Ashes Review: Australia triumph over limited but willing England

Seven weeks of intense Ashes battle across Australia ended, as most of them have over the last three decades, with the hosts revelling in a comprehensive series triumph after an emphatic victory at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

The series included several singular elements, including a farewell to Perth’s perpetually sunbaked WACA ground and the introduction of day-night cricket under lights at the Adelaide Oval. But for the English contingent among the more than 850,000 fans who streamed through the gates at the five venues, there was a depressingly familiar story arc to the start of the series at least.

England’s preparations had been disrupted by the saga over whether one of their best players, all-rounder Ben Stokes, would be allowed to tour after being filmed fighting outside a nightclub in September. He wasn’t.

There were the breathless stories in the Australian media, the most damaging breaking during the opening match of the series about how wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow had greeted Australia’s Cameron Bancroft with a ‘friendly’ head-butt a month previously.

England were beaten at Brisbane, as most touring teams are, and put up a strong showing without being able to drive home their advantage with the pink ball in Adelaide before meekly …read more