LAWRENCE BOOTH AT OLD TRAFFORD: Joe Root insisted he was still the right man to captain England, despite Australia regaining the Ashes on a tense final day in Manchester.

NASSER HUSSAIN: The way that England have played their Test cricket in recent years, they were always going to be found out by a high-class bowling attack.

PAUL NEWMAN AT OLD TRAFFORD: Australia have retained the Ashes with victory over England in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, claiming their first away series win since 2001. 

Steve Smith said retaining the Ashes in England was one to tick off his bucket list after Australia beat their traditional rivals by 185 runs to win the fourth test at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Sportsmail columnists Nasser Hussain, David Lloyd, Lawrence Booth and Paul Newman answer the big questions for England's Test team after they failed to regain the Ashes.

Brian Mullins' mother and daughter wanted to honor his free-spirited nature after he died of a heart attack in March. So they cremated him and put his ashes in a bottle to send him on one last adventure.

Kevin Pietersen has branded England's Ashes cult hero Jack Leach a 'laughing stock' and claims the spinner could have done more to prevent Australia retaining the urn.

A spectator reportedly left the ground on the second day on Thursday after hearing a section of supporters sing a racist song about England's Barbados-born bowler Jofra Archer.

PAUL NEWMAN: There have not been many England captains handed the chance to win a third Ashes series after losing his first two in charge but Joe Root could be the exception.

Steve Smith's glorious Ashes has raised calls from some fans and pundits for his restoration to the Australia captaincy but incumbent Tim Paine has no plans to hand over the reins quietly.

PAUL NEWMAN AT THE OVAL: Root wore the tired, almost haunted, look of many an England captain coming to the end of the road as he tried to summon up one last effort on Wednesday.

DAVID LLOYD AT THE OVAL: England's batting line-up is flimsy. At 130 for two, you would have thought it would be plain sailing for them, with most of the top order getting starts

BUMBLE AT THE TEST: Finally I have an answer to my question. How do you get Steve Smith out? A straight one from Chris Woakes. Simple.

When Sam Curran ran in at Mitch Marsh at a packed Oval yesterday it was somewhat different to their first cricketing encounters.

PAUL NEWMAN AT THE OVAL: What a way to end England's longest season and what a catch from the flying figure of Joe Root to complete a victory that sees the first drawn Ashes since 1972.

The biggest cricket summer in living memory provided an unforgettable World Cup triumph and one of the greatest Tests of all time at Headingley. 

Joe Root has declared his desire to continue as England Test captain despite a failure to win back the Ashes from Australia after a drawn series.

He had a disastrous time at the Ashes in England, scoring just a measly 95 runs. 

The Ashes star was seen with his hand in wife Clare Stokes' face at the Professional Cricketers' Association Awards Anniversary party in London last Wednesday.

LAWRENCE BOOTH IN WHANGAREI: Chris Woakes intends to make himself undroppable as England weigh up whether to pick him or Sam Curran at No 8 in next week's first Test against New Zealand.

The 1000-year-old Allerton Oak in Calderstones Park, Liverpool, will represent the UK in the European Tree of the Year contest which begins in February.

After playing an angel and God himself, where else can you go? To the Dark Ages - that's where Daniel Radcliffe and Steve Buscemi are headed next in season two of TBS's Miracle Workers.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT MOUNT MAUNGANUI: Make no mistake: BJ Watling, who brought up his eighth Test hundred an hour into the evening session, played superbly.

NASSER HUSSAIN: There is no doubt Joe Root is a phenomenal batsman. The point has always been whether the captaincy is in his or, crucially, England's best interests.

Craig Overton, Olly Stone and Saqib Mahmood are said to be the pace trio identified for the long-term care programmes which the ECB are planning to put in place in a bid to regain the Ashes.

NASSER HUSSAIN: Jofra Archer was so exceptional in the way he burst on to the scene that everyone assumed he was the finished article and would soon be the next Kagiso Rabada or Dale Steyn.

EXCLUSIVE: This week Sir Ian Botham will join friends at an Adelaide vineyard to help scatter the ashes of his great mate and longtime brother-in-arms Bob Willis.

Alistair Shipsey said his uncle Ivan Milat is a 'victim' and initially suggested his ashes be scattered in Belanglo State Forest, near Sydney, where the hitchhikers he murdered were found.

EXCLUSIVE BY MATT BARLOW: The chairman of Truro City is not easily fazed. He has won the Ashes Down Under and faced the West Indies pacemen at Perth.

NASSER HUSSAIN: You have to think outside the box at times like this and Sky had the idea of trying to emulate Gogglebox with their look at the last day at Headingley.

Stokes was due to be playing with Smith this month for the Rajasthan Royals but the IPL has been postponed indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of sporting her signature long, raven tresses, the 38-year-old reality superstar and makeup mogul had her hair styled into a short chocolate brown coif with caramel-colored highlights.

Connie Talbot has returned to Britain's Got Talent, 12 years after making the 2007 final with her angelic voice.

Mike Bushell and his wife Emily have hit back at trolls on Twitter who have slammed the BBC Breakfast presenter after he was saved on Strictly Come Dancing at the weekend.

The compère, who has also worked on X Factor, entered rehab last month after celebrities including Simon Cowell and Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly helped pay towards his treatment.

President Trump blasted former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch in a series of tweets an hour into her Capitol Hill testimony.

Witnesses said the man, thought to be in his 20s, fell onto the Victoria Line at Oxford Circus in Central London amid a chaotic rush hour bustle on the platform at about 5.30pm.

Rob Schneider tweeted Monday in his anti-vax rant: 'Democrats and Main Stream Media tell us to, "Believe Women!" But do NOT believe the Women who ... witnessed their precious child injured.'

Sydney Whitson, from Oklahoma, shared her anonymous co-worker's excuse online, which showed a dubious looking nail in a tire. Many social media users were left in hysterics over the post.

The DJ, 61, tweeted her frustrations at the campaign, which gives teenagers free tampons, saying her mother used to use 'old rags' and still went on to go to university and become a headteacher.

Alastair Stewart - who was the longest serving male newsreader in the country - has stepped down after a 44-year career in television, admitting he made a 'misjudgement which I regret'.

Abigail Disney has weighed in on Kobe Bryant's controversial past, after actress Evan Rachel Wood and a Washington Post journalist were berated for tweeting about a rape allegation.

More than 16,000 people have signed a UK petition demanding Alastair Stewart, 67, gets his job of more than 40 years back and that his accuser Martin Shapland, 34, makes a public apology.

Nazir Afzal, a former CPS prosecutor, posted on Twitter hitting out at online trolls and explaining why the CPS decides to prosecute cases when a complaint has been withdrawn.

Trump brought up possible treatments including 'injecting' cleaning agents in the body and use of ultraviolet lights at Thursday's White House press briefing.

Serbia and Albania can expect severe punishments after UEFA launched an investigation into a night of violence in Belgrade, described as ‘inexcusable’ by Michel Platini.

Albania claim their players were assaulted by fans, stewards and police in Belgrade at the now-infamous Euro 2016 qualifier against Serbia which was abandoned after the violent scenes.

France players including Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris were put through their paces at a training camp in Clairefontaine ahead of their international friendly with Albania on Saturday.

An impressive display from minnows Albania earned their first ever victory against France. The Euro 2016 hosts fell to the shock defeat courtesy of a sublime free-kick from youngster Ergys Kace.

A court ruling for appeals filed by the Serbian and Albanian football federation against UEFA sanctions after their European Championship qualifier was abandoned is expected by July 10.