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Elmo Rodrigopulle reporting from Australia...

A magnificent spell of well controlled seam bowling by veteran Andrew Caddick 7 for 94 helped England to a face saving 225 run victory over Australia in the fifth and final Orange Ashes Test series at the SCG, yesterday.

Caddick was simply unplayable. He made maximum use of a wicket that had uncertain pace and bounce to bundle out the Aussies and put them in the losing end at last.

When Australia started the day on 91 for 3 requiring 361 for victory the stage was set for an exciting day's cricket. But Caddick put the issue beyond doubt when he had Andy Bichel LBW in the first over at 93. Bichel failed to add to his score of 49.

Then with the score on 99 Caddick got the big wicket of skipper Stephen Waugh who played on and the writing was on the wall for the home team. Waugh made six and it probably signalled the end of his illustrious

Test career although he led the Aussies to a 4-1 Ashes triumph and scored a fighting century of 102 to equal Sir Donald Bradman's 29 centuries. He also went past 10,000 runs joining the good company of Alan Border and Sunil Gavaskar.

After Waugh's dismissal it was just a matter of time before England could wrap up the match. They did it 30 minutes after lunch, although some resistance came from Damien Martyn 21, Martin Love 27, Adam Gilchrist 37 and a belligerent 46 from paceman Brett Lee who struck 9 fours and a six in 32 deliveries.

Australia lost their last 7 wickets for 135 runs to give England victory by 225 runs.

As for England they can be proud of this victory. After being bashed in the previous four Tests, they fought back gallantly not only to beat the kangaroos, but also stall them from winning 5-nil and inflicting a whitewash.

Although losing the series they had the honour of providing the Player-of-the-Series in opener Michael Vaughan who made three centuries - 177, 145 and 188.

Caddick finished with the dream figures of 7 for 94 and it was the 13th time he has taken 5 wickets and the fourth time he had done so against the old enemy and the first time in Australia.

On a wicket that was becoming increasingly difficult to play, the Aussies who had lost their three front liners on the previous day, could not cope with Caddick and Hoggard who exploited the wicket to the full to give the Aussies a dose of their own medicine.

Australia will argue that they did not have their two best bowlers in Shane Warne and Glen McGrath. But that is no excuse. It was their surprisingly poor catching where they dropped Butcher and Hussain very early in their innings and helped them put on 166 for the third wicket, recovering from 2 for 36 that caused them all problems. England.

England 1st innings 362 (M. Butcher 124, N. Hussain 75, A. Stewart 71; A. Bichel 3-86)

Australia 1st innings 363 (A. Gilchrist 133, S. Waugh 102; M. Hoggard 4-92, S. Harmison 3-70, A. Caddick 3-121)

England 2nd innings 452 for 9 declared (M. Vaughan 183, N. Hussain 72; S. MacGill 3-120, B. Lee 3-132)

AUSTRALIA 2ND INNINGS

J. Langer lbw b Caddick			 3
M. Hayden lbw b Hoggard			 2
A. Bichel lbw b Caddick			49
R. Ponting lbw b Caddick		11
D. Martyn c Stewart b Dawson		21
S. Waugh b Caddic			 6
M. Love b Harmison			27
A. Gilchrist c Butcher b Caddick	37
B. Lee c Stewart b Caddick		46
J. Gillespie not out			 3
S. MacGill b Caddick			 1

EXTRAS (b6, lb8, w3, nb3)		20

TOTAL 					226

Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-5, 3-25, 4-93, 
5-99, 6-109, 7-139, 8-181, 9-224, 10-226

Bowling: Hoggard 13-3-35-1 (1nb), Caddick 22-5-94-7, 
Harmison 9-1-42-1 (3w 2nb), Dawson 10-2-41-1

England won by 225 runs

Australia won series 4-1

Man-of-the-match: Michael Vaughan (Eng)

Umpires: David Orchard (Rsa) Russell Tiffin (Zim)

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