Andrew Flintoff cannot hide his disappointment after Australia's 5-0 triumph © Getty Images

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While Australia celebrated only the second Ashes whitewash in history, England were left to reflect on surrendering the urn after little more than a year in their possession.

ecb.co.uk looks at what the key figures had to say about a series memorable for both sides for contrasting reasons:

England captain Andrew Flintoff

“There’s a definite difference in how you feel having lost as a player and having lost as captain. There is more responsibility.

“When you’re making decisions out in the middle, you go with your gut feelings and do what you feel is right at the time. I stick by that.”

England coach Duncan Fletcher

“There’s no doubt about it - Australia played some much better cricket than us.

“We didn’t play to our true ability but, if we did, it still it would’ve been a very, very tough series to win.”

Kevin Pietersen

“I’ve heard a lot of people who’ve watched a lot more cricket and been around a lot longer than I have saying this is the greatest Australian team they’ve ever seen.

“To be playing against them and challenging ourselves against them is not going to do us any harm.

Australia captain Ricky Ponting

"The last six or seven weeks has been one of the best little periods of my cricketing life.

"I shed a bit of a tear out on the ground and had to stay away from as many photographers and cameramen as I could."

Shane Warne

“This team has played some sensational cricket through the whole summer.

“England have played some good cricket at times, too, but when the big moments were there, the Australian cricket team stood up and someone’s put their hands up."

Glenn McGrath

“At every stage the guys have played well. It’s been a huge team effort.

“I don’t think we’ve ever played as well team-wise as we have during this series.”

Justin Langer

“To win it 5-0 here with my team-mates like that - it cannot get any better than that. It’s the perfect time to let go of it.

“I’ve got my team-mates and I’ll be with them for a fairly long time tonight, I think.”