ADELAIDE, Dec 21 : England’s dreams of ending their Ashes drought in Australia were shattered on Sunday but captain Ben Stokes said the visitors would look to salvage some pride in the final two matches of the series.
Australia wrapped up an 82-run win on day five of the third test in Adelaide to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series and retain the urn.
The loss extended England’s wait for a first Ashes series victory since 2015 and has set them up for another humiliation in Australia after suffering 5-0, 4-0 and 4-0 defeats in their last three series Down Under.
“Obviously that dream that we came here with is now over, which is incredibly disappointing. Everyone’s obviously hurting and quite emotional about it,” Stokes said.
“We came here with a goal in mind and we’ve not been able to achieve that and yeah, it hurts and it sucks. But we aren’t going to stop.”
England flirted with a comeback for the ages on Sunday, with Will Jacks, Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse putting up brave stands, but Australia’s Mitchell Starc took three wickets to end the resistance.
“Australia’s just been able to execute things on a much more consistent basis than us,” said Stokes when asked where his side had fallen short.
“They’ve been able to outdo us, on a much higher level.
“We showed it in passages in these first three games … I thought we were on for another heist this morning when Jamie and Will were playing so well. Some of the guys lower down the order stuck in and showed that courage and fight and responsibility that I was asking for.
“Yes, we’ve been on the wrong side of the result, but I think we can take a lot from this game into the remaining two games. And I think we’ve learned a lot about ourselves as a team as well.”
The fourth test begins on December 26 in Melbourne, where England will look to head off the chances of a first Ashes whitewash since the 2013-14 series.
“We aren’t going to just fall over and let this series play out. We’re going to leave absolutely everything out there on the field,” Stokes said.
“We’ve got people coming over here to watch these last two games. We’ve got so much more to play for.”
