Pat Cummins and Shaun Marsh were the discoveries of the summer,one finally getting a go in the Australian team,the other restored for his eighth or ninth. Cummins faced questions over his body and his mind. Physically,could he hold out for one home Test match,let alone five? And really,how good was he after those six years of injuries?

Tick and tick. Cummins bowled outstandingly well even when he wasn't collecting bags of wickets. The fourth evening of the Adelaide Test match was the peak of the summer's tension,when Root and Dawid Malan were threatening a miracle,and it was Cummins who speared through Malan,setting the scene for Hazlewood's blitz the next morning. That was the Ashes,as they say,right there. Cummins didn't then wilt under the stress of five Test matches in seven weeks. He was good everywhere,and after showing signs of fatigue in Melbourne – but who didn't? - he came home to Sydney with hostility and accuracy. His six years of rehab had not been for nothing:his support of Smith with the bat in Brisbane turned that critical Test match.

Shaun Marsh's weakness had been inconsistency,which he corrected with an even-tempered,beautifully calm series as the middle order pivot. Realising his potential at the age of 34,he pulled little brother Mitchell along in his slipstream. The Marshes will always face scrutiny,starting next month in South Africa,but they can take some time to reflect on being major players in the 2017-18 Ashes win. When it counted,they proved themselves.

Tim Paine deserves more than passing mention. Like Cummins,he faced doubts over his resilience for five Test matches. Like Cummins,he started well and got better. He dropped one chance in Brisbane,and thereafter was quietly efficient,the kind of neat freak every team likes to have behind the stumps. Some of his diving takes down the leg side off the fast bowlers on dying wickets in Melbourne and Sydney had old wicketkeepers stroking their chins and nodding appreciatively. Standing up to Mitchell Marsh in Sydney,Paine gloved a 130km/h kicker as if it were child's play. His youthfulness should be measured in Test matches played,not years on the planet.

Cameron Bancroft,Peter Handscomb and Jackson Bird were the other Australians in a small pool of 13. Not everyone can be a star,and when the Australians go to South Africa,all will restart on zero runs,zero wickets. Selection questions are for another day.

Most days of most of these Test matches were evenly fought. Four-nil was a brutal exaggeration of the difference. Someone's bright idea,a display of four fingers,was wheeled onto the SCG in the celebratory moment before collapsing under the weight of its own presumption. This Australian team,by contrast with its marketing department,produced their best by respecting England and playing to a design that stood up under pressure. Like Benaud's men 50-some years ago,they will be remembered as a team of grinders,inspired by their captain,who won back the Ashes by producing their best when it mattered most.