"It has been an incredible rollercoaster ride of emotions," said team star Andrew Flintoff after thousands of people poured onto the streets of the capital to greet the cricketers parading in a red open-topped London bus.

The team, tasting cricket triumph against Australia for the first time in almost two decades, linked arms to sing William Blake's fervently patriotic hymn Jerusalem.

A crowd of 25,000 in Trafalgar Square, traditional epicentre of London street parties, sang Rule Britannia before launching into Land of Hope and Glory.

In glorious September sunshine, fans jumped into the fountains, draped in the red and white flag of England's patron saint George.

It was London's biggest spontaneous celebration since 750,000 people poured into London to celebrate England's Rugby World Cup victory over Australia two years ago.

"I knew it was going to be big but I didn't think it would be this big," said fast bowler Steve Harmison after England won the nail-biting cricket series 2-1.

Cricket captain Michael Vaughan raised in triumph a replica urn of the Ashes--the piece of wooden cricket gear burned after a humiliating English defeat at the hands of Australia in 1882.

Then he raised a glass of champagne to the crowds, batsman Kevin Pietersen sprayed them with bubbly and Flintoff drank straight from the bottle.

Many players sported sunglasses--and that was not just to protect them from the glare.

ALL-NIGHT PARTY

After partying all night, Flintoff admitted tongue-in-cheek "What is most exciting about winning the Ashes is it means I'll be awarded the freedom of Preston, my hometown. That means I can drive a flock of sheep through the town centre, drink for free in no less than 64 pubs and get a lift home with the police when I become inebriated. What more could you want?"

Vaughan was staggered by the turnout in a land where soccer has long been king.

"This is incredible. It is very hard to describe what the emotions are. To see a turn-out like this for cricket really shows what the summer has been all about. They are hanging out of the offices, they are on the roofs. This is something that we'll remember for a very long time," he said.

Everyone packing the streets, swarming over the steps of St Paul's Cathedral and clambering on to red telephone boxes wanted to catch a picture of Flintoff, clutching his baby daughter Holly in his hands with his wife Rachel by his side.

The salaries of cricketers have always been dwarfed by the vast sums played to Premier League soccer players but marketing experts said Flintoff's earnings could rocket to three million pounds a year with advertising endorsements.

And the emotions of a country so used to commiserating with its plucky losers in sports England had invented were neatly summed up in one fan's T-shirt slogan: 'English Cricket: Vaughan Again'.