Cricket-England retain the Ashes with fourth test victory

England retained the Ashes with victory over Australia by an innings and 157 runs in the fourth test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Wednesday.

The win gave the tourists a 2-1 lead in the series with just the Sydney test remaining, guaranteeing they would return home from Australia with the Ashes for the first time since 1986-87.

After the drawn first test in Brisbane, England won the second in Adelaide by an innings and 71 runs and the hosts took the third by 267 runs in Perth.

(For the sports blog Left Field go to: http://blogs.reuters.com/sport))

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