Australia completed an action-packed five-wicket win on the final afternoon at the SCG to wrap up a well-deserved 4–1 series triumph that ended up being watched by a record 859,580 spectators.
Set 160 for victory, they were given a solid start by an opening stand of 62 between Travis Head and Jake Weatherald, though England were fuming when Weatherald was ruled not out on 16 by TV umpire Kumar Dharmasena, despite a tremor on Snicko as a delivery from Brydon Carse passed the toe end of his bat.
However strange they found the decisions, England’s response was unedifying, with Ben Stokes having to pull Carse away from a heated discussion with Weatherald, and the umpires stepping in more than once.
The match referee may have the final say.
But the tourists’ mood soon picked up, as Head slogged Josh Tongue to Carse, who circled under the catch at mid-on. Walking off with 29 to his name, Head finished an exemplary series with 629 runs, including game-defining hundreds at Perth, Adelaide and here at the SCG. And all at a strike-rate of 87.
Moments later, Weatherald got into a tangle against a lifter from Tongue and was well caught by Matthew Potts at fine leg for 34, and it was 92 for three soon after lunch when Will Jacks gated Steve Smith for 12 with a big-turning off-break.
Australia’s player celebrate lifting up The Ashes trophy after winning the series 4-1 vs England
Alex Carey (right) hit the running runs for Australia as they won the fifth Test by five wickets
The result completes a miserable series for England – with Ben Stokes’ side having a lot to reflect upon after arriving Down Under extremely confident of beating Australia
Usman Khawaja walked out to a guard of honour from England’s fielders for his final international innings, but was soon on his way back, chopping on for six against Tongue, then soaking up the applause and dropping to his knees to kiss the SCG turf. After 88 Tests, 6,299 runs at a tick under 43, and 16 hundreds, he was finally done.
There was still time for Marnus Labuschagne to complete a disappointing series when he belatedly thought better of a single to Potts at mid-off and, to his despair, was beaten by an accurate throw to the striker’s end.
With Labuschagne gone for 37, Australia still needed 39, but they were not in the mood for bungling another game after losing the two-day shootout in Melbourne.
Alex Carey and Cameron Green were almost involved in another run-out as pulses began to race, but in truth England were always a wicket or two behind where they needed to be if they were going to close the gap to 3–2.
The winning runs came shortly before 2.30pm, as Carey drove Jacks through extra cover, rounding off a series in which Australia were not always at their best, but rarely needed to be against an error-prone England.
Tongue, one of the rare exceptions, finished the series with 18 wickets at 20.
Earlier, the tourists turned their overnight 302 for eight into 342, with Jacob Bethell extending his maiden Test hundred to a superb 154 before he edged a slash against Mitchell Starc and the second new ball.
Starc soon picked up his 31st wicket of an outstanding series when Josh Tongue spooned to mid-off.
Brydon Carse provided a big talking point in the series when he fired up at umpire Ahsan Raza
Stokes had to pull Carse away from the umpire after he was left unhappy at Snicko’s decision
The England bowler also got into it with Australia’s Jake Weatherald at the crease
Khawaja’s final innings saw him score only six runs, but he got a rapturous applause as he left
Not since Mitchell Johnson picked up 37 English wickets in 2013-14 has a seamer taken so many in an Ashes series – and Starc has scored runs too, averaging more than several members of England’s top seven.
If it felt like a toss-up between Starc and Head for player of the series, then Starc had had to cope with the fact that his two fast-bowling buddies Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood played only one Test between them.
He responded magnificently, removing Ben Duckett and Ben Stokes five times each, and Zak Crawley four.
Whenever Australia needed a breakthrough, Starc invariably responded.
