RICHARD Dawson, the former England and Yorkshire off-spinner writes exclusively ion The Northern Echo.

WELL the whitewash is complete and with good old-fashioned English grace I'll take my hat off to the Australians.

They were awesome and Ricky Ponting's captaincy was out of this world. He didn't take his foot of the pedal and never let England get into the series.

He had a steely look in his eye and you got the feeling his players would have followed him anywhere.

The way they bowled, batted and fielded was exceptional and England need to learn from every area of their game.

Of course this brings us to the departing trio. Glenn McGrath is simply one of the all-time great bowlers. He has never been the quickest but he never strays and his delivery to dismiss Kevin Pietersen was a throw-back to his very best.

He didn't have his best series, although that was largely due to the prominent displays of Stuart Clark, but wrapped things up in style and was the stand-out bowler in the second innings.

As for Warney, where do you begin? We may never see the likes of him again. He didn't bowl amazingly in Sydney but his innings with the bat turned the game and showed the will to win which has made him so good.

The game of cricket will miss him sorely, even if England's batsman will be glad to see the back of him.

Then there is Justin Langer. People often overlook the role he and Matthew Hayden play for Australia but for my money they are the best opening pairing in the world. His average, over 105 Tests, proves exactly that. England never figured him out and like the other two he will be a big miss.

But enough about Australia, what about England?

I agree with Freddie and Duncan that it is a young side - but it has been an awful tour.

The 2005 success was over-hyped and, while it was rightly celebrated, England should have been preparing for this tour as soon as the last ball was bowled at the Oval.

Kevin Pietersen is world-class, while Ian Bell and Alastair Cook have shown glimpses of what they can do. But England need to regroup, need to get Michael Vaughan back at the helm and need to work hard on regaining the Ashes in 2009.