No Christmas miracle for England as Australia make it 3-0 to retain the Ashes in 11 days
A gutsy fight from England's lower order took the match into the afternoon session of the final day, but Australia held their nerve
A gutsy fight from England's lower order took the match into the afternoon session of the final day, but Australia held their nerve
Scorer: Ranjith P | Commentator: Andrew McGlashan
Australia win by 82 runs and retain the Ashes in 11 days. It got a little tighter than looked likely, but an excellent performance by the home side. England provided some fight in the chase, but it was too late to save the series. Hugs and high-fives all round the Australia players. They've had to dig deep for this one. Nathan Lyon out there on crutches. He had a huge part to play in this match but his series looks over. Jamie Smith and Will Jacks kept slim hopes alive for England today, but Australia were always favourites. "They never come easy," Labuschagne tells Channel 7. "It just felt like everything stuck...I said before, I get to be Steve for a week." Will bring you the presentations shortly.
Alex Carey is player of the match: "We knew what was on the line...thought the boys played what was in front of us. Knew we'd be challenge and it was a grind to the end. It's been a lot of fun, this Adelaide crowd has been something special. Travis, again, something special here...I know how good he is and he's showing world. To be able to contribute to victories is something I'm always trying to do. I'm lucky to play a lot of Shield cricket here so a familiar surface...Usman Khawaja played really well at late notice. Very special moment, having the family, to score a hundred and look up to the heavens was very special. You keep to a really good bowling attack it gives you a lot of opportunities...Nathan Lyon was really special yesterday. It's been a lot of fun."
Ben Stokes "That dream is now over, which is incredibly disappointing. Everyone is hurting and quite emotional about it. It hurt, it sucks, but we aint going to stop. Australia have just been able to execute things more consistently than us...we've shown it in passages. Thought we were on for another heist when Jamie and Will were going. Losing the toss, bowling, keep Australia to under-par score and not being able to respond with the bat when we had an opportunity to put a big score on the board...we were confident we had a good chance of chasing it down, it was a very good wicket. Losing those three wickets at the backend of yesterday set us back. That stuff I wanted to see, I've seen that this week. Think we can take a lot from this game. We've got so much more to play for."
Pat Cummins "Feels pretty awesome. Been thinking about it for a long time. Wasn't easy today but got it done. Exciting changing room. The last two months have been a bit of a grind, but all worth it for days like this. That's when we are at our best, you can't really rush things in Australia...it's good old-fashioned grind, and love the toil from all the guys. Got a bit closer than we'd have liked. First of all, you need more than 11 players in an Ashes...three Tests in, we've shown that. It's focusing on what we do well as bowlers, not getting carried away by the opposition. There's always things that crop up...the boys crack on and say what's next. Incredible, think [Marnus] and Steve might have a fight over second slip. Marnus manufactured a couple more for us. Packed crowds, all five days, to see two homegrown heroes was awesome."
Right, on that note, I'll wrap things up there. Been a terrific Test match. Well played to Australia, the Ashes stay with them for at least another two years. We'll be back for the Boxing Day Test but for now, from Gnasher, Miller, Alan and the scoring team it's goodbye and thanks for joining us.
JC Tongue c Labuschagne b Boland 1 (7m 3b 0x4 0x6) SR: 33.33
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