The Ashes 2010: Andrew Strauss hails England's team effort

Andrew Strauss cherished English cricket's "holy grail" after his team retained the Ashes with an innings victory inside four days of the fourth Test . "It has to be up there," said the England captain of his personal satisfaction at the triumph, explaining how the months of meticulous planning and hard work had all been worth it in the end. The win, which came with more than five sessions to spare , arrived on the back of a supreme collective bowling effort – led by Tim Bresnan and his match figures of six for 75 – and Jonathan Trott's unbeaten 168 with the bat. Australia never remotely threatened to come up with a significant response and Strauss spoke with evident pride at his team's achievement. • Interactive guide to all the Ashes venues • Sign up now for our weekly email The Spin • How to stay awake during the Tests • Follow our daily blog throughout the Ashes • The latest news and comment on our Ashes site "The pressure of the situation – a Boxing Day Test, massive Test match, huge atmosphere, Ashes on the line – for the bowlers to perform the way they did on the first morning was outstanding," he said. "Trotty then stood up with the bat, because we realised this was our chance to hammer it home. From that position, it was always going to be hard not to win the game." England will need to win or draw at the SCG to win the series in Australia for the first time in 24 years. But they have already accomplished the first part of their mission by keeping hold of the urn they won at home 16 months ago. "Winning the Ashes in Australia has always been a bit of a holy grail for English sides," said Strauss. "We haven't won the series yet, but have retained the urn – which was one of our primary goals. The players deserve everything they get, because they've stood up when it matters. The backroom staff have prepared us well, and we sit here today feeling like a lot of hard work has paid dividends for us." England's victories have both come by an innings, at Melbourne and Adelaide. They drew the first match in Brisbane with an outstanding rearguard batting performance, but lost by 267 runs in Perth last week. "Two of the Tests we've played [here] have been two of the best I've been involved with," Strauss said. "We've played some outstanding cricket – obviously Perth was a bit of a come-back-down-to-earth and a reminder that we aren't the finished article yet. "You turn up in Australia knowing it will be hard work, so the guys have dug really deep and deserve what they've got so far. It's immensely satisfying." The England coach, Andy Flower, also congratulated his players on the historic win, but was quick to remind them the series is not over yet. "Of course I'm very proud and the team are very proud of what they've achieved here and justifiably so," he said. "They've played some very good cricket throughout the series. We had a blip in Perth but came back strongly here. "But there's still another game in this series and now is perhaps not the time to be looking back and patting each other on the back. We want to win the final game and leave the series with a win, 3-1. We certainly don't want to lose that game." Flower also believes the Ashes success bodes well for the future, although he insists there is still a lot of hard work to be done with a busy schedule ahead of them. "I don't know how far this group can go but it's certainly a very talented bunch," he added. "We have a lot of challenges in the near future – the last Test, the one-day series and then the World Cup. The World Cup is a very important event for us so the guys will have to remain very fit and focused."