Ashes 2010/11: Andrew Strauss says 'phenomenal team effort' was behind win

England travelled to Australia in 2010/11 with recent history hanging heavy on their bid to retain the urn they won under Andrew Strauss in 2009.

What followed was later described by Nasser Hussain as the best series he's ever covered. Bob Willis, Ian Botham, David Gower, Mike Atherton and Nas lived every ball and run from the Sky Sports commentary box as Strauss' men fought to break the mould.

As the Tests slipped by, it became clear that this was one exceptional contest...

Bob Willis: first Test, Brisbane - match drawn

It may not have been quite as dramatic a start to the series as Steve Harmison's first ball of the 2006/07 tour, but losing Andrew Strauss in the first over was quite some start to proceedings! My dominant memory, though, is of a very, very flat Gabba pitch - one that didn't really help any bowlers later on in the game - and England's top three putting down their batting marker in the second innings, dictating the terms against a pretty moderate Australian seam bowling attack and really exposing Ricky Ponting's captaincy for what it was, namely not very good without Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. England racked up 517-1 declared in their second innings and that gave England the belief that they could out-bat Australia.

Over the years England have shown at times a worrying tendency to get out for no reason at all on a flat pitch against a less-than-brilliant attack and that - taking into account Peter Siddle's hat-trick - was the story of their first innings. They need to avoid such slip ups in this summer's series; if they don't then Australia will steal a Test in this series.

Strauss: Getting out in the first over was obviously a horrendous way to start the series and I came perilously close to bagging a pair in the second innings before going on and getting a hundred. It's never a bad thing to score a hundred, put your feet up and watch your team fill their boots.

There aren't many moments in cricket where you feel like you've earned the right to relax and enjoy watching cricket but that was one of those moments and it was so enjoyable to see the Aussies run out of steam and ideas on the back of some incredible batting and concentration from Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott.

Ian Botham: second Test, Adelaide - Eng win by inns & 71 runs

There were many high points in this series for England but for me the Adelaide Test stands out because this was when we asserted our authority and put Australia firmly in their place.

England sent out all the right messages from the start as Australia - who had chosen to bat first, remember - found themselves rocking on the ropes within 40 minutes of the game starting.

It was a pretty special effort to get Australia 2-3 and without a classy knock from Michael Hussey the game could have been up before it had begun. Poor old Straussy missed out as England put Australia's 245 into context with Kevin Pietersen (227) and Alastair Cook (148) grinding the Aussies into the dust, which was great to see.

Australia never looked like making England bat again and while Graeme Swann picked up five, it was a great all-round display by England's attack. A very sweet victory and one-nil to England!

Strauss: This was a huge win for us and reinforced the belief that we could go on and win on Australian soil; we felt that we were in a different position from recent England sides of the past. To win by an innings on a very flat wicket in Adelaide was an extr