You people do not win very often, do you? If we had to take to the streets to celebrate every time we won something or other we would be permanently standing by the side of the road waving and cheering. Now you know how we feel pretty much all of the time. Geoffrey Green, Mount Martha, Australia

Congratulations to England and Australia on a great game - and the winner was cricket. Great to see good sportsmanship; wonderful role models. Liz Baxendine, Christchurch, New Zealand

Much ado about nothing, I'm afraid. And for the benefit of Christopher Huff of London, there is only one beautiful game untainted by yob behaviour (of players or supporters), raucous and partisan screaming and so-called "good natured" drunkenness. That is the game that cricket is trying to be and that game is golf. Unlike cricket, golf is also phenomenally popular worldwide (more than any other game). It is a sport which cricket will never be. Derek Sinclair, Dundee

This was undoubtedly the greatest Test series ever! But enough of that; let's get down to some hero bashing. After all, a couple of days have gone by now and it is time to start that other great English sport of "having built them up, let's knock them down!" How about Freddie Flintoff to start with? He was so obviously suffering from a few too many lemonades on the Trafalgar Square rostrum. Those dark glasses definitely hid a pair of bleary eyes. Is this the sort of example to set for the country's youngsters? Tom Edwards, Bromley

Congratulations England, you've finally got your Ashes back. Enjoy them while it lasts; you won't have them for long. Now all you need to do is to learn how to play other sports (darts doesn't count) and you may then compare yourselves with Australia on a sporting level. Seriously though, it is nice to see the joy in England again after the atrocities of recent months. Well done and best wishes to you. Sean Smith, Sydney, Australia

Well done England, my favourite country outside of Oz. The best part had to be the sportsmanship between the two sides, their mutual respect and the respect shown to our great game. Roll on to the next series. Peter Holles, Brisbane, Australia

Congratulations to England. Much of the new found popularity of the game must be due to the excellent coverage and analysis on Channel 4 - they put the BBC to shame. Name and address withheld

The greatest series for a long time. We Aussies actually enjoyed watching the competition, and seeing England win reignited everyone's passion for the game. Australians were getting bored with our team continually winning everything! Congratulations. Dominic Serafino, Sydney, Australia

Goodness me, what a celebration. Might I suggest that if you enjoy the victory that much you should do it more often? Bill Kidd, Brisbane, Australia

As an avid football supporter I was shocked to discover that my sporting sensibilities were aroused to the greatest level by the Ashes series. It was not only its intensity, but also the sense of history and emotion. There was the also realisation that cricket represents a deep vein of sporting tradition and national identity that football will never be able to reproduce. Chelsea's domination of English football will never compare, in my mind, to England's hoped-for domination of world cricket. David Jones, Neston, Wirral

I have odious memories of cricket, accompanying long-forgotten boyfriends to their Sunday afternoon tap-and-shuffle on a village green and being expected to help with the teas. Even now, the memory of a pavilion stuffed with middle-class women ranging from the mouse-like to the full-blown braying donkey, swathed in Laura Ashley and arranging sandwiches and beer for their men who had done no more than lumber five yards makes me shudder. As with tennis, the middle classes did a great job of sucking the life out of a sport and keeping the manky oiks out of their Daz-white clubs. However, it was refreshing to see a bit of action and enthusiasm at the Ashes, although the majority of the men still looked like Hugh Grant and the women look like at least one member of their family is called Caroline. Still, I'm glad that they won; it's something to be proud of. Lane Mathias, Ipswich

Is it me or is this another case of the hype being out of proportion with the reality? Helen Horton, Burton upon Trent