England didn't have a chance - Ponting

Ricky Ponting: 'I couldn't have come up with anything better than this' © Getty Images

Even if England had played to their potential during the Ashes series they would have had no chance of overturning Australia according to Ricky Ponting. He said his team's astonishing desire and discipline had made them an irresistible force during the past six weeks.

Ponting said it felt "incredible" to seal a 5-0 series victory, the first Ashes whitewash in 86 years, adding that it was deserved due to Australia's meticulous preparation. "If I had been allowed to write my own script for this series, I couldn't have come up with anything better than this," Ponting wrote in the Sydney-based The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

"It's been mistake-free, high-pressure stuff and we've worked hard for it. It's not like we turned up and expected our talent to win games. We prepared as well as we possibly could, worked hard and got our just rewards. I would say that our discipline was the key. We've done all the little things really well. Our running between the wickets was great, our fielding, generally, was sharp. Our bowling was terrific.

"Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath will dominate the headlines - and rightly so - but Stuart Clark's also been unbelievable. Our batting, when we had a partnership going, was relentless. All the disciplines of Test cricket, really. We just didn't give England a chance."

Ponting praised McGrath as better than Curtly Ambrose and Shaun Pollock, while he said Warne's special talent lay in anticipating what stroke the batsman would attempt.

"As for England's performances, people will look at the scoreline and think that they crumbled," Ponting wrote. "It's hard for me to judge. I don't know their players and wouldn't like to comment on their character or lack of it. All I know is that at different times in this series we had to play exceptional cricket.

"I've been lucky enough to have played in lots of winning teams, but this one has been special. To be able to walk up to your bowlers, tell them what you want, set a few field positions and then see it all come off; from a captain's point of view, it doesn't get any better. The execution was perfect."