England have no hiding place but the ECB may still find a way of ignoring the obvious

Just for a moment, it seemed the impossible could happen.

Just for a moment, as Rory Burns and Zak Crawley posted the highest opening partnership of the series; just for a moment, as Mark Wood claimed a career-best haul and bowled out Australia for their lowest total of the series; just for a moment, you feel a sense of hope rising one more.

But it wasn’t to be. The same strengths that Australia have demonstrated all series – that relentless bowling attack supported by almost faultless fielders – proved too much once again.

From 68 for 0, England lost all 10 wickets for just 56 runs in 22.4 overs. Had it not been for the wicket of Burns, which brought an early tea, they would have lost all 10 in the same session.

“There were some very poor dismissals in there,” Joe Root said afterwards. “We’ve let ourselves down. It was a poor delay.”

It sure was. And it was another defeat within three days and completes a 4-0 series score-line. Not just that, but it was the sixth time in the series they had failed to make 200. There’s no way around it: there is a chasm between these sides. 

You could argue it’s for the best.

Maybe, if England had pulled off a miracle run-chase here, it would have allowed the authorities to hide behind a consolation victory and avoid some of the hard questions which now seem inevitable. Given even a semblance of a sliver of an excuse, you suspect the ECB would have obfuscated.

^{Australia celebrate a 4-0 series victory (William West/AFP/Getty Images)}

The overwhelming nature of this thrashing, a thrashing which at times resembled the defeats against West Indies in 1984 and 1986-87, should avoid such nonsense. And make no mistake: good though this Australia side are, they are no West Indies of that era.

There are, for sure, mitigating factors: England have managed to turn up for this tour both tired and underprepared. They are jaded by their Covid protocols and their never-ending tour schedule.

And, after a year or two when they played some pretty modest opposition, they have just completed successive series against the three best teams in Test cricket. It has provided a very rude reality check.

But this should hurt. Because, if we’re honest, England have hardly competed during the entire series.

They have suffered a series of collapses (8-74 at the Gabba; 8-86 at Adelaide; 10-61 at the MCG and 10-56 here) which prove, once and for all, that their batting isn’t working at any level. Not on a coaching level, not on a production line level and sure as hell not on a performance level.

The idea that players can learn the skills required to prosper at Test level at T20 level needs to be jettisoned, for a start, as does the non-interventionist school of coaching which seems to focus more on confidence than competence. That domestic structure needs urgent attention, too.

The last few minutes of this defeat should not be glossed over, either.

It featured a series of dismissals where batters, some of them with first-class hundreds behind them, slogged like the village blacksmith in a Sunday beer match. A couple of them also backed away to the leg side in a manner that may well embarrass them for years to come. It was unacceptably soft. 

It’s not just the batting, though. Earlier in the day, England saw their third wicket of the series struck down after it transpired the bowler – Chris Woakes on this occasion – had over-stepped. Nobody means to do these things, of course, but like the batting, if something keeps happening, it cannot be described as an aberration.

^{Mark Wood was once again fighting the good fight (William West/AFP/Getty Images)}

England’s bowlers have been allowed to overstep in the nets often throughout this series. It has to reflect poorly on the coaching environment that they have been allowed to without being pulled into line. 

If there was one consolation for England, it was the performance of Mark Wood.

Not only did he prove his ability to play three successive Tests, but he maintained the sharp pace that has become his hallmark. Indeed, he finished the series with an average pace of 89.60 mph. More importantly, he also finished the series as England’s top wicket-taker with 17 at 26.64.

There were moments here, as in Sydney, when Australia’s batters looked discomforted by his well-directed pace and you couldn’t help but wonder what might have been had Jofra Archer and Olly Stone been fit to provide support in kind.

It might just have made the batting failures all the more galling.

There were a couple of other gently encouraging moments. Zak Crawley made only 36 – England’s equal highest score of the match – but he showed that he was learning how to cope at this level in the process.

In particular, he appears to have worked out an approach that sees him take an off stump guard which means the one that nips back tends to hit him outside the line and he knows he can leave anything on a good length.

He was still drawn into pushing at one he could have left, though, and remains a work in the early stages of its progress. In another era, he would be learning his trade at county level. 

But there’s far more reason for concern. There’s the drop-off in performance of Root, who looks exhausted and unable to coax a performance out of his side.

^{What now for the suits? (Christopher Lee/Getty Images)}

There’s the drop-off in performance of Ben Stokes, who averaged 23.60 with the bat in the series and fell in the final innings to a sucker-punch hook shot.

There’s the inability of Ollie Pope to make the step-up from domestic to international.

And there’s a failure of any player within the England environment to improve for all the coaching, rest and rotation they supposedly receive.

As things stand, Root says he wants to continue as captain, Chris Silverwood says he wants to continue as head coach and both Ashley Giles and Tom Harrison look set to remain in administration.

It’s pretty cosy, isn’t it? No consequences, no accountability and no change.

You suspect that Alex Lees, Ben Foakes and Matt Fisher will be among the new – or nearly new – faces in the Caribbean. But this performance cannot be dismissed as simply another setback in a land where victories are always hard to achieve. It was so much worse than that.

England are, sad to say, so much worse than that. This has to be a wake-up call or, you can guarantee it, we’ll be having the same conversations in four years. 

Our coverage of the Ashes is brought to you in association with Cricket 22

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