‘My time is done, and my achievements will stand. We have pulverised England into submission.’ – Warwick Armstrong, 1921

The town of Bowral, 85 miles south-west of Sydney is well known in the Southern Highlands for its boutiques, antique stores, gourmet restaurants, and thriving coffee culture.

In a past era, Bowral acted as pastoral haven for the urban gentry of Sydney.

Bowral to cricket lovers is universally connected with Sir Donald Bradman.

In the Bowral Oval, a prim, clipped building with an immaculate grey tiled roof are many items on show to the everlasting memory of The Don.

Yet it was an oversized white Australian Test cricket shirt that drew my attention the day I visited, after a close friend got married in the town a few years back.

I stood and marvelled at the sheer size of the top. Before I looked at the name of its owner I shook my ruefully and wondered who could have played top level cricket with such a frame.

It became clear once I read the name of the man who had once worn it with such fierce pride: Warwick Armstrong.

An Australian who shovelled coal in the boileroom of a liner bound for England and a triumphant Ashes tour.

On his return to Australia, the ‘Big Ship’ as he was nicknamed was met by large crowds.

At one particular reception, the then Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes said of him:

“If ever there was a man singled out as a king of sport it was Mr Armstrong, who had…returned (from England) like Imperial Caesar – who came, saw and conquered.”

The English team who faced the Australians down under in 1920/21, led by Johnny Douglas were simply no match for Armstrong’s side, who prevailed in all five Tests, thereby gaining the first and only Ashes whitewash for 86 years.

Armstrong showed majestic form throughout the Test series scoring 474 runs at an average of over 77 including three centuries – 158 in Sydney, 121 in Adelaide and 123 not out in Melbourne.

It was said that ahead of batting in the second innings at Sydney, he was witnessed, “padded up, and drinking whisky with his mates at the members’ bar”.

And after Australian had clinched the series he uttered those immortal words: “My time is done, and my achievements will stand. We have pulverised England into submission.”

I wonder what he would have made of the 2013/14 Ashes Series?

If cricket has taught me anything it has taught me the value of teamwork, of loyalty, of being a gracious winner and an even better loser.

It has instilled in me an integrity, pride and humility and a feeling – however browbeaten at times it may be – that the game of cricket, in England, certainly in Australia, and everywhere else it is played, means something.

So, congratulations must go to a ferociously determined Australian team.

To a reborn and rejuvenated Mitchell Johnson, to a metronomic Peter Siddle, to an impish Nathan Lyon and a tough and tenacious Ryan Harris.

Kudos also to Michael Clarke’s thought-provoking captaincy and batting, to David Warner, who deserved plaudits for channelling his aggression into hugely devastating batting and of course the heroic Brad Haddin, a true Aussie gladiator who’s figures will stand the test of time along with his never say die courage and cricketing savvy.

And of course as a Middlesex man the sheer dogged determination of the redoubtable Chris Rogers – has there ever been a more deserving recipient of a century at the MCG?

I interviewed him for The Roar after the last Ashes series, and although you could tell he was hurting, his sheer pride in representing his country and in wearing the baggy green provided the motivation to make amends down under. Which he most certainly has.

Well done Chris. I salute you. And the rest of your victorious teammates.

That hasn’t been tough for me to write. I went to four out of the five Ashes Tests in England and I will always have time to salute character, skill and tenacity. Especially from a team that has turned around a 3-0 defeat into a 4-0 lead as we approach the last of a gruelling ten Tests over two consecutive series – but what has been tough for me is to acknowledge the capitulation of this England side.

It truly has been a miserable tour for England.

Jonathan Trott’s illness, Graeme Swann’s untimely (and for me undignified) retirement, Alastair Cook and Ian Bell’s lack of runs, Kevin Pietersen’s being, well KP, the exasperating version not the sublime one, the sad fall of Matt Prior, Jimmy Anderson not being able to influence games – I could go on – ok I will.

The fact that Michael Carberry, despite looking well set at times is rapidly proving at 33 he is not one for the future, the disappointing lack of influence from young Root.

The compulsion to willingly discard a previously successful management formula – although I would get rid of the increasingly anachronistic Graham Gooch as batting coach – the complete loss of confidence from my Middlesex man Steven Finn through constant tinkering with his run up that has left him rudderless, powerless and hopeless at the moment.

The loss of faith in Boyd Rankin and Chris Tremlett – all add up to a thoroughly joyless and instantly forgettable tour, compounded by facing a consistently aggressive and motivated Australian team.

No wonder the Barmy Army have been singing to the tune of Sloop John B: ‘This is the worst tour I’ve ever been on’.

England have been woeful at times, their batting as weak and feeble minded as anything the awful late 80s and 90s served up – worse probably because at least back then we had no other expectations.

I have read enough post-mortems and sorry articles to last a lifetime. I do a few bits and pieces for the London Evening Standard and I took no pleasure in writing pieces like this for example.

So, can England halt another 5-0 whitewash ahead of the New Year’s Test at the SCG?

I am in no mood to conduct another post mortem here either, nor to analyse if England even can avoid another 5-0 – more because of the fact that despite our ‘proud’ record in dead rubbers over the years I don’t think we can.

What did spring to mind however, as the dreadful batting collapse at the MCG saw us go 4-0 down was not only Warwick Armstrong – but another rock hard Australian leader as I drifted back to exactly 11 years previously, to when I first lived in Sydney.

To the fresh, invigorating smell of eucalyptus, to the Jurassic-sized fruit bats in the Botanical gardens, to the staggering beauty of the harbour, framed immaculately by the contrast of the venerable but still awe-inspiring Harbour Bridge and the crazy angles of the white tiled Opera which always reminded me of Viennese Whirls scattered randomly on a plate.

I stood swaying drunkenly on my first visit to the solid stone walls of the many Rocks’ hostelries, built by those who would forever forge a link between our two countries.

It was in a pub that is still one of my favourites in the whole planet, The Hero of Waterloo, surrounded by timeless Federation houses – the stylish wrought iron facades complementing the sturdy old building perfectly – I spotted nautical flags which hung proudly from the ceiling.

If you know your military semaphore you will know that one of them quotes Nelson’s spine-tingling dictum on the eve of the Battle of Trafalgar: ‘England expects every man to do his duty’.

Was it really only 11 years ago I had tickets to join the Barmy Army for the whole of the fifth Test at the SCG – desperately wondering if England’s cricketers, 4-0 down in the 2002/03 series facing the first 5-0 evisceration since Warwick’s Armstrong’s time were prepared to follow Nelson’s immortal exhortation?

In the event thankfully they were, as they prevented only the second ever whitewash – even if they only delayed it by four years – led by captain Michael Vaughan in the form of his life.

However, I’m not sure Nelson’s awe-inspiring rhetoric will be followed this time around unfortunately.

But it was the actions of a great Australian during the Test at the SCG in January 2003 which I still recall more than anything else.

I am referring of course to SR Waugh and a batting performance that would not only have made old Warwick proud but went down in the annals of Australian sporting and cultural history.

Australia has been playing cricket for more than half its westernised existence, the sport is embedded in the very marrow of the country – and as the great CLR James’s wrote truthfully: ‘Cricket is a means of national consolidation’.

Of course Australia is a very self-confident country – and so it should be with such a young, vibrant, positive hard-working fun-loving population – but the day SR Waugh reached his century off the last ball of the day in the fifth Test of the 2002/03 Ashes series (after reaching 10,000 Test runs on 69), I dare say will live with many an Aussie for a long time.

It certainly made an impression on my younger self.

It will be spoken about as long as cricket is spoken about and as long as there is an Australian nation.

And I was privileged to be at the SCG that day.

Mike Brearley wrote of SR Waugh: ‘like Ian Chappell he is a real Aussie, gum-chewing, dour, hard…add to this thoughtfulness and flair – he is never merely routine.’

It was the end of a beautiful blue-sky day as the shadows grew on the SCG outfield. Waugh was on 95 going into the last over.

An upright but ineffectual English off-spinner named Richard Dawson bowled the last six balls of the day from the Randwick End.

With two balls to go, after Waugh had eagerly run three, Gilchrist was on strike. As Gilchrist recounted in his memoirs: ‘Dawson flighted it and I got down the wicket to knock it away for a single through midwicket. Phew.’

Destiny awaited as Waugh faced the last ball of the day.

One ball for Waugh to get the two runs he needed for his 29th Test century, and to equal Bradman’s Australian record for most Test centuries for all eternity.

England captain Nasser Hussain speaks to a clearly shell-shocked Dawson.

Later Hussain when asked what he said to his player, replied: “I’m not going to tell you how to bowl it.”

Hussain slowly walks back slowly into position. The crowd is going wild, half in frenzied anticipation, half in vigorous abuse as Hussain demonstratively moves fielders around.

The shuffling ends with a slip and two other fielders around the bat.

The noise abates somewhat, as the assembled crowd and country at large awaits history. Later it will be revealed that one out of two Australians watched, listened or read about the moment live on TV, radio, or the internet, which is still a record.

Dawson unable to cope with the burgeoning pressure embarks on his run. He tosses the ball up as the steely eyed Waugh jubilantly smashes the ball away to point for one of the most famous boundaries in Australian history.

The crowd erupts and Steve ‘Tugga’ Waugh punches the air.

It is a moment for the ages.

It is a moment that encapsulates the Australian never-say-die attitude and intense will to win – a characteristic that the current team possesses in abundance, even if Waugh’s vintage for me will never be matched let alone surpassed.

The Times sports journalist and columnist Simon Barnes wrote of the legendary Waugh: ‘He wants to defeat you personally.’

That line should be adopted as the motto of the victorious Australian Ashes winning team of 2013/14 which has indeed ‘pulverised England intro submission.’

The spirit of true Australian great Warwick Armstrong hovering around the Bowral Oval the day I visited would have most certainly agreed.

And so would, I dare say, the ‘never merely routine’ S R Waugh.

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