Ashes 2017/18: 5th Test – England’s series ends in heavy defeat and a 4-0 thrashing

Australia cruise to easy win as Joe Root is hospitalised in Sydney

The Ashes series, 2017/18 – Fifth Test at The Sydney Cricket Ground, Australia – England 346 & 180:  Australia 649-7 dec. Australia win by an innings and 123 runs.

The Ashes series concluded with a comprehensive Test match defeat for England, by an innings and 123 runs, and a 4-0 series defeat overall. This was a rampant Australian side, revelling in the obvious discomfiture of this fragile England team.

They didn’t manage the clean-sweep, the dreaded whitewash, but they delivered the next best thing. This series will hurt – and possibly haunt – many an England player for some time to come.

At times, watching the action unfold felt a bit like rubbernecking an accident, such was Australia’s dominance and England’s suffering. But it should also be said that, despite criticism from some observers, the cricket was often compulsive viewing – irrespective of who you support, and the fact the series was won after just three Tests.

The Ashes continues to be a major sporting event, make no mistake about that. It’s the real deal, and proves that whatever flaws there may be in cricket’s governance, calendar and politics, when you have two such great rivals going head-to-head (and sledge-to-sledge), it remains, more often than not, thoroughly absorbing.

On day one at the SCG, the pitch, whilst you wouldn’t actually call it a Green Top, was showing definite signs of grass, albeit in patches, either side of the track. England’s Joe Root won the toss and wanted first go on it with the bat.

England gave a debut to 20-year-old leg spinner Mason Crane, replacing Chris Woakes who had a side strain. Australia recalled Mitchell Starc, sidelined in Melbourne with his sore heel, in place of Jackson Bird.

It was a day of early promise for England, but sadly it all fell apart in the space of just 10 balls at the end of the day, which dramatically shifted the dynamic of the match.

Despite Mark Stoneman, Alistair Cook and James Vince all getting out cheaply, Root and Dawid Malan made a fine recovery job. Root entered the fray with England on 95 for 3, and with Malan put on a highly valuable 133 partnership.

All was looking quite good as the day drew to a close, but disaster lurked. With just three overs remaining, Australia took the second new ball. Mitchell Starc’s first ball was driven imperiously to the boundary by Root. His second ball went for four also, an inside edge carrying to the rope. But revenge for Starc was imminent – Root clipped the third ball to square-leg, where Mitchell Marsh gratefully pouched it – calamity for Root and England, the captain falling on 83.

Worse – if possible – was to follow merely seven balls later, when Jonny Bairstow edged behind to Tim Paine off Josh Hazelwood, on the last ball of the day. The Aussie’s celebrated wildly, knowing full well what a huge difference those two late wickets would probably make.

For England it wasn’t just the dismissals, but they way they happened. Root was out to a nothing shot and he knew it. A fatal lapse of concentration at precisely the wrong moment. Quite why Bairstow came in and not a night-watchman, only he, Root and the management will know. It was such a risky call – which rebounded squarely in England faces.

England finished on 233 for 5, and it must have been a gloomy dressing room for them. Australia couldn’t have been happier of course – what a psychological blow to land on the old enemy at such a crucial time.

Day two was a belter – over 300 runs scored and 7 wickets taken. Malan was first to go, brilliantly caught by Steve Smith at slip off Mitchell Starc after a doughty 62. For the umpteenth time, a succession of English batsmen came in, got a start, then left.

Australia even tried to make it easier for England, with two terrible drops in quick succession. First up was Pat Cummins spilling Tom Curran, and then Josh Hazlewoood with an even worse howler, letting Moeen Ali off the hook. Hazlewood actually dropped Moeen with his chest – his hands never managing to make any contact with the ball.

Bairstow, Curran, Moeen and Broad all got out cheaply, although Broad entertained for a while with some typical tail-end pyrotechnics which have become quite a trademark. Any number eight batsmen who sees a pull shot as part of his defence catalogue is always worth a watch.

Curran’s knock, to be fair, was a useful 39. The confidence of youth at such an early stage before fear can become an issue, perhaps. The last wicket featured a comedy short with James Anderson and Mason Crane running between the wickets as though they were in different postcodes. Crane was stranded and Mitchell Marsh easily ran him out. If only Yakety Sax had been playing in the background.

It all added up to a total of 346 all out. Was that a good enough total on what looked a very good batting wicket?

Stuart Broad struck early and superbly in the Australian innings, rattling Cam Bancroft’s stumps with a beautiful delivery. James Anderson accounted for the ever-dangerous David Warner for 56, caught behind by Jonny Bairstow – 86 for 2.

Steve Smith meanwhile looked ominously at ease, and Usman Khawaja was having his best innings of the series so far, notching a century with Australia chipping away steadily at England’s lead.

With yet another century looking there for the taking, Smith, on 83, offered a caught and bowled to the man you’d probably least expect to achieve such a feat – Moeen Ali, who in fairness took a neat catch very low to the ground.

Mason Crane was having an eventful day. He thought he’d snared Khawaja lbw on 132, but the ensuing review revealed he’d overstepped and no-balled. He was struggling with his run-up, aborting several balls at the last moment, much to the annoyance of the home crowd.

In the 122^nd over, Australia passed England’s score when Shaun Marsh smacked Moeen to the boundary. Seven overs later, Khawaja and Mitchell Marsh celebrated their hundred partnership. But the celebrations had barely subsided when Khawaja was out for a terrific 171, stumped by Bairstow off the bowling of Crane.

The Marsh brothers now took centre stage and they relished the opportunity, scoring rapidly, freely and with style. Their own hundred partnership was recorded shortly before stumps, with Shaun on 98 and Mitchell on 63, in a total of 479-4, a lead of 104. England had tried pretty much everything, only to be met with minimal reward and a scoreboard ticking over far too rapidly for their liking.

Day four – and more toil for England in the searing heat. Shaun Marsh duly collected his ton, and celebrated well with brother. The scene was reversed when Mitchell repeated the feat. Hard to take for England I’m sure – they were now struggling to get past a single family, let alone an entire team.

Lunch arrived with Shaun Marsh powering on to 145, and Tim Paine on 14 in a total of 578 for 5, and a lead of 232. The sun was blazing down in temperatures way over 40 degrees. England must have felt they’d been sentenced to fuelling the world’s biggest outdoor furnace, using paper shovels – it was brutally hot and brutally hard.

The eventual declaration came from Steve Smith about an hour before tea, with Australia on a huge 649 for 7, with a lead of 303. Could England survive a day and a quarter against this attack?

The rearguard action got off to a disastrous start from which there was no hint of recovery. Stoneman was out without scoring in only the third over, lbw to Starc, and three overs later Cook was following him, bowled by Nathan Lyon.

The innings was in tatters already and only the prospect of Root and/or Malan playing a blinder offered the smallest glimmer of hope. James Vince was next out, thick-edging Cummins to Steve Smith – 43 for 3. Painful, and getting worse. Malan was lbw to Lyon for a paltry 5 runs, and England tottered on 68 for 4.

Now, unless Joe Root could nip into the nearest phone box and emerge from it with his underpants outside his trousers, red cape billowing from his neck and a big “S” on his chest – this match, and series, looked well and truly over.

Stumps were drawn with England on 93 for 4, still trailing by 210. Root gritting his way to 42 and Jonny Bairstow on 17. The Barmy Army were truly magnificent in their support, singing, chanting, berating Aussies at will – not for one minute letting a thumping of their team get in the way of a few beers and a good sing-song – remarkable.

There was drama before play started on the fifth and final day, when it was revealed that Root had been admitted to hospital that morning, suffering from severe dehydration and gastroenteritis, attached to an IV drip – worrying news.

Play therefore had to start without the England skipper, and with Australia needing only 6 wickets to win, everything was stacked against England. Moeen Ali was the first casualty, out lbw to his nemesis Nathan Lyon. Moeen eschewed any thought of a review and trudged off with the demeanour of a man who wanted to head straight for the Airport.

At least it brought Root back in, bravely getting back into the fray when he must have felt wretched. England navigated their way to lunch without further loss, at 144 for 5, with Root on 58 and Bairstow on 38.

Sadly though, this was the last we were to see of Root, who didn’t return after the lunch interval and was said to be sleeping in the changing room. But it made little difference, as the inevitable unfolded. Bairstow, Broad and Crane all fell within 12 balls, and with crushing inevitability, to Pat Cummins – leaving England on the precipice at 156 for 8.

Root’s men were put out of their misery when they lost their last wicket in rather farcical circumstances. Josh Hazelwood bowled to James Anderson and appealed for a caught behind, although TV clearly showed Anderson was nowhere it. Umpire Handunnettige Dharmasena incredibly gave him out, and with no reviews left, Anderson and England had to lump it.

But in reality, the gaffe was akin to a mercy killing in putting a stop the carnage. Game over, series over. England had been second best throughout these Ashes by several miles, and although they showed patches of form and enjoyed some decent spells, they were simply outplayed by a superior team playing on home soil, enjoying home conditions with the better batsmen and the better bowlers – you can’t really compete with that.

The post-mortems have begun already, with England cricket – as ever – under the microscope, generating a mass of opinion and analysis as to what went wrong, and how best to move on from here.

We’ll let the dust settle on that for while and revisit it in a later blog, for a considered examination of the prevailing mood. Meanwhile, this arduous tour rumbles on, with the ODI series between these two starting as early as Saturday.

Huge credit must go to Australia in this Ashes series. They pushed home their advantages mercilessly, displaying a confidence and swagger they fully justified with their performances. Steve Smith played like a God, enjoying fine support from David Warner, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon in particular. It all added up to a package England couldn’t get anywhere near, although there was no lack of effort on their part.

Post match, Australian skipper Steve Smith summed up his views in succinct fashion. “It’s incredibly satisfying. It’s been a great couple of months. So much work goes in behind the scenes to ensure we’ve got the right side and we’re doing everything we can to win games of cricket. I think 4-0 is a pretty fair reflection of how the games have gone.” – and it would be hard to argue one little bit.

In the absence of Joe Root, James Anderson spoke for England. “Australia have outplayed us. We can learn a lot from the way they played. Their batsman were patient and applied themselves. We did well for periods of time but 60s and 70s aren’t going to win you an Ashes series. You need big hundreds, and that’s what Australia showed”.

“I hope the guys are hurting like I am, watching Australia celebrate. In 2019, we have to make sure we don’t feel this again and put on a better show.” Hear hear to that, Mr Anderson.

England must not let their heads drop, for there is a lot more cricket to play on this tour, including ODI and T20 series’ with both Australia and new Zealand, plus a two-Test series against New Zealand to round things off – and that doesn’t finish until the end of March.

The biggest prize may have been lost, but they must regroup, rest and prepare themselves for the battles ahead. This was never going to be a tour for the faint-hearted, and every England player involved in this Ashes series will certainly realise that now.

By Chris Tribe

9th January 2018

Copyright © 2018 Chris Tribe. All Rights Reserved.

Photo credit: Copyright ©Sydney Cricket Ground/Marc Dalmulder from Hamlyn Terrace, Australia/licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.