Sydney : Day 4 : End of the misery?

That was, as I said it would be, the proverbial that. England finally hung up their boots and signalled their defeat by losing the 5th test match of this Ashes series, affording the first whitewash in 80 years to Australia. There was never really likely to be a different result. Even Monty’s magical powers couldn’t save any blushes here. It seemed a fitting end to pathetic Ashes campaign and a good send-off for the Australian retirees. Those endless laps of honour must have been all the sweeter for it. The only surprise is that so far no other Australians have followed the example of Martyn, Warne, McGrath and Langer, no doubt Hayden and Gilchrist would have felt the shadow would have been simply too much. I don’t anticipate it being very long before they’re gone, though.

According to Langer, the spell that Harmison bowled on the final morning of the match was the best he’d bowled all series. Marvellous. Sadly this doesn’t signal the end of the pain for England, as they still have to endure the one day series against Australia and New Zealand.