England captain Joe Root described the camp as “gutted” after Australia stormed to victory in the Boxing Day Test, retaining the Ashes urn.
England collapsed during a spectacular spell from Test debutant Scott Boland in the second innings, the third Test match decided in less than two-and-a-half days.
Fronting the media afterwards, Root was disappointed that his team was unable to put up more of a fight against the ICC’s third-ranked men’s Test side.
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“Everyone in that dressing room is gutted. That’s not a good enough performance and we all know that,” Root said.
“You turn up today and walk out to bat with Ben Stokes, you feel like anything is possible.
“We’re bitterly disappointed to find ourselves in this position.
“You can look at last night and today all you want, but that first innings, that 250-270 would have been a very good score and par score on that surface. When it was doing as much as it did, you would have been very much in the game and you’re looking at a very different game.
“Last night was an outstanding spell of bowling from their attack, and you have to find a way to get through it sometimes. You’ve got an hour’s hard graft and try to get through that period none or one down, and you’re looking at a very different game.
“We knew that coming into today we were very capable of getting ourselves to a score with the players that were to come in and at the crease.
“I think they’ve definitely outplayed us in the three games. We’ve not been good enough. I think last night they showed their class and they were excellent with ball in hand.”
Despite admitting to being outclassed, Root acknowledged the solid performance of his bowlers, led by veteran James Anderson, to keep them in contention on the second day.
It’s in stark contrast to the last match, in Adelaide, when Root called out his bowlers post-game for bowling too short.
“The way we bowled yesterday was excellent, as well, with everything else going on around this game. I think that was our best day of the whole tour, and I’m bitterly disappointed for those bowlers because they kept us in the game very much with the way they went about things,” Root said.
“We just have to keep looking to get better.”
After a tough 18 months on the road, Root suggested that a thorough review and reset of England cricket’s red-ball system may be the best course of action moving forward.
“That is a long conversation that should probably be had at another time,” Root said.
“The best 18 players from the County (domestic tournament in England) are definitely on this tour, and there’s some very talented players within this squad.
“We have to keep finding a way to manage pressure points within a game better. Sometimes the best way to learn is in the harshest environments.
“Maybe you look back at 2015 and the reset that happened in white-ball cricket. That’s something that needs to happen in our red-ball game, as well.
“The environment that they are coming from is not readying them well enough for Test cricket, and it’s a very difficult place with everything that surrounds Test matches.
“If you’re not ready going into it, it makes it very difficult to improve in that environment.”
Ranked the ICC’s No.1 men’s Test batter until last week, Root appears England’s only hope with the blade, but the 30-year-old would change it all for team success.
“I feel like I’m playing nicely at the minute, but I would swap it all for Test match wins,” Root said.
“Any player will tell you that there is no better feeling in cricket than winning a Test match.
“It’s great that I feel like my game is improving and evolving still as a player, but it’s been a very tough year for a number of different reasons and there are still some big challenges ahead.”
Australia and England now have two dead-rubber games left in this series.
The teams will travel to Sydney for the New Year’s Test before heading to Hobart for Tasmania’s first-ever Ashes Test.
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