Fifth Ashes Test, Sydney Cricket Ground (day five of five)
England 384: Root 160; Nesser 4-60 & 342: Bethell 154; Webster 3–64, Stark 3–72
Australia 567: Head 163, Smith 138; Language 3-97 & 161-5: Labuschagne 37, Language 3-42
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Australia won by five wickets, winning the series 4–1.
England's dismal Ashes tour ended with a five-wicket defeat in the fifth Test, handing Australia a 4–1 series triumph.
Australia were chasing a target of 160 after lunch on their final day in the sun at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Riddled by injuries, including to captain Pat Cummins, Australia dominated another Ashes on home soil – their fourth successive series win – and extended their grip on the urn that began in 2018.
For England, it ended one of the most disappointing Ashes tours in recent memory.
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It was heralded as a golden chance to at least compete in this country, but the tourists never recovered from the stunning failure, losing the first Test in Perth in two days.
Due to a lack of adequate preparation, close scrutiny of their off-field performances, and then a loss of form and injuries to key players, England gave up the series at the first opportunity with defeats in the first three Tests.
Ben Stokes' side at least won the fourth Test in Melbourne for their first Test win in the country since 2011, but the two-day shootout on a grassy pitch was the exception to a series in which they fell short.
Stokes was able to lead his team onto the field for the final match in Sydney despite suffering from a groin injury. The all-rounder has stated that he wants to continue as captain and fitness seems to be the only obstacle to him remaining as captain.
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More pressure is on head coach Brendon McCullum and director of cricket Rob Key. Both men acknowledged their failures on this tour and expressed a desire to stay.
It looks like they will be given that opportunity if they can demonstrate to the England and Wales Cricket Board that the men's team has improved.
That starts with the T20 World Cup and the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka that precedes it, which starts in just two weeks.
Buzzballers broke under
It was to be the greatest achievement of Project Buzzball, a series for which England had been preparing for 18 months and which McCullum said could “define” his team.
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They were eventually identified as just another England team to be crushed in Australia. This was the fourth Ashes tour in a row in which England lost at least four Tests.
In this century alone, England's record in this country is 27 defeats in 35 matches. Three of the five Test wins during this period came during the glorious 2010-11 season, the only series England have won here in 40 years.
The players England supported on this tour wilted. Ollie Pope played three Tests before being dropped, the previously successful opening partnership of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett collapsed and wicketkeeper Jamie Smith was a shadow of his best.
Spinner Shoaib Bashir, who was deployed on this tour over a year ago, did not feature in the Test.
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As always during Ashes tours, the England team suffered injuries. Mark Wood may not play for England again after returning home with a knee problem, while Jofra Archer's impressive tour was ended by a side strain suffered in the third Test. Gus Atkinson was ruled out of Sydney with a hamstring problem.
Pace bowler Josh Tong emerged with an improved record, while Jacob Bethell's coming-of-age century in the final Test was a belated ray of hope. If only England had backed Bethell a few months ago.
Joe Root provided the highlight of the tour for England by finally scoring a Test hundred in Australia, but it was another Ashes tour where Root and Stokes – two England greats – found themselves on the wrong end. Root might get another opportunity in four years, but Stokes almost certainly won't.
Stokes backed McCullum, who was also publicly backed by Key. While the board is not alone in presiding over England's failed Ashes tours, much of the attention is due to questions and problems that could have been avoided.
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England chose a team that gave them no choice when things went wrong and prepared their players in conditions far removed from those they faced in Tests.
As well as being ill-prepared for the difficulties they faced on the field, the visitors appeared to be surprised by the hostile attention they received from the Australian media, particularly early in the tour.
In Perth, England players were followed onto golf courses and even into an aquarium. In Brisbane, they were photographed riding electric scooters without helmets – an offense punishable by a fine under Queensland law. As they prepared to take off from Brisbane Airport, an English security officer got into an argument with a cameraman.
The flight to Brisbane came at the end of an infamous holiday to England in Noosa, where Key was investigating the amount of time some players spent drinking. Images of England players on the beach and in bars will be as memorable as anything that happened on the pitch.
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Last dance in sunny Sydney
With the score at 302-8 overnight and a lead of 119, England's hopes of putting pressure on Australia rested with Bethell, unbeaten on 142 after his stunning debut century on Wednesday.
Australia took their second new ball five overs of the day, Bethell turning over to lbw to Scott Bolan but finding himself squeezed into the edge off Mitchell Starc. The brilliant Stark then enticed the last man, Tongue, to slap him for extra cover.
Looking for wickets to thwart Australia's chase, England were left incensed when Jake Weatherald survived a detention appeal against Braydon Carse – the latest controversy with Snikko on the tour.
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Because Weatherald did not take the field, he also received a deferment from TV umpire Chris Gaffany, despite a slight move on the Sneeko technique. Karse had to be moved away from on-field umpire Ahsan Raza, with whom Stokes then spoke about “consistency”.
Weatherald was in 16th and advanced to 34th before being bowled by Tong, who also had a header to the leg on 29. England ignored Matthew Potts, Bethell making his first change and Will Jacks making a fine off-break to remove Steve Smith just after lunch.
Usman Khawaja, in his 88th and final Test, had earlier led Australia into the field and received a guard of honor from England when he came out to bat. Khawaja did only six before he passed out from the Tongue, walked away to rapturous applause, and performed sajdah in front of the pavilion.
England's final collapse – the 18th of the series – came when Bethell fired at Marnus Labuschagne at Tonga Gully. Labuschagne was beaten by 37 points due to a mix-up with Alex Carey.
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The hint of farce continued when both Carey and Cameron Green almost ended up at the same end, but both survived after missing out.
It was the end of the semester. The Barmy Army looked through their songbook, Carey was victorious and the Ashes series was over.
Australia targets 2027
While England played terribly, Australia again found a way to win the home Ashes series quickly.
They did it, with captain Cummins playing only one Test due to a back injury, fellow seamer Josh Hazlewood not playing at all, and leading spinner Nathan Lyon limited to a minor role due to the conditions and his own injury.
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Thus, Australia again secured the urn with a second or even third option in the bowling attack.
Left-arm seamer Starc struck a devastating blow for his 31 wickets, Head's promotion for the Perth opener was the defining moment of the series and Carey was superb behind the stumps.
In fact, there weren't many players in the home team who could say they were consistently in top form, which further highlights what a loss this was on England's part.
Interestingly, the Ashes winners still have a number of questions to answer as they prepare for the next series against England in 2027 – the identity of the opener, number three, all-rounder and front-runner could be up for debate.
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Australia will be looking for those answers as they search for a formula that will deliver a first away Ashes win since 2001. There are only 18 months left until this competition. No doubt the excitement will begin soon.
