After some tenacious resistance from England’s tail momentarily threatened a spectacular escape, Australia’s skipper Pat Cummins said it felt “pretty awesome” on Sunday after his team won the third Test in Adelaide to retain the Ashes in just 11 days of play.
After finally putting up a fight in the series as they chased a record 435 to win, England’s final four wickets aggregated 145 on the last day to be all out for 352 and lose by 82 runs.
The renowned urn remained in Australian hands until Scott Boland of Australia removed Josh Tongue, the final wicket, after he was caught by Marnus Labuschagne, leading to wild jubilation.
“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.”
On Sunday, Australia suffered one setback when spin wizard Nathan Lyon hobbled off after preserving a boundary due to hamstring strain sustained while fielding.
However, seamers Mitchell Starc, Cummins, and Boland finished the innings with the second new ball each side of lunch, so he wasn’t needed.
Lyon may miss the Melbourne Test, which begins on Friday, and the Sydney Test on January 4 after being sent for scans and later observed using crutches.
“It doesn’t look great. Don’t know yet, but seeing someone on crutches doesn’t really bode well for someone with a Test match a week away,” said Cummins.
“It’s going to be hard to replace him but we have some guys who have already had a taste of international cricket around the traps.”
After a protracted absence due to lower back problems, Cummins was playing his first Test since July and stated that he would skip Melbourne as a precaution.
“We’ll wait and see. So we’ll work on it over the next couple days. I doubt I’ll be playing Melbourne, and then we’ll have a chat about Sydney.”
With their “Bazball” brand of ultra-attacking cricket exposed, England’s defeat in 11 days of play is the second-fastest in over a century, since the 1921 Ashes were over in eight days.
“That dream is now over, which is incredibly disappointing,” said England skipper Ben Stokes. “Everyone is hurting and quite emotional about it. It hurts, it sucks, but we ain’t going to stop.”
Stokes, who had called for more effort before the game, also found some encouragement in the way England fought.
“That stuff I wanted to see, I’ve seen that this week. I think we can take a lot from this game,” he said. “We have got so much to play for, and we will be flying into these next two games.”
The pre-Ashes excitement, when England was hailed as having their best chance in a generation to win a series in Australia, is a far cry from their surrender over three Test matches.
Additionally, it ridiculed the assertion made by veteran fast bowler Stuart Broad that the hosts had their weakest team in fifteen years, which was dismissed as a “Dad’s Army” by others.
For Stokes’ team, the fact is that since their last series triumph in Australia in 2010–11, England has gone 18 Tests without winning a match there. Unless their fortunes drastically change, their previous three trips have resulted in lopsided scores of 5-0, 4-0, and 4-0.
With Will Jacks on 11 and Jamie Smith on 2, they resumed on 207-6. As the Barmy Army supporters started singing “Livin’ on a Prayer” by Bon Jovi, Smith demonstrated his early determination by slog-sweeping Lyon over deep midwicket for six and then hitting another off Cameron Green.
Smith started hitting out when Mitchell Starc got the new ball, and it ultimately proved to be his downfall when he skied to Pat Cummins at midwicket for 60.
As some anxiety built in for Australia, Jacks scored his greatest Test score of 47 and led England’s chase below 100. However, Marnus Labuschange made another outstanding catch, diving to his left in front of wicketkeeper Alex Carey following an edge off Starc.
Before Boland dismissed Tongue, which sparked wild jubilation, Starc struck once more to send Jofra Archer packing.
