Four raised fingers

England ended another Ashes tour on a humbling note at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Sick and tired young skipper Joe Root was asleep in the dressing rooms after an innings and 123-run defeat in the fifth test, leaving England vice-captain Jimmy Anderson to attend a post-series presentation on a platform shadowed by two big hands that signaled the series outcome: 4 fingers raised on one hand, fist clenched on the other.

It was far from subtle, although it was a slight improvement on England’s last tour Downunder — a 5-0 series loss that culminated in a humiliating defeat inside three days at the SCG.

This England squad, led by Root on his first tour as England captain, was more competitive than their predecessors in 2013-14, taking each match to the fifth day. England also was largely the better team in the drawn fourth test in Melbourne, only for Australia captain Steve Smith to prove unmovable on the day 5.

“I do think it’s been closer than 4-nil,” Anderson said. “We’ve been on top in some games, if not all the games at some stage. We’ve just not capitalized on the key moments.”

England’s problems on the latest tour to Australia can perhaps be traced back to even before the first ball in the first test at the Gabba in Brisbane was bowled.

Off-field disciplinary issues involving star allrounder Ben Stokes, who was suspended for the tour pending possible legal proceedings following an altercation in England in September, before further separate incidents involving Jonny Bairstow and Ben Duckett in Perth threatened to derail