England drew level in the Ashes but failed to bag the urn © Getty

Victory in the final Ashes Test did not change the destination of the urn. But England's 135-run win at the Oval, which squared the series at 2-2, has given Joe Root reason to believe he is onto something with this group of players.

The motivation to deny Australia an outright win was all the hosts had to go on, along with personal pride. As the England captain said: "The scoreline looks a hell of a lot better than 3-1 and is probably a fair result."

There will be introspection about what went wrong and why home advantage was not able to be utilised to good effect. This, though, is the first draw between the two sides since 1972 and prolongs Australia's search for an away Ashes win - the last coming in 2001.

Root, though, has his sights set on going back to Australia in two years to wrestle the urn back. He wants to do so as captain and believes the focus on Test cricket in the next cycle, after the ODI success of this summer with the World Cup, will hold the side in good stead.

"It has been a long, gruelling summer. For English cricket, it is a success. There has been some phenomenal cricket. The World Cup was incredible and to be backed up by such an evenly matched Ashes - what a summer of cricket it has been.

"It (victory at the Oval) is a blueprint of how we want to go about playing. We can get better and there are areas we want to strengthen and improve on but guys have stepped up under pressure and that is really pleasing. Hopefully, that is a starting point.

"It looks like we're starting to get to grips with Test cricket after a long period of one-day cricket. In the next two and a half years we have to really push and prepare for that tour of Australia. That will be a huge focus for me and for English cricket."

As part of the blueprint is Jofra Archer. The Bajan-born quick has been a revelation this summer. Excelling at the World Cup and bowling the Super Over in the final against New Zealand, he followed that with 22 Ashes wickets across four Tests. Not only did he average 20 with the ball, he was also able to clock speeds of 96mph, especially on the final day when he was involved in a compelling duel with centurion Matthew Wade.

Though he went wicketless in the second innings, that spell along with his six for 62 in the first innings - his second five-wicket-plus haul - earned him the player of the match award. Root lauded the 24-year-old's impact and appreciates it is down to him to get the most out of Archer.

"He's come in and been fantastic," Root said. "Four Test matches, two six-fors. He has a way of having a huge impact on the game, you saw his spell here, it just changed the whole atmosphere of the ground, was incredible really. For someone right at the beginning of his career to have such a gift is entertaining, it's great to be able to captain that and I'm very much looking forward to the rest of his journey.

"When I faced him in the nets against the red ball, it was clear he was going to be something special. [But] we've got to be careful of expecting too much of him. He's a young guy at the start of his career, playing in three formats, and he's still learning. I'm still learning how to get the best out of him as captain.

"But one thing you can expect is he's going to entertain and make things happen. At times he's not going to bowl at 90mph, but he'll go at two-and-a-half an over and create chances. I think making sure we don't expect him to average 12 is something really important, while also knowing he's got that ability to turn a game."