Australia required less than an hour of the fourth day of the third Test in Perth to crush England's feeble resistance and level the Ashes series at one Test all. Ryan Harris was the destroyer-in-chief, taking six second-innings wickets to confine England to a humiliating 123 all out - a massive 267 short of victory.

Such an emphatic triumph against the Poms will always be celebrated with gusto but this victory comes with an extra level of satisfaction, coming as it does immediately after England humiliated Australia in the previous Test in Adelaide.

In the first half-hour of play, Harris bowled nightwatchman James Anderson off his pads for three, trapped Ian Bell LBW for sixteen and had Matt Prior caught in the gully by a diving Mike Hussey for ten.

Mitchell Johnson joined in the fun, forcing Graeme Swann to chop on to his stumps for nine but Harris had the honour of the match-winning wicket, forcing Stephen Finn to fend to Steve Smith in the slips for two.

The view from Australia

Such is the back-to-back nature of this truncated summer thoughts are already shifting to Melbourne and the Boxing Day Test that begins next Sunday.

Ricky Ponting's little finger will dominate the back pages in Melbourne this Christmas week with the same scrutiny as Nick Riewoldt's hamstring, with the gift of his fitness proving as welcome to the Australian camp as gold, frankincense or myrrh. It's not that Ponting is setting the series alight with his run-making or captaincy but the leadership cupboard looks decidedly bare without him.

Michael Clarke's form, fitness and demeanour do not befit an Australian captain heading into such a vital encounter while other short-term fill-ins mooted earlier in the summer, Simon Katich and Marcus North are no longer in the squad. Ponting rates himself as 50:50 to make the Boxing Day Test. If he does not get up, five days in Melbourne will define Michael Clarke's standing in Australian sport.

The balance of the Australian squad will also be scrutinised in the coming days, as it is unlikely a frontline spinner will be omitted on a drop-in wicket offering much less hostile conditions than seen in Perth. Considering the bagful of wickets Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris shared in this Test the obvious candidates to make way for a spinner are Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle. Whichever of these two loses out can consider himself unlucky as each performed their designated role well in Perth. Siddle was aggressive, at the body of the English batsmen and offered the spark of mongrel that was missing at times in Brisbane and Adelaide. Hilfenhaus bowled long, economical spells into the wind and allowed Ricky Ponting the control he never had in the first two Tests. The likely loser seems to be Siddle but the potential of a Victorian fast bowler cheered on by 80,000 at the MCG could be too irresistible to deny.

Also, don't rule out a return for Doug Bollinger in place of either incumbent right-hander. Bollinger has been Australia's premier quick this year and only fitness issues prevented him from spearheading the Australian attack in WA.

If that decision isn't easy, selecting the spinner to come into the side is near unfathomable. Is the Michael Beer experiment worth another look away from the specific conditions of the WACA? The form spinner in Shield cricket is once again arguably Nathan Hauritz but after his bizarre garage sale recently is he still in the selectors' good books? In a summer of left-field decisions, could there even be a place for a bolter, Jon Holland maybe? The Victorian left-arm orthodox is running into some reasonable form at the right time.

It will also be interesting to see if the selectors retain faith with youngsters Philip Hughes and Steve Smith. Smith showed promise in his second innings 36 and clearly contributed to an improved atmosphere in the Australian camp. He was not called upon to bowl however and it is that facet of his all-round game that is likely to determine the length of his stay in a baggy green.

Hughes on the other hand looked short of form, confidence and unsure of his technique. Clearly he has the class to forge a career at the top of Australia's order but the timing of his various selections and demotions have not served the young New South Welshman well. As has been the issue all summer though, if Hughes is not trusted to open in Melbourne, who replaces him? The contenders in Shield cricket are hardly beating the door down to get into the side and the guys next in line for a bat, blokes like Usman Khawaja and Callum Ferguson are not openers.

One solution could be to push former opener Mike Hussey up top and bring in one of the youngsters in the middle-order. I doubt the National Selection Panel would countenance any interference with Hussey right now though considering the record-breaking form he is in at number five.

One thing is for sure. It is much easier to make changes or stick to guns after a thumping win than it is after a demoralising loss.

The view from England

England has to regroup - and quickly. The same side that executed its skills so competently in the previous six weeks of this tour did not become a disaster overnight. England's leadership group needs to keep its players confident and bullish ahead of the Melbourne Test and prove that Perth was an aberration, not the norm.

Perth did reveal one or two technical issues that will need to be addressed if England is to return to the ascendancy in time to close out the series. Chief amongst these is dealing with the swinging ball - particularly from the left-handed Johnson - and avoid playing around the front pad. Five of England's twelve top-order wickets fell to LBW decisions when England's batsmen tried to play around their front pads to balls swinging back into them. It is unlikely the ball will shape as much in Melbourne as it did in Perth but Australia's strategists will be sure to have identified a potential chink in England's armour.

Talking about batting weaknesses, England will need to work out a strategy against Mike Hussey because at his current rate he could deny England the chance of winning the series singlehandedly. He has now passed 50 in his last six innings against England and the most recent tactic of trying to catch him out pulling was so ill-thought out it was almost insulting.

With regards personnel, the spotlight will obviously fall on Paul Collingwood after a third consecutive poor Test but Stephen Finn may also come under threat for his costly spells at crucial times.

Part of England's recent strength however has been its unity and consistency and I would expect changes are unlikely for Melbourne. Of the options available to Andrew Strauss, Tim Bresnan could do a job as a bowling all-rounder at number seven or eight to add depth to the batting and control to the bowling if either Finn or Collingwood are considered liabilities.

Hero

Ryan Harris. The rhino took 6/47 for match figures of 9/106, not bad for a fast bowler who could barely walk between games at the start of the summer. With Harris and Johnson in this kind of form and Bollinger still to come in, the Australian attack looks considerably more threatening than recent performances have led to believe.

Villain

I'm sure Cricket Australia will consider Cam Sutherland, the WACA Curator, a villain of sorts for not producing the type of ‘Chief Executive's' pitch that is now so abundant. Not that the Australian XI or the cricketing public should care less. Test matches are at their best when the ball is slightly on top of the bat.

If this match taught us anything it is that even the finest batsmen are unused to a swinging ball on a bouncy pitch. Matches like this put the Chappell-esque batting averages of many contemporary batsmen in perspective.

I'm not sure anyone else noticed but...

If Ponting doesn't make it and Australia still need's a spinner for the Boxing Day Test, there's still an outside chance SK Warne could roll his arm over and bark some orders from second slip. Now wouldn't that make for a controversial Christmas present?

What's next?

A huge sigh of relief and some well earned Christmas celebrations for the Australians. For the English, a reality check, and preparation to share Boxing Day with 80,000 screaming Victorians at the MCG.

TAB Sportsbet Series Odds:

Australia $2.40 Draw $3.50 England $2.60

Day 4

Australia - 268 & 309

England - 187 & 123