by Our Sports Desk

ALASTAIR COOK’S new England surged to a 169-run victory on Saturday in the first Ashes Test in Cardiff.

Captain Cook could do little wrong, as bowling changes continually paid off and the tourists were all out for 242 late on day four in pursuit of an all-time Ashes record 412.

Stuart Broad (three for 39) provided the most telling individual impetus, and for good measure Cook played his own part in two juggling-act Australia dismissals to ensure England prevailed as expected here despite an admirable 77 down the order from Mitchell Johnson and a half-century too from opener David Warner.

Ultimately, neither did anything more than delay what had long seemed inevitable as England’s commitment to aggressive cricket — following their miserable World Cup winter — paid off with a first step towards regaining the Ashes after their 5-0 2013-14 whitewash down under.

Joe Root’s man-of-the-match performance has pushed him into the top five of the International Cricket Council’s Test batting rankings.

Root’s seventh Test century, which he described as his best after the victory, set the game up for England before he followed it with a 60 to help stretch the lead beyond 400.

Those numbers also helped the 24-year-old right-hander move up three places to fourth position on the ICC’s Test Batting Rankings as he went past the likes of Kumar Sangakkara and Younus Khan.

England have retained the same 13-man squad for the second Test at Lord’s, which begins on Thursday.

But new England coach Trevor Bayliss warned: “When you beat Australia, then the next match is going to be even tougher.

They’ll come back hard — we know that — and there’s still a long way to go in this series.”