josh Hazlewood for a duck. Wood produced another ferocious full-pitched delivery to shatter Nathan Lyon's stumps and complete the rout, sparking wild celebrations on the pitch and all around the ground. "It's unbelievable. I couldn't be happier," England captain Alastair Cook told reporters. England lost the last Ashes series in Australia in 2013-14 5-0 and the touring side had been strong favourites to retain the famous urn. "For what we've been through over the last 18 months, to play like we did has been fantastic," Cook said. "I'm so proud of this young team and the way they've taken this opportunity." Adam Voges was left unbeaten on 51 in Australia's total of 253. "Our goal was to come here and try and have some success," Australia captain Michael Clarke said at the presentation ceremony after announcing that he will retire at the end of the final test in the series. "Alastair Cook and the England team deserve a lot of credit -- they've shown us how to execute good swing and seam bowling. "It's not for want of trying but the boys have been beaten by a better side. "England when they've had momentum have grabbed it with both hands and ran with it. James Anderson and Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes in this game showed what you need to do in games like this. "Once you find the edge you need to hang on to those chances and England have done that really well." England lead the series 3-1 with one match to play. SCOREBOARD 

Australia 1st innings 60             (S. Broad 8-15)                               
England   1st innings 391 for 9 decl (J. Root 130, J. Bairstow 74; M. Starc 6-111) 
Australia 2nd innings (Overnight: 241-7)
C. Rogers                       c Root b Stokes             52  
D. Warner                       c Broad b Stokes            64  
S. Smith                        c Stokes b Broad            5   
S. Marsh                        c Root b Stokes             2   
M. Clarke                       c Bell b Wood               13  
A. Voges                        not out                     51  
P. Nevill                       lbw b Stokes                17  
M. Johnson                      c Cook b Stokes             5   
M. Starc                        c Bell b Stokes             0   
J. Hazlewood                    b Wood                      0   
N. Lyon                         b Wood                      4   
Extras                          (b-20 lb-16 nb-3 w-1)       40  
Total                           (all out, 72.4 overs)       253 
Fall of wickets: 1-113 C. Rogers,2-130 D. Warner,3-136 S. Marsh,4-136 S. Smith,5-174 M. Clarke,6-224 P. Nevill,7-236 M. Johnson,8-242 M.Starc,9-243 J. Hazlewood,10-253 N. Lyon
Bowling                    
S. Broad                        16 - 5 - 36 - 1                 
M. Wood                         17.4 - 3 - 69 - 3(nb-2 w-1)     
S. Finn                         12 - 4 - 42 - 0(nb-1)           
B. Stokes                       21 - 8 - 36 - 6                 
M. Ali                          6 - 0 - 34 - 0                  
Referees                   
Umpire: Aleem Dar                                               
Umpire: Sundaram Ravi                                           
TV umpire: Marais Erasmus                                       
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle                                 
Result: England won by an innings and 78 runs. –Reuters