LAWRENCE BOOTH AT OLD TRAFFORD: Steve Smith accused England of playing into his hands after he continued to punish their bowling with a magnificent 211 in Manchester.

Trevor Bayliss will stand down from the role with England following the end of the Ashes, with the search for a successor among the ECB's high priorities.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT OLD TRAFFORD: Three late wickets, including Joe Root, left England's Ashes hopes hanging by a thread on Friday night as they battled to save the fourth Test.

NASSER HUSSAIN AT OLD TRAFFORD: Rory Burns strikes me as the kind of lad who goes away and looks at his issues. He works with a coach he trusts and solves problems.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT OLD TRAFFORD: Archer finished Australia's first innings with figures of none for 97, returning to earth with a bump after taking 13 wickets in his first two Tests.

BUMBLE AT THE TEST: Josh Hazlewood has put Australia in complete control of the fourth Ashes Test after grabbing three quick wickets late on during the third day at Old Trafford.

England have abandoned plans to rest senior players from the two-Test series in New Zealand that begins this winter as they start to again prioritise the ultimate format.

Australian cricketer David Warner has given a quick thinking response to a fan after being sledged in England during the Ashes test. 

CHIEF SPORTS WRITER: Steve Smith was still there. Turning our summer to autumn in the September chill. Taking away the Ashes. Infecting the glorious memories of the World Cup final.

RICHARD GIBSON AT OLD TRAFFORD: After the miracle of Headingley kept their Ashes hopes alive, England now need a marathon stonewall across the Pennines to stop Australia killing them off.

Australia retained the Ashes with a 185-run victory at Old Trafford despite some dogged resistance from England's lower order. Relive the action from day five with JAMES DUTTON.

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. 

BUMBLE AT THE TEST: Australia retain the Ashes and in truth they have been the better team. They planned well in advance and got their attack spot on.

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.

The 27-year-old has been in the UK supporting her boyfriend Nathan Lyon, 31, throughout the series. She shed tears of joy when Josh Hazlewood took the final wicket on Sunday

Sportsmail's Lawrence Booth assesses the performances of both sets of players after Australia got the better of England in the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford.

SPORTS AGENDA BY MIKE KEEGAN: England's footballers may well have been delighted last week when the FA announced a multi-year sponsorship deal with food delivery app Deliveroo.

MARTIN SAMUEL - CHIEF SPORTS WRITER: Some time around 2012, an internet movie geek unearthed what was quickly tagged the worst death scene in cinema history.

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.

After Australia beat England on Sunday, the team returned to the pitch after sunset for some raucous champagne celebrations.

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.

Justin Langer rejected suggestions Australia's Ashes celebrations at Old Trafford targeted England's Jack Leach for mockery, insisting the on-pitch party was a 'two out of 10' performance.

Failing to return the Ashes has led to Joe Root's position being discussed, particularly given his batting performances have been somewhat inconsistent.

Jimmy Anderson will consider changing his diet in a bid to prolong his Test career after the disappointment of missing the Ashes through injury - and has looked at the possibility of going vegan.

EXCLUSIVE BY MIKE KEEGAN: Sportsmail understands that hours of revealing footage has been collected from the last year, which includes Australia's trip to England for World Cup and Ashes.

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.

Jason Roy's Test future looks uncertain after he was dropped from Thursday's Ashes finale at The Oval, as England look to finish their summer with a series-squaring win over Australia.

NASSER HUSSAIN: What happens on the field over the next five days is hugely important because a 2-2 scoreline in the Ashes would be far better for England than 3-1 to Australia.

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

PAUL NEWMAN AT THE OVAL: For a short, sweet spell Jos Buttler produced a passable imitation of Kevin Pietersen's famous innings here at the Oval in the greatest of all Ashes series.

Mick Jagger cut a casual figure as he watched England take on Australia in the Ashes on Thursday.

Pat Cummins and Mitchell Marsh finished England's innings as the hosts were bowled out for 294 early on the second day at the Oval.

IAN HERBERT AT THE OVAL: As if this desultory Ashes summer had not punished David Warner enough, there was to be yet another indignity: an infernal delay as he waited in hope for deliverance.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT THE OVAL: Jofra Archer picked up the second six-wicket haul of his fledging Test career as England gave themselves hope of squaring the Ashes on a dramatic day at The Oval.

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.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT THE OVAL: There was a moment when a few critics were lured into the view that Jofra Archer was not, after all, the best thing that has happened to English cricket.

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

NASSER HUSSAIN AT THE OVAL: England fans may be entitled to ask where Sam Curran has been all this series after a very impressive effort with the ball.

Jofra Archer and Sam Curran combined to hand England a vital first-innings lead in the final Ashes Test, raising hopes of a series-levelling win at The Oval. Follow the action live with Sportsmail.

England set the stage for a series-levelling victory after setting a total of 399 for Australia to chase on the fourth day of the fifth and final Ashes Test. Follow the action live with Sportsmail.

NASSER HUSSAIN AT THE OVAL: The duel between Matthew Wade and Jofra Archer at the Oval typified a fantastically watchable series that has been great for cricket.

England beat Australia by 135 runs in the fifth Ashes test to see the series end as a draw after the tourists had already retained the urn. Sportsmail gives a rating to every player throughout the series.

BUMBLE AT THE TEST: England produced a fine bowling display to draw the Ashes series with a 135-run fifth Test victory at The Oval. Consecutive Joe Root catches signalled the end of an era.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT THE OVAL: Joe Root hailed a 'phenomenal' summer of cricket after England squared the Ashes at 2-2 almost exactly two months after England's World Cup win.