England’s miserable Ashes tour ended with one last calamitous batting failure as Australia surged to a 146-run victory in the final Test to claim a 4-0 series win.
Set 271 to win, England reached 68-0 but then lost all 10 wickets for the addition of another 56 runs in Hobart.
Nine wickets fell in the final session of the third day, England collapsing with breathtaking speed and ineptitude – even by their recent standards – to be bowled out for 124.
Pat Cummins, who lifted the urn in his first series as captain, took three wickets and Scott Boland and Cameron Green also picked up three apiece.
Mark Wood’s superb 6-37 earlier helped dismiss Australia for 155 in their second innings to give England an outside chance of a remarkable win.
Instead, Australia repeated their margin of victory from the series four years ago and extend England’s winless run down under to 15 Tests.
Overall, Joe Root’s side have won only one of their past 14 Tests since February last year.
By the time they return to Australia in 2025 it will be 14 years since their last success in an away Ashes Test.
Another predictable defeat
There were times on another freewheeling day of an entertaining Test that England might have had hope of salvaging a consolation win from their demoralising tour.
A key decision went against them when Chris Woakes was judged to have marginally over-stepped when he bowled Alex Carey for 19. Had Carey been dismissed then, it would have left Australia 91-7 – but the wicketkeeper went on to make 49.
However, that moment was rendered irrelevant by the way England spinelessly capitulated, ending the series with another batting collapse that has become a characteristic of their Test cricket.
Six times in 10 innings in this series they have failed to pass 200 and they have not once managed 300.
This tour may well be remembered for the time in which it was played, with the Covid pandemic casting doubt firstly on whether England would take part and then played a role in their disrupted preparation.
Still, that should not be an excuse for their substandard performance and all aspects of English cricket will come under review in the aftermath of yet another drubbing down under.
Australia, a team who had played only four Tests in the previous 18 months and had to replace captain Tim Paine with Cummins on the eve of the series, were vastly superior and will be favourites to end a 22-year wait for an Ashes victory in the UK when they travel in 2023. (BBC Sport)
