The ashes 2013 Features

Before the series, one bookmaker gave 100-1 odds of Australia winning 5-0 against England, which had been undefeated in a Test match in 2013 and had won the previous three Ashes series.

As Australia partied long and loud at the Sydney Cricket Ground and England sloped off to face a barrage of criticism, the numbers revealed the sheer scale of the hosts' superiority.

Australia's 5-0 whitewash of England was scripted mainly by three heroes - Mitchell Johnson, Brad Haddin and Ryan Harris, each of whom is well past 30 years of age.

The Ashes series Down Under had no shortage of controversy. Here is a look at the top five occasions when the ugly side of things came to the forefront.

James Anderson, 31, had his best day of the series, taking three for 50 and leading the way for the tourists as they bid to prevent Australia from sweeping the series 5-0 after already relinquishing the Ashes.

Graeme Swann shocked the cricket world on Sunday by announcing his immediate retirement mid-way through the already doomed series with Australia, sending social media into a twitter over the timing.

Thirty-somethings Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann and James Anderson, along with captain Alastair Cook, all went missing as Australia won emphatically in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

Darren Lehmann has been the instigator of a reinvigoration of Australian cricket in just six months, since stepping into the hot seat vacated by the sudden sacking of Mickey Arthur.

The astonishing revival of Mitchell Johnson has evoked memories of the bygone era of lethal quicks Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson 40 years ago.

The moustachioed left-arm speedster Mitchell Johnson has been a constant threat for the tourists, who are almost certain to go 2-0 down in the five-Test series, with one pundit predicting the Ashes could be decided in a total of just 11 days.