Can Aussies join whitewash greats?

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AUSTRALIA'S thunderous victory at the WACA Ground has prompted fresh McGrath-esque predictions of a series whitewash.

The excitement is understandable. England's meek capitulations in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth have provided little evidence of an imminent fightback in Melbourne or Sydney.

And Australia's rediscovered aggression with bat and ball has Michael Clarke's squad well placed to send the tourists home with a zero on the scoreboard, tails between legs and careers on the line.

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Australia has only achieved a series whitewash three times in the 136 years of Ashes combat (minimum three-Test series). Here, we take a look at examples the current Australian squad must follow to clean sweep the series.

1920-21 - Australia won 5-0

And you thought Alastair Cook's squad had problems.

The Johnny Douglas-captained MCC squad to tour Australia barely had time to recover from the war when asked to make the long-haul to Australia.

Two of England's stars, Reggie Spooner and Vallance Jupp, were forced to withdraw from the series while Jack Hearne fell ill during the second Test and was unable to take part in the remainder of the series.

There was controversy, too. Right-arm spinner Rockley Wilson caused a stir when it was discovered he was filing match reports for the Daily Express in London while playing on the tour (the MCC would later ban players reporting on matches they were playing in as a result).

The Australians, led by Warwick "Big Ship" Armstrong, romped to a 5-0 series victory. As Wisden noted at the time, the series results confirmed "English cricket had not had time to regain its pre-war standard".

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1979-80 - Australia won 3-0

Australia's first home summer following Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket was an exciting time, pitting the Aussies against England and the West Indies over three Tests each.

While the series were legitimate, England declined to play Australia for the Ashes, so the Aussie team bought a $10 trophy called 'Ernie' and told the Poms that's what they'd be playing for.

Either Ernie proved a disincentive or England was unable to handle the star power of a side unrecognisable in the Test arena over the previous three or four seasons due to Packer's deep pockets.

Captained by Greg Chappell, the Aussies steamrolled to victory in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, where Ian Botham's first century against Australia failed to add respectibility to the scoreboard due to Dennis Lillee's 11 wickets for the match.

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2006-07 - Australia won 5-0

Australia's heartbreaking 2005 series loss in England made this one of the most eagerly anticipated Ashes series of all-time.

Could a great side clinging on to its last vestiges of power rise to one final challenge or would England's rise continue in one of the toughest places in the world to play Test cricket.

We didn't have to wait long to find out. Steve Harmison's famous first ball of the Gabba Test that was caught by Andrew Flintoff at second slip set the tone for what became the mother of all wallopings.

Only in Adelaide did the England side ever really look like winning (or at least drawing) a Test, and that was snatched from them by Shane Warne who triggered an incredible collapse with his second innings 4/49.

This series was significant not just for the velocity of the thrashing but for the players it sent off.

Three of Australia's all-time greats Warne, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer played farewell games in the fifth Test in Sydney, while Damien Martyn went quietly and without fanfare after Adelaide.

And with McGrath famous for his declarations that Australia would win 5-0, there couldn't have been a more appropriate way to go out.