Australia crushed England by seven wickets to win the third Ashes Test at Trent Bridge today with more than two days to spare and take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five match series.
Victory gave Australia the Ashes for the seventh successive series - a record equalled only by the England sides of 1884-1890 when Ashes campaigns were often made up of fewer than five Tests.
It was also Australia's 19th win in their last 21 Tests.
Mark Waugh was 42 not out off 45 balls and Damien Martyn 33 not out from 37. The pair shared an unbroken stand of 70 in 66 balls.
Australia finally secured the Ashes just before tea courtesy of an Andrew Caddick no-ball which pretty much summed up England's performance in the series so far.
Not that Australia vice-captain Adam Gilchrist was complaining. He found himself thrust into the limelight after captain Steve Waugh had to be taken to hospital with a calf injury.
"I don't know what the number one thing in Test cricket is but this is really, really special. It's a remarkable feeling," a joyful Gilchrist revealed.
"Obviously we wanted Damien (Martyn) to go out and settle the ship, which he did very well."
Gilchrist also paid tribute to the aggressive approach of openers Matthew Hayden and Michael Slater.
"All credit to Slater and Hayden for setting the tempo so confidently. If you lose early wickets in a run chase like that who knows what can happen - but they must have put some doubts into the England players' minds by the way in which they batted," he said.
For stand-in England captain Michael Atherton, deputising for the injured Nasser Hussain, it was another Ashes reverse in his seventh and, at 33, probably his last series against Australia.
"It's very disappointing. I thought in this Test match we gave it our all and I couldn't fault the team's attitude," said Atherton.