Year Review: England team's performance in 2015

5. The urn returns:

All the talks were put to rest in just 14 cricketing days. Joe Root once again led the batting line up with a classic 134 in the first Ashes Test, as Australia went down for 242, chasing 412. The second Test was expected to be a competitive one, and Australia came back hard as expected. They won the second Test by a massive 405 runs and levelled the series.

The onus was on the England bowlers to stop the Kangaroos, and James Anderson responded in a brilliant manner. He scalped six wickets in the first innings while Steve Finn took six in the second innings. Stuart Broad joined the party in the fourth Test and that turned out to be the final nail in the coffin. He picked up 8/15, and his spell was surely one of the best of 2015.

Australia handed an innings defeat to Cook and his men in the final match, which turned out to be Michael Clarke’s last; but England were busy celebrating a win that was sweeter than any folds.

The World champions then turned into yellow and hunted down a fresh-footed English side, led by Eoin Morgan. England did well to make a comeback and showed promise, but Aussies wrapped up the series 3-2 and headed home with lots of questions and a trophy in hand.