1. Dominance
England's triumph in the 2009 Ashes series was a strange one. Australia dominated every stat you care to mention - leading runscorers (bar Andrew Strauss), centuries, average partnerships, wicket-takers - except the only one that really matters. As Strauss said at the time: "When we were bad we were really bad, but when we were good we managed to be good enough." This time the bad has still been really bad (the first two days in Brisbane and the last three in Perth) but the good has been a) more frequent and b) a lot more than "good enough". England have produced two utterly faultless performances in three Tests and this time they lead the way: six centuries to Australia's three; five of the eight batsmen to have scored over 200 runs; four of the five leading wicket-takers and two bowlers who didn't even start the series returning sub-20 averages.

2. Share the wealth
And those stats - especially that final one - show just why England have been successful here. Whereas Australia have relied on a handful of individuals with the bat and a couple of inconsistent performers with the ball, England have five of their top six averaging over 40 - with four of those over 50 and two over 100 - while five of the six frontline bowlers have produced the goods. It was fitting during the last rites at the 'G that the three wickets were picked up by three different bowlers while the impressive Brad Haddin was Australia's last man standing.

3. To and fro
England's thumping victory here means these two sides continue their astonishing record of lurching dizzyingly to and fro. We're trying desperately not to use the word 'momentum'. But in the 2009 series England won by 115 and 197 runs either side of Australia's innings victory at Headingley; here, if anything, the effect has been even more pronounced with two innings victories for England sandwiching a 267-run drubbing at Perth.

4. Horses for Courses
Another clear parallel with 2009 here. One of the key reasons for England's 2009 success was Australia's unfamiliarity with the very English concept of 'horses for courses'. Last summer, they shrewdly went for an all-pace attack at Headingley with breathtaking results, but inexplicably retained it on a dusty Oval deck on which Graeme Swann eventually spun England to victory after the Aussie quicks had toiled. This time around, Australia shrewdly went for an all-pace attack at Perth with breathtaking results, but retained it in Melbourne. This time Australian batting incompetence meant Swann's was a mere supporting role, but the seamers toiled again as England were allowed to nail home their advantage with the bat. The selection of an all-seam Aussie attack here also made it far easier for Strauss to make the brave decision to bowl first at the toss, knowing there was no spinner to worry about in any fourth-innings run chase.

5. Draw no comfort
Amid the inevitable and justified scenes of jubilation, every England player - and particularly coach Andy Flower - was quick to stress that the job remains half done. Retaining the Ashes is an awesome achievement; but winning the series would be a yet bigger one and a side aiming to become number one in the world must bid to halt the pendulum swings, put two high-class performances together and complete the 3-1 series win their superiority merits.

Dave Tickner