The 3rd Ashes Test was concluded with yet another Australia win. This time it was by 82 runs. This victory was driven by the performance of local player, Alex Carey. His man-of-the-match performance led Australia to a 3-0 series lead and thus the retention of The Ashes. As a result, Australia have been praised while Engliand have been ripped apart.
Australia won the toss and chose to bat. Australia managed to score 371 before being bowled out. Alex Carey top scored with 106 and Usman Khawaja chipping in with 82. Jofra Archer was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 5-53. England replied with 286 all out. Captain Ben Stokes top scored with 83 while Jofra Archer scored 51. Captain Pat Cummins and Scott Boland each took 3 wickets. Alex Carey took four catches.
Taking a lead of 85, Australia added a further 349 runs. This was curtersy of a 162-run partnership* between two locals: Travis Head (170) and Alex Carey (72). Josh Tongue was the star bowler with figures of 4-70. Set a target of 435, England could only muster 352. Jamie Smith (60) and Will Jacks (47) nearly led the Poms to a record win. Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon each took three wickets. Alex Carey took a stumping and a further catch. As mentioned above, this led to a 82-run victory.
*The last time two South Australia-born batters combined for a century partnership at Adelaide Oval was in 1898. This was a 146 run partnership between Joe Darling (178) and Clem Hill (81).
England captain, Ben Stokes, was asked in the aftermath of England's 11-day 3-0 Ashes defeat in Adelaide where this Australia team ranked in terms of the sides he had lost to in three Ashes series down under. "They were better than us," Stokes said.
The journalist asked again, thinking maybe the question had been misinterpreted. It hadn't been. "They were better than us," Stokes said a second time.
If you had said to Stokes a month ago that he would lose the Ashes in 11 days to a team that was missing Josh Hazlewood for the entire series, Pat Cummins for two and Steven Smith, Usman Khawaja and Nathan Lyon for one each, he might have laughed at you.
Throw in Khawaja suffering back spasms in Perth and being completely incapacitated to the point where Travis Head had to open in five of the six innings in the series, Smith suffering vertigo on the morning of the third Test only for Khawaja to be recalled in the middle order in a game when he turned 39 and then Australia's other 38-year-old, Lyon, injuring his hamstring and being unable to bowl on a flat fifth-day pitch in Adelaide; it is easy to see why Stokes was so shellshocked in the aftermath of his team's defeat.
He might not have said it but it was hard not to conclude that England's skipper perhaps shared former team-mate, Stuart Broad's sentiment that this is the worst Australian team England have faced in the last four Ashes series in Australia.
Yet, Australia's imperfect team played near perfect cricket and they're pretty happy about it.
"We have to say, being called the worst Australian team in 15 years … like it's nice to be sitting where we are, 3-0 up," Marnus Labuschagne told ABC radio after the match. "The job's not done yet. We want to make sure it's 5-0 and really take that urn."
All the talk coming into the series had been about England's Bazballers and the threat they posed to an ageing and vulnerable Australian side.
All that talk has quietly annoyed the Australians. Whilst they have been very respectful publicly in their comments about the quality of England's team, they have been privately plotting their downfall with more determination than any other series in the last two years.
"Winning 3-0 is hugely satisfying for many reasons," Pat Cummins said after the match. "But particularly, I think, a lot of the chat before the series was about how evenly poised it's going to be and to win in straight sets, it doesn't get much better than that."
It is a credit to Australia's planning and execution, even in the face of unexpected hurdles and not every player contributing to the best of their ability.
That the players were wearing "Ronball" t-shirts after the win in Adelaide, made by Travis Head in honour of their coach, Andrew "Ron" McDonald, was revealing. That they wore them, too, when Cummins invited a group of Australia's ex-Ashes winners, including ex-coach, Justin Langer, whose exit from the same dressing room had been acrimonious after the last home Ashes win, spoke volumes about how the team feels about their current coach and the environment he has created despite his insistence on staying as far in the background as possible.
"There's been huge disruption with some of the players," Cummins said. "I missed a couple of games, but the way that Steve [Smith] can just jump in and it's seamless, other players who are on the fringe can jump in and be match-winners straight away. I think it's a huge credit to Andrew McDonald and the coaching staff and the medical staff that we feel like we've got a big squad that we can draw on."
It has been a victory built on perfect execution from an imperfect team. Nowhere in Australia's planning did they have Head opening the batting as their preferred opener, but his centuries in Perth and in Adelaide have ripped two Tests from England's grasp.
Starc taking 22 wickets at 17.04 was plan A, but scoring match-defining hands of 77 and 54 from no. 9 wasn't.
Khawaja being left out of the Adelaide Test initially and then recalled at no. 4 45 minutes before the toss would never have been forecasted. His ability to focus the mind and deliver 82 and 40 among some chaotic batting showed why the selectors had kept faith.
Australia have won all the key moments on the back of doing the basics better despite clear vulnerabilities. Their fielding has been a cut above, led by Carey's keeping and the slip catching of Smith and Labuschagne. Even their back-up wicketkeeper, Josh Inglis, playing as a batter in a weird role at no .7, delivered a stunning direct-hit run-out in Brisbane.
They have also been calmer than England in frenzied moments, showcasing adaptability and learnings from past mistakes.
They kept the door ajar for England in Adelaide with Cummins admitting they had left some runs out there in both innings. There were shades of Lord's 2023 when Lyon hobbled off with injury, unable to bowl, and the required runs to win crept under three figures with three wickets still to take.
"[Lord's] went through my head," Cummins said. "I reminded myself that we won that Lord's Test, even though Nathan wasn't there."
"I think it was a very calm group out there. We've been in those situations before, and you can't overplay it. You can't force it. In the past, we might have tried to create wickets out of nothing, but we felt like we had enough runs and just be methodical, go at two or three an over and those wickets will present themselves. I think there's some learnings that played out today."
"They've been there and done it. That is the value of experience."
Australia's players and staff took great joy in ambling out to the middle of Adelaide Oval, long after the record crowds had vacated, to celebrate their win. Many were wearing Ronball T-shirts with a beer in hand. They linked arm-in-arm to sing John Williamson's iconic anthem, "True Blue," just as they had done before the Test in honour of the Bondi terror victims.
They then belted out the team song, "Under the Southern Cross I Stand," for the third time in 11 days of Test cricket, and 16th time in the last 18 Ashes Tests at home.
Apparently, the worst Australian cricket team in 15 years just won the Ashes with two matches to spare against the best England squad assembled since 2011.
Long-time protagonist, Stuart Broad, lit the fuse ahead of a volatile contest for the longest-running rivalry in Test cricket when he described the host squad as the worst to contest the Ashes in Australia since England won the 2010-11 series Down Under.
The 167-test veteran played two matches for England in that winning series. Since then, a drought has extended to 16 losses, two draws and no wins for England on Australian soil.
Aussie batter, Marnus Labuschagne, who produced a spectacular catch to help hasten the end of England’s dogged last-day comeback in the third Test in Adelaide on Sunday, reflected on the pre-series pronouncements by Broad and others.
"Have to say, being called the worst Australian team in 15 years, like it’s nice to be sitting where we are, 3-0 up,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “The job’s not done yet. We want to make sure it’s 5-0 and really take that urn."
It took a record equalling 11 days — two in Perth, four in Brisbane and almost a full five in Adelaide — not quite a record for clinching an Ashes series but not too far off. Chasing what needed to be a world record for victory, England were all out for 352 in pursuit of 435, giving Australia an 82-run win.
Meanwhile, some members of the England cricket team have been accused of drinking for six days leading up to losing the Ashes. The inquest has already begun into just where it all went wrong for England, with questions being raised over professionalism.
A BBC report claims some of England's stars enjoyed a boozy time at tourist hotspot, Noosa, after losing the second Test on 7 December.
With Brendan McCullum's side already facing backlash for their golf trip a day after their first Test collapse, they then had nine days to prepare for the third Test at Adelaide Oval. Despite preparation being under the microscope, McCullum went on to claim his team had 'over-prepared' for the second Test at the Gabba.
England's players were then given some time off, with a beachside getaway to popular resort Noosa on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. While the break had been planned ahead of the Ashes, this still sparked criticism from experts and angered fans in the process.
Having played just six days of cricket at the time of their team getaway, it is now claimed that members of the England camp spent just as much time drinking in Noosa. Though some players, including Ben Stokes and Joe Root, reportedly chose to spend their time off with family and training, others are said to have enjoyed their surroundings slightly more.
On the trip, the BBC wrote: "For others, it was a glorified stag do. Some members of the team followed two days of drinking in Brisbane with four more in Noosa."
Meanwhile, photos show some England players relaxing at the beach and drinking beers at the popular Rococo Bistro bar, just off the beach. This includes star player, Harry Brook and fast bowler, Brydon Carse. An article was written about it. It read: "[Harry] Brook spent a decent chunk of England's four-day holiday in Noosa, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, relaxing at the bar with fast bowler Brydon Carse."
Former England spinner, Monty Panesar, also appeared to hint at a lack of professionalism from England's players when he joined talkSPORT's Weekend Breakfast on Sunday. Speaking ahead of the third Test, he said: "This Australia team is stronger, mentally, physically and technically. Steve Smith and Pat Cummins are better captains technically and tactically as well."
"Whenever England got into a strong position, they just didn’t know how to hold onto that and gave away the momentum. Ben Stokes showed so much fight but I think the rest of the team has to raise their game as well with him."
"Generally speaking, the top order just hasn't fired and they haven't had the bowling attack to take 20 wickets. Everyone is saying 'Bazball is dead' and going after this England team. England's preparation was all wrong, they weren’t ready for it at all. The media is after them now."
"Everyone is thinking this was a bit of a stag do, enjoying themselves too much and having a good laugh and joke. But now it’s like, come on guys, we want to see England show a bit of fight and see a better performance. This team is under-prepared, they’re not as mentally strong as the Australia and the Australians are just a tougher team."
England coach, Brendon McCullum, wants to stay in his job despite a chastening Ashes series defeat but admits his future is out of his hands, with the cricketing world weighing in on the looming decision.
England are 3-0 down in the five-match series after just 11 days of cricket, outplayed by a hungry Australian team. McCullum had branded the tour as "the biggest series of all our lives" but defeats in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide have ended the tourists’ hopes of wresting back the Ashes from their fierce rivals.
Now, he and managing director of men’s cricket, Rob Key, are facing tough questions over their positions after yet another England capitulation in Australia. The New Zealander has a contract with England until the end of 2027 - a period that includes the next home Ashes, earlier in the same year.
The 44-year-old said, in comments carried by British media, that his fate would be decided by others. “I’ll just keep trying to do the job, try to learn the lessons that we haven’t quite got right here and try to make some adjustments,” said McCullum. “Those questions are for someone else, not for me."
“Sometimes you don’t win and then those decisions are up to other people. It’s a pretty good gig, it’s good fun. You travel the world with the lads and try to play some exciting cricket and try to achieve some things.”
McCullum said he believed England had improved since he took over in 2022, when he and captain Ben Stokes came together and urged players to play a fearless form of cricket dubbed "Bazball." "We’re not the finished article, but I think we’ve definitely improved as a cricket team," he said. “We’ve had an identity about us."
"You’re always looking at what you’ve got right and what you’ve got wrong, and you’re not too ignorant to admit - or too arrogant either - that you get some things wrong. (It’s OK) as long as you don’t keep making the same mistakes."
McCullum said England must show their identity in the final two games of the series, in Melbourne and Sydney. "I’ll always have the back of my players, and always support them, and I’ll always make sure that I’m protective of them aswell in a public forum," he said.
"That doesn’t mean you don’t challenge privately, but in a public forum, you’re always protective. I wouldn’t imagine anything would change in the coming days as we look to try and salvage something from this. I have conviction in the style of cricket that I try to get the teams to play, with the players that you’ve got who are suited to it."
While both McCullum and Key’s roles are under scrutiny, two legends of the English game have declared the ECB need to avoid “knee-jerk reactions.”
Nasser Hussain took to his column in The Athletic, calling on the pair to be given the remainder of the series before a final decision as made.
He also hinted towards a breakdown between county cricket and England’s squad, writing: "As I know only too well, this is the stage of an Ashes series when everyone will be questioned. The positions of Stokes, managing director Rob Key and coach Brendon McCullum, not to mention the validity of the whole English system, will be up for debate. That’s fair enough because it comes with the territory."
"This regime cannot blame the county system because they have moved away from it and, as I say, gone left-field. They haven’t looked at stats in the domestic game and have just picked on gut feel. So it’s unfair to pin this one on our game."
"I want to see how the rest of this series pans out before I make any sort of judgments on the people at the top but, for me, there is one non-negotiable: as long as he still has an appetite for the job, Stokes should remain as captain."
"What I want to avoid is a knee-jerk reaction. We do it every time England lose the Ashes because it is such a huge series."
"But the bottom line is that this England team was set up after the last away Ashes debacle to win here in Australia this time, and they have lost the series in 11 days. They have not succeeded when it really matters."
Former England cricket chief, Andrew Strauss, echoed Hussain’s opinion, taking to LinkedIn to share his beliefs that the country’s high-performance system needs an overhaul. In the aftermath of England’s previous defeat in Australia, a 4-0 loss in 2021/22, Strauss led a high-performance review of the domestic game.
His eventual report made numerous suggestions, including cutting the number of first-class matches, restructuring the domestic game and focusing on incentivising elite player development but they were largely thrown out by the English counties. Although he made no reference to the review in his post, Strauss appears to be arguing for a fresh look at such proposals.
"So there it is, another ambitious set of England cricketers made the journey to Australia, full of hope and optimism, only for their dreams to come crashing down around them after only 11 days of cricket," he wrote.
"McCullum and Stokes will come under extreme scrutiny for the decisions they took in preparation for this tour in the sameway that (Ashley) Giles and (Chris) Silverwood did after the last tour. And Andy Flower after 2013/14 and Duncan Fletcher after 2006/07."
He added: "While they will know that this goes with the territory, none of the above are responsible for England losing so incredibly consistently in Australia since 1986/87. We have been badly mauled time after time over there because Australia are a better team, served by a better high-performance system."
"If we are genuinely serious about changing this depressingly one-sided story, then we need to look beyond sacking England coaches and captains and ask whether we are genuinely willing to make the changes necessary to break the trend."
However, for inews’ Chris Stocks, McCullum and Key must be shown the door, regardless of the remaining two Tests. "Brendon McCullum’s position as England head coach went from shaky to untenable across the five days of the Adelaide Test that sealed his team’s fate in this Ashes series," he wrote.
"The New Zealander is a man who does not lack confidence but the admittance that he is no longer in control of his own destiny was telling. It will cost the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) around £1m to sack him. The two-year extension to his contract agreed at the end of last year now looks like an expensive mistake."
"Results always shape how a coach or a team are perceived. But the fact Bazball has died as a concept this week is all on McCullum. His messaging has been mixed. His coaching skills were found wanting. This series must be his end point regardless of how the final two Tests pan out."
The Guardian’s Mark Ramprakash also highlighted one admission from McCullum he deemed to be hypocritical to the ethos of the current England team.
"After the game Brendon McCullum said his players had been "so caught up and so driven to succeed that we almost got in our own way, and we stymied our talent and our skill and our ability””, the former England batter wrote. "What an extraordinary admission: his time in charge has been all about taking away pressure and freeing the players from fear."
“And here was the coach admitting that when it came to the crunch, to the biggest and toughest series his players are going to have to deal with, his methods had completely failed. I was gobsmacked by that. But now the team has found another way of removing pressure – by losing the series in double-quick time – and can go into the last two games with a fresh mindset.”
Elsewhere, England’s mid-Ashes break in Noosa has once again come under the microscope. Having gone 2-0 down in the series, McCullum’s squad continued to go ahead with their pre-planned holiday on the Sunshine Coast — a decision that was criticised by the masses.
Now, according to The Telegraph’s Will Macpherson, the Noosa jaunt was nothing short of a "stag do." England’s strength and conditioning coach, Pete Sim, reportedly sent a message to the players, asking if anyone wanted to go for a run on the second-last day of the trip.
"Join if you want, have a lie-in if you prefer" was said to have been the directive, which led only three players to join — Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir, who were yet to play in this series at the time and Jamie Smith.
Ben Stokes had earlier attempted to organise a run but was left on his own — a remarkable snub for the revered captain, who has become noticeably agitated during the tour and declared neither Australia nor his England squad a place for “weak men”.
Throughout the Noosa trip, drinking was the focus according to Macpherson, who wrote: “When the squad arrived on Tuesday, a group of players stumbled into Rococo Bistro (£5 for a schooner of local lager), possibly the most prominent position in town and, with cameras honed in on them, stayed from early afternoon until close.
"The next day, they repeated the dose, adding the Akubra hats made legendary by the veteran Queensland politician Bob Katter to make them even more conspicuous. The instructions were to not hide away, and England’s players followed them to the letter."
"In the days that followed, they played golf at classy Maroochy River (the TV crews found them), while the visits to bars were at least kept to the evening. After drowning their sorrows after the Brisbane Test, it is no exaggeration to say some – certainly not all – players drank for five or six days.”
Writing for ESPNCricInfo, Vithushan Ehantharajah gave more detail on the Stokes snub — and what happened later in the third Test in Adelaide. "In Noosa, looking to sweat out some excess one morning, Stokes suggested a run - 12km to the summit and back of Noosa National Park. That there were no takers reflected the fact that some were wary of being unable to keep up with him, even if the exercise was beneficial."
"It was instructive, too, that when Archer and Stokes - two close friends - started having a go at each other after the skipper had told his quick to wise up before he dismissed Starc, the rest of the team looked on shocked at what was unfolding."
Ehantharajah also revealed that England’s tour antics had not been limited to Noosa — they started after the first Test in Perth, which lasted only two days.
"While in Perth, during their stay at the opulent Crown Towers, players would frequent the casino which, as one of the few places open after hours, was often packed to the brim with Barmy Army fans. In the early hours of what would have been day four of the first Test, a small group of players were turned away from the door because it was so late."
"Some fans have stories of bumping into players that they feel reflects their everyman qualities. One punter even ended up giving an unnamed player a piggyback.”
However, English legend, Sir Jimmy Anderson, provided a counter-argument and simply declared the criticism "over the top." He recalled his own experiences as a professional cricketer, explaining that drinking was nothing new for athletes who have a longer period off between games.
"Comparing England’s Ashes cricketers socialising between matches to a stag do is completely over the top and, as someone who has lost Test series in Australia myself, I have sympathy for them," Anderson wrote for The Daily Mail.
"As for drinking alcohol in the 10-day gap between the second and third Tests? Well, it took place during designated downtime on a short break in Noosa, unwinding before the action resumed in Adelaide. Personally, I drank throughout my international career, generally when I felt like I had enough of a window to then recover before a game."
"I’d even have one or two drinks during a Test match - but not if there was a long day in the field starting the following morning. I would be very conscious of being sensible. The way I avoided scrutiny, I guess, was making sure my performance levels did not drop. You’ve got to make sure that either people don’t know about what you’re doing because you are discreet or your performances remain faultless."
Despite backing the squad’s Noosa trip, he was critical of their on-field performances. "Everything about this series has felt a bit like England have been one step behind Australia, always playing catch up,” he wrote.
"But as an England fan, I’d like to see Stokes stay as captain. He’s done a really good job, the players respond really well to him and tactically he’s very good. It would be natural if he’s felt some sort of strain during this series because he does everything as one of England’s best top-six batters and, certainly in the last 12 months, one of the team’s best bowlers and its figurehead, dealing with matters away from the pitch."
"But I love watching him marshal the troops on the field, he’s so passionate about English cricket, and I don’t really see any natural successor in that team right now."
In response to the Noosa trip, Rob Key has vowed to launch an investigation into the drinking. He's described drinking heavily as "completely unacceptable" for an international cricket team.
England travelled to Noosa, the affluent resort town on the Queensland coast, after their eight-wicket defeat in the second Test at the Gabba for a four-night stay which the team stressed was a "mid-series break" rather than a "holiday." Brendon McCullum, the trip's architect, said it was "excellent" and would allow England to head into the third Test feeling fresh.
Key didn't travel to Noosa and said that he believed his players had been "very well behaved." Reports since their subsequent 82-run defeat in Adelaide have compared the trip to a stag do and Key said at the MCG on Tuesday that he will "look into what happened" to determine whether any further action is required.
"If there's things where people are saying that our players went out and drank excessively then of course we'll be looking into that," Key said. "Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol for an international cricket team is not something that I'd expect to see at any stage, and it would be a fault not to look into what happened there. But from everything that I've heard so far, they were very well behaved."
"I've read what's been written in the last day or so, and if it goes into where they're drinking lots and it's a stag do, all that type of stuff, that's completely unacceptable. I'm not a drinker. I think a drinking culture doesn't help anyone in any stretch whatsoever."
"I have no issue with the Noosa trip if it was to get away and just throw your phone away, down tools, go on the beach… Everything that I've heard so far is that they sat down, had lunch, had dinner, didn't go out late, had the odd drink. I don't mind that. If it goes past that, then that's an issue as far as I'm concerned… There's lots of people there that might disagree with that, but that's what we'll find out."
Key also revealed that Jacob Bethell and Harry Brook had been warned by team management before the series, after they were filmed drinking at a bar the night before England's third ODI in New Zealand. He said the incident had been a "wake-up call" for the scrutiny that the squad would come under in Australia, which he denied England had underestimated.
"I don't mind players having a glass of wine over dinner. Anything more than that I think is ridiculous, really," Key said. "There wasn't any formal action… I didn't feel like that was worthy of formal warnings, but it was probably worthy of informal ones."
Key also confirmed that England had turned down the opportunity to play a warm-up match against Australian opposition in Adelaide ahead of the first Test, reasoning that they would have more control over a warm-up match involving England Lions at Lilac Hill, a club ground in Perth.
"If there's things where people are saying that our players went out and drank excessively then of course we'll be looking into that," Key said. "Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol for an international cricket team is not something that I'd expect to see at any stage, and it would be a fault not to look into what happened there. But from everything that I've heard so far, they were very well behaved."
"I've read what's been written in the last day or so, and if it goes into where they're drinking lots and it's a stag do, all that type of stuff, that's completely unacceptable. I'm not a drinker. I think a drinking culture doesn't help anyone in any stretch whatsoever.
"I have no issue with the Noosa trip if it was to get away and just throw your phone away, down tools, go on the beach… Everything that I've heard so far is that they sat down, had lunch, had dinner, didn't go out late, had the odd drink. I don't mind that. If it goes past that, then that's an issue as far as I'm concerned… There's lots of people there that might disagree with that, but that's what we'll find out."
He conceded that England have stripped back their support staff too far, leaving the set-up without a fielding coach for this tour. "When we started, I looked at the huddle on the first day at Lord's [against New Zealand in June 2022] and there were 38 people in there… We wanted to strip all of that back and go, 'Right, we want the messaging to come from just a few people'.
"I don't think the argument is to bring in loads of specialist coaches… [But] there's probably a few spots where we're weak in terms of our set-up at the moment, where we've stripped it back too much and there's probably a few places we need to start bringing in some of that resource again."
Key described McCullum - whose contract he extended last year - as a "bloody good coach" and backed him to continue despite England's heavy series defeat, and said that his own future as managing director is in the hands of the ECB's board.
"The decision really for the ECB will be whether or not they want to rip it up and start again, or whether they want to evolve and whether we're the right people to do that. Clearly, I believe that Brendon… He's an excellent coach. His record is very good. This is only the third [Test] series we've lost in four years. His win record [25 out of 44 Tests as coach] is very good as well.
"Clearly, we've mucked up on the big occasions, whether that was the home Ashes series, whether that was last summer against India… The big ones have eluded us. There's been some brilliant moments along the way. I still feel like there's plenty of life in this whole thing now, but we have to evolve. We have to make sure that we're doing things better."
Key also implied that England had made a mistake by backing Ollie Pope as their no. 3 ahead of Bethell, saying: "You start looking at some of the decisions that we've made and think, 'Should we have made a change there much sooner?' I don't think that's right to speculate on who those people are at the moment, but they're the things that you look at."
Bethell looks set to play in the fourth Test at the MCG on Boxing Day, and Key described him as an "incredible talent" with the potential to become a "world-class" batter. "I have no issue with him being able to go out and play a match-winning innings in the Ashes for us."
Ben Stokes says England's Ashes defeat "hurts" and "sucks" - but insists he wants to continue as captain.
Stokes cut a disconsolate figure at the post-match presentation as Australia clinched an unassailable 3-0 series lead inside 11 days with an 82-run victory on the final day of the third Test in Adelaide.
He vowed the team would not give up over the final two Tests and reaffirmed his own desire to fight on as captain when the focus turns to the longer-term ramifications of failure. Asked whether the loss would cause him to question his commitment to the England job, Stokes said firmly in his press conference: "Nope." Asked if he still had the energy for the job, Stokes replied: "Absolutely."
Reflecting on defeat in the immediate aftermath, Stokes said: "That dream that we came here with is now over, which is obviously incredibly disappointing."
"Everyone is obviously hurting and quite emotional about it. But we've got two more games to go and that's where the focus needs to switch to now. We came here with a goal in mind and we've not been able to achieve that. It hurts and it sucks, but we're not going to stop."
England's goal now is to avoid a third 5-0 series whitewash in Australia in the past 20 years, following such scorelines in 2006-07 and 2013-14.
Stokes, who called on England to "show a bit of dog" ahead of the third Test, said he was encouraged by the fight he saw from his side in Adelaide despite the defeat.
Jofra Archer claimed his first Test five-for since 2019 and hit a maiden half century in England's first innings as he shared in a century stand with his skipper for the ninth wicket.
Stokes' side also did well to take Australia's last six second-innings wickets for just 38 runs, before making a decent fist of a record chase of 435, with Jamie Smith and Will Jacks taking them to within 150 of their target - with four wickets remaining - at one point on the final morning.
"All of the stuff from last week about me wanting to see a bit more from the team, I can definitely say I saw that this week," Stokes said. "Some of the guys lower down the order dug in and showed that courage and fight that I was asking for. Yes, we've been on the wrong side of the result, but I think we can take a lot from this game into the remaining two games."
Stokes added: "Australia have just been able to execute things on a much more consistent basis than us - with the ball, the bat and in the field. "We've showed it in passages in this first three games, and this week I thought we did incredibly well to take it to where we did do in the fourth innings."
"I thought we were on for another heist this morning when Jamie [Smith] and Will [Jacks] were playing so well, and though we now can't do what we came here to do, there's some good things to take out of this game. We aren't just going to fall over and let this series play out. We're going to give absolutely everything."
^It's been 18 consecutive Test matches for England without a win in Australia, a streak that began with their 5-0 drubbing in the 2013-14 Ashes. It is now the longest winless streak for any team in Test cricket in Australia, levelling New Zealand's 18-match streak between their wins in 1985 and 2011.
The last time England won a Test in Australia was back in 2011 at the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground). England's match aggregate of 638 at Adelaide was their highest in Australia since that SCG Test. Their total of 352 in the chase is their highest in Australia since the 2017-18 MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) Test.
4 719 balls have been bowled in this Ashes series so far, the second fewest before the series winner was decided in any Ashes series that consisted of five or more matches. The fewest being 3 991 balls in the 2001 Ashes, where Australia had a series-winning lead of 3-0 at the end of the third Test.
The 1950-51 Ashes is the quickest going by the number of overs bowled - 648 eight-ball overs - when Australia went 3-0 up but 5 184 balls were bowled by then. The eleven days in 2025-26 Ashes are the joint-second fewest by number of days, behind the 1921 Ashes, when Australia took a 3-0 lead in just eight days.
Australia have won four consecutive Ashes series at home, a streak that began with the 2013-14 series. Australia clinched the series by the third Test itself on all four occasions, after winning the first three matches.
Only once have Australia had more successive Ashes series' wins at home - five between 1990-01 and 2006-07. Australia, in fact, have taken a series-winning 3-0 lead by the third Test in six of the seven Ashes series at home since 2000.
The 2010-11 series was the only exception, which they lost 3-1, either side of Australia's longest Ashes series-winning streaks at home.
The 3rd Test win was their 7th consecutive Test win for Australia at Adelaide Oval, since losing to India in 2018. Australia have won 12 of the 13 Test matches they have played at the venue since the beginning of 2013, with their defeat to India the exception.
Only two teams had longer winning streaks at a venue in Tests: 12 by West Indies at Barbados and 9 by Australia at Melbourne.
Alex Carey became the first wicketkeeper to score a century and a fifty for Australia in the same Test match. Carey scored 106 on Wednesday, making him the first wicketkeeper to score a hundred on the opening day of a men's Test for Australia.
Carey also had seven dismissals in the match, including five in the first innings. Only two other players have done the treble of a hundred, fifty and five dismissals in an innings in a Test match - South Africa's Denis Lindsay against Australia in 1966 and England's Matt Prior against New Zealand in 2013.
Carey has won the the player-of-the-match award four times in Test cricket, the equal-second-most for a wicketkeeper in the format, behind only Adam Gilchrist's seven. Andy Flower (Zimbabwe), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) and Quinton de Kock (South Africa) also have four awards apiece.
Carey is also only the third wicketkeeper to be player of the match in a men's Ashes Test. The previous two were also Australians - Ian Healy at Nottingham in 1997 and Gilchrist at Birmingham in 2001.
Mitchell Starc has taken 51 wickets in Tests in 2025. Starc became the first bowler to reach 50 Test wickets this year. This is the second time he has done that in a calendar year, after taking exactly 50 in 2016. Starc's bowling strike rate of 28.7 in 2025 is the best for any bowler with 50-plus wickets in a calendar year.
Nathan Lyon has taken 567 wickets in Test cricket. He is now the sixth-highest wicket-taker in the format and the second-highest for Australia, going past Glenn McGrath's 563 with the twin strikes in his opening over in the first innings.
Travis Head's second innings score of 170 is the highest by an opener for Australia at home in the Ashes since Justin Langer's 250 at Melbourne in 2002. Only Chris Rogers (173 at Lord's in 2015) had a higher individual score among Australian openers in the Ashes since 2002.
Head now has a hundred in each of his last four Test matches at the Adelaide Oval. Only Michael Clarke has had hundreds in four consecutive Tests at this venue before him.
Pat Cummins has taken 151 wickets in Tests as captain. He is only the second player to complete this milestone, after Imran Khan, who has 187 wickets as captain for Pakistan.
Joe Root has played 17 Tests in Australia, all during England's ongoing winless run. These are the second-most matches for any player in a country without a win. South Africa's Dudley Nourse played 20 Tests in South Africa without winning any, and lost 11.
Root has been part of 15 defeats in those 17 Tests, the joint-most by any player in a country, outside of home, alongside James Anderson and Alastair Cook, also in Australia.
England batted a total of 190.1 overs at Adelaide, the most by them in a Test match since Brendon McCullum took over as head coach. The previous highest was 182.4 overs against India at Headingley earlier this year.
6 men have made multiple 50-plus scores and six-plus wicket hauls in a Test series, including Starc in this Ashes series. Starc followed up his 77 at Gabba with 54 in the first innings at Adelaide, the first instance of him scoring successive fifties in his Test career.
Starc has a total of 22 wickets in this Ashes, to go along with his 150 runs, including two fifties. Aubrey Faulkner (vs. England in 1910) is the only other player with as many wickets and multiple 50-plus scores by the end of the third match of a Test series. Only three other players have scored 150-plus runs and taken 22-plus wickets across the first three matches of a Test series.^
^Stats as per ESPNCricinfo
England are in a mess. It's never good if a team is facing criticism on off-field activities. I believe that all team criticism (if any) should be on the field. What's worse, at least to me, is that alcohol is involved. Alcohol is dangerous among athletes.
Intake of booze and drugs while on active duty sets a bad image of the team they represent. Consequently, England have been accused of having a culture of drinking. Serious and strict supervision should be implemented.
Additionally, it seems that there's a slight disconnect in the English team. They should've stuck together throughout the Noosa trip. The fact that only three players went on the run is shocking. This creates a sense of laziness. Laziness is a poor characteristic to possess. They aren't reliable and can't be trusted. International careers can be destroyed as a result.