Tens of thousands of delirious English cricket fans, basking in success after years of failure, flooded into London's Trafalgar Square Tuesday to hail the team which wrested the Ashes trophy from old rivals Australia for the first time since 1986.
Supporters lined the streets of the capital and crowded into Trafalgar Square to cheer the team that won the Ashes for the first time since 1986-1987.
The triumphant team rode through the city in an open-topped red double-decker bus, with exuberant crowds shouting them on. After the Trafalgar Square rally, the players met Prime Minister Tony Blair at his 10 Downing St. office and then went to Lord's cricket ground to accept the Ashes urn.
PHOTO: AP
It was a huge boost for a nation whose sporting mythology says Britons are more comfortable losing gracefully than winning.
"We all seem to be very good at being second, so it's extra special to come in No. 1 for a change," said Alex Gray, 58, an electrician who joined the throng in the square.
"A glorious end to England's summer," said a banner headline on the front of the Daily Telegraph. "Kangaroo Bashers" boasted some fans' T-shirts.
English fans had been frustrated for years at watching their team get trounced by Australia at a sport invented in England.
"We're good losers, but we're better winners," said Sean Dickens, 36, who traveled from Yorkshire, in northern England, to watch the last day of the match at The Oval stadium Monday and stayed in London for Tuesday's parade. "When push comes to shove we know how to win."
"We've always been the nearly rans, so close yet so far," agreed Barry Stoneman, 21, wearing a red-and-white English flag of St. George draped over his shoulders. "Things are turning in our favor."
When Australia defied the odds to beat England in 1882, the wooden bails from the match were reportedly burned, leaving a piles of ashes which were placed in the tiny urn that still goes to the series' winner.
A mock obituary placed in the Sporting Times newspaper after that loss mourned for English cricket, "which died at the Oval, deeply lamented by a large circle of sorrowing friends and acquaintances. RIP. The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."
The two rivals fight for the trophy about every two years.
Australia, which is currently the world champion, had not lost an Ashes series since 1987.
This year's hard-fought series of five test matches had gripped fans in both nations since it began in July. England won the series 2-1, with two draws.
"It's been a marathon for the last five weeks, a mammoth series and an emotional roller-coaster we've been through," said England bowler Andrew Flintoff. "We've come out on top and we're enjoying it."
Many took time off work to celebrate. Police put the crowd in Trafalgar Square alone at 25,000. No official estimate was given for how many fans lined the streets on the parade route.
"It seems to have captured the imagination of people who previously hadn't been interested in cricket or dare I say don't even understand cricket," Dickens said.
Many said the celebration was badly needed after the strain of bombings on London's Underground and buses this summer.
"It's just good for the morale of the country," Stoneman said. "It makes everybody happy."
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