"Heartbreak for Ben Stokes as England Ties Record for Worst Ashes Loss in Australia"

ENGLAND bowed to the inevitable and lost the Third Test and the Ashes in record-equalling time.

They showed some counter-attacking fight on day five with Jamie Smith making a half-century, Will Jacks 47 and Brydon Carse 39 not out.

Australia retained the Ashes after just three matches and 11 daysCredit: Getty Ben Stokes admitted the ‘dream is over’Credit: Reuters

But Australia ran out comfortable winners by 82 runs and made sure of winning the series in just 11 days of cricket.

It equals the shortest time that England have been beaten in an away Ashes series, when England were outclassed under Nasser Hussain’s captaincy in 2002-03. But that was against a far better Australian team.

The winning moment came when No.11 Josh Tongue edged Scott Boland to first slip, where Marnus Labuschagne held his fourth catch of the innings.

There will be an Ashes post-mortem and head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes will decide whether they wish to continue in their jobs.

But no decisions are likely until the series ends early next month. Some players seem sure to be jettisoned in a team shake-up with No3 batsman Ollie Pope most at risk.

A devastated Stokes admitted: “The dream is now over, which is incredibly disappointing. Everyone is hurting and quite emotional about it.

“It hurts, it sucks, but we’re not going to stop. Australia have been able to execute things more consistently than us.

“We’ve played good cricket in passages and I thought we were on for another heist when Jamie and Will were batting so well.

“We were confident of chasing down 435 for victory because it was still a good pitch. But losing those three late wickets to Nathan Lyon on day four really set us back.

“I think we can take a lot from this game. We still have so much to play for in the series.”

England will look back at missed opportunities – such as when Usman Khawaja was dropped on five on the opening day. He went on to make 82. Or Travis Head’s reprieve by Brook on 99 on his way to his second innings score of 170.

There was also the Snicko cock-up when Alex Carey should have been dismissed for 72 during his innings of 106.

But, truth is, it was England’s batting that let them down the most – as it has done throughout the first three Tests. Australia were again the better team.

Play started on time on day five but then a rain shower caused a 40-minute delay.

Jacks relied mainly on defence but Smith – such a disappointment for most of the series – played with increasing power and confidence. He launched a couple of sixes into the crowd at mid-wicket and unleashed a string of boundaries.

Spinner Nathan Lyon damaged his hamstring when diving at fine leg to field the ball and was walking with crutches during the post-match presentation ceremony. He looks likely to miss the final two Tests.

Surrey pair Smith and Jacks put on 91 for the seventh wicket in 29 overs.

Left-arm speedster Mitchell Starc inevitably stepped up and took three of the final four wickets.

Smith was caught at wide mid-on, Jacks edged to a flying Labuschagne at slip, Jofra Archer was taken at deep point and Tongue was the final wicket.

Aussie skipper Pat Cummins, who missed the first two Tests with a back injury, added: “It feels pretty awesome. It wasn’t easy today but we got it done.

“The last two months have been a bit of a grind trying to get fit but it was all worth it for days like this. I loved the toil from the guys.”

Jamie Smith put on 60Credit: AFP The Australians showed no let up and eased to victoryCredit: Getty Will Jacks went for 47 in the final inningsCredit: PA Josh Tongue was the last wicket to fallCredit: PA Captain Pat Cummins celebrated the series win with his familyCredit: Getty It was more disappointment for England Down UnderCredit: AFP