By David Clough

England inched over the line at The Oval to win the Ashes for the first time in 18 years.

Here PA Sport's David Clough examines the telling factors in the outcome of an agonising, see-saw series.

The tale of the 2005 Ashes has boasted all the blockbuster attributes of a box-office hit - replete with a 'keep 'em guessing' conclusion in which the underdogs ultimately prevailed.

Big names - Warne, Flintoff, Lee, Vaughan and Ponting - have had to scrap for limelight ahead of emerging stars.

There has been far-fetched intrigue - the Edgbaston tornado which fooled the Aussie captain, the stray cricket ball which felled Glenn McGrath at that same venue - as well as intricate plot lines converging to throw up the tightest of finishes.

The memory stretches credibility as it scrolls back two months to a landslide victory for Australia in the first Test at Lord's, after which the sages were hinting at 5-0 humiliation for the hosts.

Back then, all was still right with the world for Australia as they sought to put their disconcerting NatWest limited-overs struggles behind them.

McGrath was fit and firing; middle-order men Michael Clarke and Simon Katich were beginning to repay the selectors' faith - and, of course, Shane Warne was still taking wickets.

Only the final part of that equation was to stand the test of time this summer, with record-breaker Warne equally as dangerous today on the eve of his 36th birthday as he was when he first announced his world-class talent back in 1993.

The big problem for Australia, though, is that Warne's enduring talent has been just about their only successful constant.

McGrath's slip on that practice ball before Edgbaston - ankle-ligament damage ruled him out of Birmingham, and an elbow injury forced him to miss the fourth Test at Trent Bridge too - has been perhaps the single most debilitating blow to the erstwhile all-conquering Aussies.

But the conspicuous collapse in opener Matthew Hayden's form lasted until his first-innings hundred in the final Test, and the reliable run source of Damien Martyn has dried up almost completely as this series has progressed.

To highlight the Australians' failings without factoring in England's improvement is, however, a huge dis-service to Michael Vaughan's team.

Andrew Flintoff's contribution has been immense, and the fact he stands beside Ian Botham as the only Englishman to have topped 300 runs and 20 wickets in an Ashes series is an accurate indication of his stature.

Flintoff's attributes are many, but none is more important than his tireless will to compete and prevail.

It is a quality common to Botham and also shared by Warne. In fact, there has been no better spectacle this summer than watching England's premier contemporary all-rounder come to terms with the wiles of Warne - conquering early frailty to take the attack to the master leg-spinner.

Kevin Pietersen had initial success with his commitment to the "positive" until he appeared to become counter-productively embroiled in his private set-to with Warne and failed to adhere to the basics of keeping his tremendous eye on the ball.

While Flintoff stands alone as a near unqualified success with bat and ball, perhaps just as important has been the improvement out of all recognition by Simon Jones.

Once a tearaway speedster who bowled much too short, Jones' bowling is now characterised by a nagging line and fullish length ... and his unrivalled knack of finding the reverse-swing which has so unsettled the Aussie middle order.

He, Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard have close on eliminated the match-winning potential of Adam Gilchrist's destructive middle-order strokeplay.

That stifling of Gilchrist has not won this Test series on its own but it is symptomatic of the way England have managed to counteract and contain so many of the threats posed by Australia.

Vaughan has been able to turn to a 'man-marker' for each of Australia's batsman - while everyone in the England order has risen to the challenge of facing Brett Lee and McGrath.

Only Warne has carried on regardless. But he has found himself swimming against the tide, with only fleeting assistance from his team-mates.

One man, no matter how talented or determined, cannot do it all on his own.

'Team' England, meanwhile, have played to their considerable strengths; they have had the good fortune too to maximise their potential thanks to a near injury-free summer - and that is how and why they have narrowly sneaked the verdict against an off-colour Australia.