| Third Ash Test, Melbourne (third day of the year) |
| UK 185 Roots 50; Cummins 3-36, Lyon 3-36 & 68 Boland 6-7, Starc 3-29 |
| Australia 267 Harris 76, Warner 38; Anderson 4-33 |
| Australia won in one play and 14 runs; 3-0 lead |
| Transcript |
England surrendered to the Ashes on the morning of the third day of the third test as Australia crushed them in one play and 14 runs to lead the series 3-0.
Continuing on on April 31, England were gently knocked out just 68 minutes in 81 minutes, with debutant Scott Boland with a stunning 6-7 scoreline.
Their last four shots fell into the void of 16 balls as England delivered their weakest protest in front of a jubilant home crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The result means Australia has kept the Ashes from just 12 days of cricket and will be on track for a 5-0 win in the series.
The fourth test will begin in Sydney on January 4.
Also old for England
Even with the low standards England have shown on this tour, it was a poor performance.
After being blown away on Monday night, England always face a difficult task, even getting Australia to beat again. But no one could see this surrender coming.
The match came before lunchtime, England’s smashers finished the night before by the pace of Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins before succumbing to 32-year-old Boland’s relentless precision.
He went to Australia for a short period of exercise but that was not the reason. They simply weren’t good enough with the bat.
Root, as he did all year, took charge of the whole of England. In his second inning in Melbourne, he made it through 1,700 Test runs for the calendar year. Britain’s next good, Rory Burns, hit 530 in the same period. Relying only on one man, who is also the captain, will never be enough.
England have made four changes to Melbourne and still have their worst batting performance of the series. Their bowling on the second day was a bright spot, with the tireless pace of James Anderson and Mark Wood causing Australia to worry.
However, the same problems that plagued Britain with the Bats remained. And there seems to be no solution.
Than to follow.
