Aussies' all-round bowling demolition job

Australia's bowling quartet of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon will go down as one of the most well rounded in history.

Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins pose.

Australia's Ashes-winning bowling quartet will go down as one of the best in history. (AAP)

The Mitchell Johnson horror show gave way to the most well rounded bowling quartet in Australian Test history as Australia hammered home their 4-0 Ashes advantage.

While Johnson claimed the most wickets by an Australian at home in a five-match Ashes series four years ago with his 37 wickets, Australia's core group of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon all claimed at least 20 this summer.

It marked just the third time in Test history four bowlers had topped the marks across the series, and the first time across a five-Test tour that all wickets had been shared across four bowlers.

"It just showed that the guys have bowled together as a group," captain Smith said,

"They've bowled in partnerships, bowled for one another and helped us take the 80 wickets we've needed to win the four Test matches."

Australia's well-rounded attack nagged away at England throughout the series, pulling the visitors back any time they threatened to get away with the match.

With the exception of the first innings in Melbourne, England failed to bat for more than 120 overs and only three times did a visiting batsman reach three figures.

Starc and Cummins provided the heat and bounce with their left and right-armers, while Hazlewood also saw an increase in speed amidst his nagging accuracy.

Then there was Lyon, who sent down more than 260 overs this summer, and 61 maidens for his 21 scalps.

"We are all really close and played a lot of cricket today," Cummins said.

"Nathan Lyon, he has held up his end. It means the three of us can run in attack and not thinking about much else. It has been great fun."

It was the kind of attack England would have killed for.

None of the English featured in the top four wicket-takers for the series, James Anderson the highest with 17 as he and Stuart Broad sent down the most overs in both the pair's history for any series.

BOWLING ATTACKS TO TAKE 20 WICKETS EACH IN A SERIES:

Australia v England, 2017-18: Pat Cummins (23), Mitchell Starc (22), Josh Hazlewood (21), Nathan Lyon 21

Australia v England, 2006-07: Stuart Clark (26), Shane Warne (23), Glenn McGrath (21), Brett Lee (20)

West Indies v England, 1995: Ian Bishop (27), Courtney Walsh (26), Kenneth Benjamin (23), Curtly Ambrose (21).


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Source: AAP



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