18 hours ago
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The England supporters on the hill in front of the heritage-listed scoreboard never gave up and, to their credit, neither did their team. But in the end, despite losing Nathan Lyon to a hamstring injury, it was Australia who prevailed by 82 runs to win this Ashes series with two Tests to spare.
Needing just 11 days of play to claim an unassailable 3-0 lead, Pat Cummins and his men equalled Steve Waugh’s sides in 2001 and 2002-03 for the fastest Ashes wins. This one, sealed after England’s attempt to chase down a record 435 ended at 352 all out, comes with an extra dollop of relish.
Rewind to the start of the tour and England were fancied to at least compete this time around, not least after their phalanx of quicks burst out of the traps on the opening day in Perth. But even with key personnel missing along the way, Australia’s gnarled old pros simply stuck all that optimism into a blender.
Resuming with four wickets in hand but 228 runs still needed, England made Australia sweat for their breakthroughs on the final day. Will Jacks held firm for a doughty 47 from 137 balls and Jamie Smith finally delivered with the bat, with 60 from 83 balls his first significant contribution on tour.
But fittingly, given his stellar outings in Perth and Brisbane while Cummins was absent, it was Mitchell Starc who stepped up once more. His removals of Smith, Jacks and Jofra Archer either side of a rain-delayed lunch set the stage for Scott Boland to claim the final wicket of Josh Tongue at 2.13pm.
Starc had been relatively quiet in the match up to this point, his 54 with the bat in Australia’s first innings notwithstanding. And yet during a morning session that saw 102 runs chiselled off the target and Lyon limp off with a hamstring strain, the left-hander still delivered a precious incision.
Smith was taking on the second new ball here, only to get giddy from a streak of four successive fours, send a hoiked pull shot up straight in the air, and see Cummins settle comfortably under it. Although the moment England’s flickering hope was fully extinguished came after the interval when Marnus Labuschagne held another stunner off Jacks in the cordon.
With Archer slashing to deep point and Tongue edging another to Labuschagne, it was mission complete for Australia. England now face two Test matches over the Christmas period with only pride and World Test Championship points to play for, their dream of making history here in ruins.
“It is disappointing when you lose and I’m sure there will be plenty of questions asked and rightfully so,” the England coach Brendon McCullum told BBC Test Match Special. “We haven’t got everything right. I haven’t got everything right as a coach and I put my hand up for that.
“I have been very strong about the conviction we had and our preparation. For us, it was a matter of trying to replicate what we have done in series that have been successful for us away from home. Maybe we didn’t get that right and I’ll acknowledge that. Ultimately you are responsible for how you get your side ready and how you prepare them. We are 3-0 down so you would probably say there was room for change there.”
English (US)