Cook looks round as Australia's Shane Watson attempts to catch
the ball during Sunday's play. Associated Press  In a way, the
Ashes series that concluded on Sunday went according to plan:
England won it, and both sides bowled better than they batted.
But on a match-by-match, day-by-day, session-by-session basis,
nothing about this series was predictable.  There were
unexpected passages of play throughout, games lurched in favor
of one team and back to the other, and three of them had
thrilling finishes: the first at Trent Bridge, the fourth at
Chester-le-Street and the fifth at The Oval. And while England
won the vital passages of play, the balance of the series wasn't
as clear-cut as the 3-0 score line suggests.  Statistically,
there wasn't much difference between the sides. England scored
just 121 runs more than Australia during the series, and lost
just four fewer wickets, with the hosts averaging 33.6 runs per
wicket to the visitors' 30.7. Moreover, Australia was supposed
to be a fine bowling side who cou