Australia crush England to retain Ashes
A RELENTLESS AUSTRALIA SPEARheaded by debutant Scott Boland skittled England for an embarrassing 68 on Tuesday (Dec 28) to win the third Test by an innings and 14 runs and retain the Ashes with two matches still to play.
The tourists resumed in Melbourne on 31 for four, still 51 runs behind, after a disastrous final hour on Monday against some outstanding fast bowling that left their Ashes dreams in tatters.
Their survival rested on skipper Joe Root, but when he fell for 28, it was just a matter of time before the rest followed.
Boland, called up as injury cover, was invincible on his home ground at the MCG, taking 6-7 off four overs, equalling the record for the fastest five-wicket haul in 19 balls.
Mitchell Starc ended with 3-29 as England’s misery was complete.
Ben Stokes resumed on two but his poor tour continued when he was clean-bowled by Starc for 11. Jonny Bairstow made five and when Root was out it was all over, with the tailenders quickly following.
England headed to Melbourne knowing they had to win to keep the five-Test series alive after heavy defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide, with Australia only needing a draw to retain the urn as holders.
And they fleetingly hauled themselves into contention on the back of a vintage bowling effort from veteran seamer James Anderson, which restricted Australia to 267 in their first innings in reply to the tourists’ 185.
But it was only an 82-run lead and any dreams England had of staying in the Test, or even winning it, fell apart in the face of an intense fast bowling blitz from Starc, Cummins and Boland.
In an hour of mayhem, they removed hapless openers Zak Crawley (5), Haseeb Hameed (7), Dawid Malan (0) and Jack Leach (0), leaving England staring into the abyss on 31 for four after another stunning collapse. Root then fell for 28, caught by David Warner at slip off Boland.
“Gutless England batsmen deliver full The spectrum of ineptitude,” screamed Daily Telegraph The Sun while slammed “Clueless England”.
The fourth test in Sydney starts tomorrow (Jan 1).