The Ashes: Why England can't win

"There are some forces in the universe so immutable that it takes something extraordinary to change them. Chief among these is the one that impels Australian captains not to lose the Ashes, something that had begun to look increasingly likely until Ricky Ponting arguably played the captain's innings of the 21st century at Old Trafford to save his team from defeat."

That was Derek Pringle response to the dramatic draw in the Third Ashes' Test.

He has a point.  It seems that Australia simply cannot lose the Ashes, and the Third Test draw in Old Trafford just goes to prove it.  The exciting match might have ended in a draw, but it was clearly a victory for the embattled Aussies and was a soul-destroying loss for England.  They threw absolutely everything at us, right up until the very last ball of the match, but couldn't knock us off.

Sure they got a skin of-their-teeth victory in Birmingham, but the scorecard did them no justice.  They comprehensively belted the Aussies in all areas of the game in that match, and still only scrapped through.  Think of that match as the minor aberration that proves the law- "England cannot win Ashes series."