Out-batted, out-bowled and out-fielded: England stare at another Ashes whitewash in Australia after Adelaide defeat

They did at least put up a fight, but England have lost the Ashes at the earliest possible opportunity, and for good measure in the fewest days anyone has surrendered a five-match Ashes series. Their defeat in Adelaide, by 82 runs, seals an unassailable 3-0 lead for Australia.

In terms of runs, it was in fact England’s closest margin of defeat in Australia since 1987 – a statistic that really highlights how badly they have struggled in this country – and only the second defeat in that period by less than 100 runs. For real fans of English humiliation, the closest defeat in that time in terms of wickets was by five at Melbourne in 2002.

Day 5 was arguably as well as England have played in this entire series, they turned up needing 227 runs with four wickets remaining – in the end they managed a creditable 145 of them. It was however almost a definitional example of too little, too late, England have been comprehensively outplayed across almost all of this series.

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THE moment!

Australia retains the #Ashes after a brilliant ending. pic.twitter.com/ZfOi2uOAPh

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 21, 2025

Ben Stokes himself admitted after the game that they have been outmatched in every key facet of the game: “The three things cricket is based around, scoring runs, taking wickets and catching catches and they’ve outdone us on all three of those.”

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Rot starts at the very top of the batting order

The rot as far as England was concerned started at the very top of the order, their opening pair outperformed by Australia’s in almost every conceivable metric. Only twice in this series have Crawley and Duckett managed to take their partnership into the third over of the innings and they have still yet to record a half-century stand.

England’s opening stand has averaged 15.66 so far, Australia’s 46.00. England’s openers have made 311 runs in the series, Australia’s 522. You should by now get the general idea.

The mismatches have been on show for as far as the eye can see. In the middle order no overall partnership for England for any wicket has averaged more than 38.33, meanwhile only Australia’s fourth-wicket stands have averaged under 30.

The difference at the crucial wicketkeeper’s spot has been stark too. Alex Carey has been near spotless behind the stumps, even or perhaps particularly when standing up to his fast bowlers. Jamie Smith meanwhile has not matched that standard and his drop early on in Brisbane was arguably a turning point in the game.

And that is before you even get on to their performances with the bat. No man has a better batting average in the series so far than Carey’s 66.75, while only Travis Head has more runs, and he has as many hundreds as the whole of England’s batting lineup combined.

Smith meanwhile averages 22.33 – less than Jofra Archer – and until today’s admirably dogged knock of 60, had yet to score a half century in the series.

Fielding and bowling hardly any better

England have been sloppy in the field too. The five crucial drops at the Gabba were followed up by yet more important ones here. Australia on the other hand have seemingly caught everything, Marnus Labuschagne’s sensational one-handed grab to dismiss Will Jacks today only the latest in a long line of fielding brilliance.

Then of course there is the bowling, the unit that has caused England so much trouble. Even without Josh Hazlewood and – for two games at least – Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, they have tormented England’s batting and comfortably outperformed their bowlers.

Even with hastily thrown together and untested bowling units, Australia have easily been England’s superior – averaging 25.22 and going at 3.63 an over to England’s 36.15 and 4.21.

And of course among their rank they have had Mitchell Starc. The undisputed player of the series so far has tormented England with his relentless left-arm pace and has looked a threat almost every time he has bowled – never more so than with the new ball where he has struck twice in the first over alone.

His return has been 22 wickets at an extraordinary 17.04, best figures of 7/58 and five-wicket hauls in both innings at Perth. Meanwhile with the bat he has a best of 77, two half centuries and a cool average of 50.00 – at times it has felt like he has beaten England on his own.

In short England have been out-bowled, out-batted and out-fielded, and are in danger of yet another 5-0 series whitewash Down Under.

For those who have just skipped to the end, Ben Stokes summarised it best after the game: “Australia have been a lot better than us over a much longer period of time.”