Catches win matches and if Shane Warne had caught Kevin Pietersen early in his innings England would almost certainly have lost this Test match and The Ashes with it.

It's unfortunate for Warne, who has performed magnificently and is a very fine slip fielder, but we were wobbling at the time and it is hard to see which of the other batsmen could have made the big hundred we needed to save the game.

It was a fabulous performance by Pietersen. We knew he was a showman with that touch of confidence and that he had potential with the bat, but he needed to show it because he has not scored many runs in the past five innings. He had a bit of luck, but he was good enough to take advantage of it. The main thing about him is that he is so mentally tough that he thrives on big-match situations and they don't come bigger than this game.

I was absolutely delighted that Ashley Giles played such an important innings because he's a model pro, who works hard to make the most of the talent at his disposal. He's made runs for Warwickshire but had struggled in this series until the past two Test matches. He's played two vital innings for England in pressure situations, at Trent Bridge and now The Oval. He was just the experienced head we needed in those tough situations, not a youngster like Ian Bell, who must have been overawed.

People may say we are still not the best side in the world because we need to beat India and Australia away from home. But those debates are for another day. For now we should enjoy the moment because we have not won the Ashes for 18 years. Cricket is on its biggest high. Bats are outselling footballs, kids want to take up the game and even their mothers are watching it. And that feelgood factor will continue because we have some big personalities in the team like Michael Vaughan, Pietersen, Steve Harmison and, best of all, Andrew Flintoff.

Flintoff is the superstar and definitely the difference between the sides in this series. He has dragged us back into matches on so many occasions. At Trent Bridge he made a hundred when we were in trouble. Here at the Oval, he made 72 in the first innings when we looked like making a low score, then he bowled us back into the game with a five-for on day three. Shane Warne has been fantastic for Australia but Flintoff is on the winning side and is my man of the series.

12 Sep, 2005