Australia captain Pat Cummins said it felt “pretty awesome” after his dominant team won the third Test in Adelaide on Sunday to wrap up the Ashes in just 11 days of play after some dogged resistance from England's tail briefly threatened a great escape.
England's last four wickets added 145 on the final day to be all out for 352 and lose by 82 runs after finally showing some fight in the series as they chased a record 435 to win.
Australia's Scott Boland removed last man Josh Tongue, caught by Marnus Labuschagne, to spark wild celebrations as the famous urn remained in Australian hands.
“It feels pretty awesome,” said Australia captain Pat Cummins. “It wasn't easy today, but we got it done. The last two months have been a bit of a grind,” he added.
“But it's all worth it for days like this. That's when we are at our best … it's good old-fashioned grind, and I love the toil from all the guys.”
England had to win to keep the five-match series alive after being crushed by eight wickets inside two days at Perth and in four at Brisbane, with two more Tests still to play at Melbourne and Sydney.
There are only five days until the fourth Test starts in Melbourne on December 26 with Cummins adamant Australia will not be taking their foot off the gas there or in the final Test in Sydney, beginning January 4.
“The goal was to win the Ashes. But you're not going into a Test match not wanting to win, so we'll go to Melbourne and absolutely be desperate to win that one and Sydney,” he said.
“And if we get 5-0, it's amazing but I can't say that's been spoken about at all. It's always just been about how we're going to navigate our way through to three wins.”
McCullum questions English preparations
Head coach Brendon McCullum has admitted for the first time that mistakes in England’s Ashes preparations played a part in his side’s downfall.
A team that travelled with lofty expectations has been brutally brought to heel by Australia, who have secured the urn again with a hat-trick of thumping wins.
It has been a chastening experience for a team whose buccaneering ‘Bazball’ stylings have gradually been worn down by the relentless class of their opponents.
They have been criticised for taking the build-up period too lightly – be it a solitary warm-up against the England Lions on a slow pitch, their refusal to take up a day-night practice match before the floodlit second Test or their mid-series beach break to Noosa – with a string of former England captains among those to have their say.
Having previously deflected that scrutiny, notably saying his side had “overprepared” for the second Test, McCullum changed his tune and accepted his share of the blame.
“You look back on some things as a coach, of course you do, and ultimately you are responsible for how you get your side ready and how you prepare them,” he said.
“I had conviction, we had conviction, in our methods – not just leading into the first Test but also in between Tests. I look back now and think, ‘did we need more leading into the first and did we need less leading into the second?’.
“They are the changes you look back on over time and say would I do it differently? Retrospectively, we’ve lost 3-0 so you would probably say there was room for change there.
“Again, you put your hand up as a coach and say you might not have got that right. At the time I felt it would give us our best chance because it has previously. But sitting here 3-0, it didn’t work.”
Stokes vows to stay on
Skipper Ben Stokes, who had spoken on the eve of the series about his dreams of becoming an Ashes winning captain, has been stung by events of recent weeks.
He has taken on a sizeable workload, issued repeated rallying cries to see more from his side and eventually come up empty handed. But, with two games still to play, he vowed to keep going to the well.
“It’s hurts and it sucks. It’s very disappointing knowing that we can’t achieve what we set out to do here,” he said.
“It’s a pretty emotional time for me in the dressing room and for the guys, players, management, back room stuff. I hate living in hindsight because you can never change what you have done … it’s what you do out there that counts and we’ve not been able to stand up to what Australia have thrown at us.
“We’ve not been able to stand up to the barrage of execution from Australia. But we still have two games left in the series and a hell of a lot to play for, as individuals and as a team.
“We’re not going to turn around and kick the stumps over because we have so much more to play for.”
At 34 years old and with serious wear and tear on his body, Stokes is highly unlikely to be around when England next visit these parts in four years. But he is centrally contracted for the next 18 months meaning one last chance to reclaim the Ashes urn for his country on home soil in 2027.
Asked if he had the energy and desire to continue leading the team, he offered one word: “Absolutely.”
