TOO little too late it may have been, but England finally came good

yesterday when they won the sixth and final Cornhill Insurance Test

against Australia at The Oval by 161 runs with 13.5 overs to spare.

When all is said and done, the victory does serve merely to reduce the

scale of the series' defeat to 4-1, but it also acts as a high note at

the end of a dispiriting summer.

And after a run of nine defeats in 10 Tests and 18 matches without a

win over Australia stretching back to December 1986, any win is a cause

for English celebration. A final day crowd of more than 10,000 did just

that when man-of-the-match Angus Fraser took the final wicket, trapping

Shane Warne leg before.

With match figures of eight for 131, it was a triumphant return to

Test cricket for Fraser after a two-and-a-half year absence with a

career-threatening hip injury. And the win meant that he, along with

nine of his team-mates -- Graham Gooch is the exception -- tasted

victory over Australia for the first time.

Cynics will say England's win was achieved not only through Fraser,

but also thanks to Jamaican Devon Malcolm and Welshman Steve Watkin, who

recorded Test best figures, and that it was a hollow win given that the

series already was decided, with Australia's play often mixing an

end-of-term approach with the mannerisms of a jaded side.

But captain Mike Atherton, tasting victory in only his second match in

charge on the day he was confirmed as captain for the West Indies tour,

outlined its importance.

''It's a real morale booster, and nice to have young lads coming into

the side in a winning atmosphere.'' he said.

To his credit, Allan Border, in his final Test in England offered no

excuses, and paid Atherton's men the compliment of saying his side had

been outplayed.

And so they were, with England always looking capable of achieving the

difficult task of dismissing Australia in a day on a good surface.

True, England were helped by some curious umpiring decisions --

Michael Slater being given out caught off his forearm, while Border

himself appeared unhappy when given caught behind in the first over of

the afternoon session.

But Australia also did themselves no favours by playing some suicidal

shots -- or in David Boon's case non-shots as he padded up to his first

ball.

Mark Waugh, Ian Healy, the victim of a superb running catch by Matthew

Maynard from first slip, and Merv Hughes, all lost their wickets

miscuing hook shots. It was no wonder Australia were reduced to 148 for

eight by tea.

The match still had a twist in the tail. Mark Waugh and Border in

adding 62 for the fourth wicket, after Watkin had taken three wickets in

two overs in the morning session, and Steve Waugh and Hughes who stayed

together for 21 overs, proved survival was far from impossible.

And it was borne out by the resistance of Warne and Paul Reiffel, the

latter surviving for 75 minutes after having been struck on the helmet

by a Malcolm delivery.

The ninth wicket pair, who came together just before tea, slogged 30

in two overs, determined to go down fighting.

But gradually, they realised they could survive and held up England

for 18 overs before Reiffel was caught and bowled by Fraser with 18

overs to go and Warne fell four overs later.

Atherton's next task will now be to sit down and pick a side for the

West Indies in three weeks' time. But whether Gooch will be joining that

party this winter remains open to question.

England's man of the series, with 673 runs this summer, has been head

and shoulders above his peers, and although he has said previously he is

unavailable, there is a suggestion he might be having a rethink. And

Atherton would certainly welcome his presence.

But he added: ''It would be nice from a playing point of view for him

to be there as he's an outstanding player of quick bowling. But unless

his heart is in it, it wouldn't be right for him to tour.''

Border, however, concluded that England's prospects this winter would

largely depend on Gooch's presence in the Caribbean. Scoreboard:

ENGLAND -- First Innings 380

Second Innings 313.

AUSTRALIA -- First Innings 303

Second Innings, overnight 1 for no wicket

Second Innings continued

M J Slater c Stewart b Watkin 12

M A Taylor b Watkin 8

D C Boon lbw b Watkin 0

M E Waugh c Ramprakash b Malcolm 49

A R Border c Stewart b Malcolm 17

S R Waugh lbw b Malcolm 26

I A Healy c Maynard b Watkin 5

M G Hughes c Watkin b Fraser 12

P R Reiffel c & b Fraser 42

S K Warne lbw b Fraser 37

T B A May not out 4

Extras 17. Total 229

Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-23, 3-30, 4-92, 5-95, 6-106, 7-142, 8-143,

9-217.

Bowling: Malcolm 20-3-84-3; Watkin 25-9-65-4; Fraser 19.1-5-44-3; Such

9-4- 17-0; Hick 8-3-11-0.

THE DISMAL TALE OF TEST FAILURES.

---------------------------------

ENGLAND had gone 18 Tests without a victory against the Australians,

starting in Sydney in January, 1987, before yesterday's win: The sad

statistics:

1, Sydney, 1987lost 55 runs.

2, Sydney, 1988drawn.

3, Leeds, 1989lost 210 runs.

4, Lord's, 1989lost 6 wkts.

5, Birmingham, 1989drawn.

6, Manchester, 1989lost 9 wkts.

7, Nottingham, 1989lost inns and 180 runs.

8, The Oval, 1989drawn.

9, Brisbane, 1990lost 10 wkts.

10, Melbourne, 1990lost 8 wkts.

11, Sydney, 1991drawn.

12, Adelaide, 1991drawn.

13, Perth, 1991lost 9 wkts.

14, Manchester, 1993lost 179 runs.

15, Lord's, 1993lost inns and 62 runs.

16, Nottingham, 1993drawn.

17, Leeds, 1993lost inns and 148 runs.

18, Birmingham, 1993lost 8 wkts.

It had been 13 months since England last won a Test match, defeating

Pakistan by six wickets at Headingley on July 26, 1992. Their last win

against Australia, by an innings and 14 runs, came at Melbourne on

December 28, 1986. Here is the record of England's 10-Test sequence

without a victory -- and four of them were by an innings and more --

starting at The Oval last August:

1, v Pakistan, The Ovallost 10 wkts.

2, v India, Calcuttalost 8 wkts.

3, v India, Madraslost inns and 22 runs.

4, v India, Bombaylost inns and 15 runs.

5, v Sri Lanka, Colombolost 5 wkts.

6, v Australia, Manchesterlost 179 runs.

7, v Australia, Lord'slost inns and 62 runs.

8, v Australia, Nottinghamdrawn.

9, v Australia, Leedslost inns and 148 runs.

10, v Australia, Birminghamlost 8 wkts.