Australia thrash England by 146 runs in Hobart to win The Ashes series 4-0; Scott Boland, Cameron Green and Pat Cummins took three wickets apiece as the tourists collapsed to 124 all out having been set 271 to win; Mark Wood earlier took 6-37 as the home side were rolled for 155
Sunday 16 January 2022 17:03, UK
The Ashes came to a fitting end as England produced one last batting collapse to slump to a 146-run defeat to leave Australia celebrating a 4-0 series win.
Joe Root's side had worked themselves into a position where a consolation victory appeared possible as the second session on day three approached its conclusion, reaching 68-0 in their chase of 271 but proceeded to lose all 10 wickets for 56 and were bowled out for 124.
Cameron Green (3-21) started the rout as he removed the England top three either side of tea before Scott Boland and Pat Cummins helped themselves to three wickets apiece in the evening session, the Australia captain taking the winning wicket to end a pitiful batting display.
Earlier in the day, Mark Wood had claimed his first Ashes five-wicket haul and finished with figures of 6-37 to keep England in with a chance but once Rory Burns and Zak Crawley's encouraging opening stand was broken, the away side crumbled as their dismal series concluded with their worst collapse.
England began the day needing quick wickets, ideally seven of them, as Australia resumed on 37-3 and in the fourth over, Wood got them started as nightwatchman Boland (8) edged behind.
The fast bowler was sticking with the short-ball tactics that troubled Australia late on day two, as well as in their first innings, and it did the trick again as Travis Head (8) was caught behind down the legside before Steve Smith (27) pulled the ball straight to Dawid Malan at fine leg in a superb, fiery spell.
Australia were rescued somewhat from 63-6 as Alex Carey and Green put on 49 for the seventh wicket, albeit the former required a fair amount of good fortune as he was bowled by Chris Woakes on 19, only for the third umpire to make the debatable decision to call a front-foot no-ball.
Stuart Broad eventually broke the stand, England reviewing successfully for lbw, after Green (23) was pinned on the back leg and he thought he had Carey in his next over, only for the Australian to review with ball-tracking showing the ball pitched fractionally outside leg.
Wood returned completing a thoroughly deserved five-for with the wicket of Mitchell Starc (1), caught at short leg and England wrapped up the innings soon after the dinner interval, Carey (49) caught behind off Broad (3-51) one short of his half-century to give Sam Billings, on debut, a fifth catch of the innings.
Fittingly, it was Wood who took the final wicket, with the score on 155, making a mess of Cummins' (13) stumps as the Australia skipper swung and missed in an attempt to add to his side's lead in quick time.
England's openers were faced with a little over an hour to bat before tea and despite walking out during the notoriously tricky twilight period, they came out with positive intent and scored quickly against the new ball.
As with Carey earlier in the day, some luck was required as the ball nibbled around with both Rory Burns and Zak Crawley seeing edges find gaps rather than fielders, and Burns the recipient of some Australian generosity as they chose not to review an lbw decision that would have seen the left-hander gone in the third over.
As the overs ticked by, both became more secure at the crease, with Crawley hitting a few classy boundaries and Burns appearing solid in defence, and they were able to bring up a fifty partnership - England's first for the first wicket in the series - and progressed to the highest opening stand by either side in the series.
However, the visitors' encouraging start came to an end in the last over before tea as Burns attempted to leave a rising delivery from Green, only for the extra bounce to help the ball find the inside edge and ricochet onto the stumps.
Green was understandably buoyed by the wicket and struck twice more in quick succession after the break, another drag-on doing for Malan (10) before the seamer found just enough lateral movement to locate the edge as Crawley (36) attempted a straight drive.
England had gone from 68-0 to 83-3 and it got worse in the 28th over when Ben Stokes took on a bouncer from Starc but failed to get hold of it and was caught by Nathan Lyon in the deep.
Joe Root's series came to an end just after drinks as he was bowled for 11 by a delivery that shot along the ground from Boland, nothing the England skipper could do as the ball snuck under his bat.
From there the end came quickly, Billings (1) chipped Boland to mid-on, Ollie Pope (5) was bowled around his legs by Cummins and Woakes (5) edged behind from Boland.
With the tail looking to go down swinging, it was left to Cummins, in his first series as skipper, to clean up Wood (11) and Ollie Robinson (0) to seal another comprehensive victory and leave England to reflect on a third Australian tour in a row without a Test victory.
Australia captain Pat Cummins: "It is pretty crazy. As a professional cricketer, these are the series you have in your diary a couple of years out, so to come out with so many positives and winning 4-0, I am pumped. It feels like we are really building to something big. Now we want to share our wares overseas."
England captain Joe Root: "It has been a frustration throughout. We have played good cricket in parts but not managed to string a whole game together. We have to learn from these experiences and get better - not come away and make the same mistakes. That is the challenge moving forward."
Root, speaking to BT Sport: "A number of things have to change. In the short-term, guys have to learn quickly. If you want to survive at this level, you have to learn quickly. What they are lacking is the opportunities to do that at the level beforehand. We need to sit down and have a clear look at what direction English cricket needs to take, what direction English Test cricket needs to take to improve and improve quickly. That is not going to change overnight."
Sir Alastair Cook, speaking to BT Sport: "Everything has to be stripped back. How do we get this England side better, quickly and for the long-term? Nothing else can matter. We have had all this money piled into The Hundred and other stuff but put it all into one thing - making England's Test side better. Best side, best players, all the time."
England Women begin their bid to regain the Ashes on January 20 with the first of three T20 internationals. The white-ball matches are followed by a standalone Test match and then three one-day internationals.
England last won the Ashes in 2014, with holders Australia's triumphs in England in 2015 and 2019 sandwiching a drawn series in Australia in 2017.
The men's side, minus their Ashes players, take on West Indies in a five-match T20 series from Saturday before a potentially revamped Test outfit return to action in March with three games in the Caribbean.
