5th Test, Day 5: Australia 567 & 161-5 beat England 384 & 342 (Bethell 154) by five wickets and win the Ashes 4-1
SYDNEY CRICKET GROUND — As Australia’s players cavorted on the Sydney outfield, with the loud blast of yellow and green confetti being sent into the sky above them, England’s grim Ashes reality was realised.
Like much of the series, they showed glimpses of life on the final day of this fifth Test but were ultimately not good enough to deny a limited but game Australia who thoroughly deserved the 4-1 series scoreline in their favour.
There had been hope after victory in Melbourne, when England edged a two-day shootout to register their first Test win in Australia for 15 years.
Yet that was always a fig leaf to obscure the naked ineptitude that had come before, when an undercooked and overrated England team saw the series slip from their grasp in just 11 days of cricket – less time than it takes a refrigerated yoghurt to go off.
The future for England is uncertain. Richard Gould, the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive, released a statement two-and-a-half hours after the series ended confirming a review into what went wrong was already underway.
Alex Carey guides the ball to the boundary to seal the Test and finish the series 4-1 winners pic.twitter.com/bDf9Ircvaf
— Cricket on TNT Sports (@cricketontnt) January 8, 2026“This will cover tour planning and preparation, individual performance and behaviours, and our ability to adapt and respond effectively as circumstances require,” it read. “We will implement the necessary changes over the coming months.”
Chief among Gould’s decisions to make will be the future of coach Brendon McCullum. Both Gould and ECB chairman Richard Thompson are in Sydney and have already held initial discussions with the New Zealander.
It is understood that McCullum will have to accept changes to the way things are done and to the team’s culture if he is to stay in the role. Whether he accepts those changes – perhaps being asked for a more robust backroom team and a greater emphasis on professionalism – is doubtful. This is a balancing act for the ECB.
Given the wheels of post-Ashes reviews turn slowly, things could come to a head at the end of England’s T20 World Cup campaign in India and Sri Lanka in March, the point when more likely failure intersects with the ECB’s demands on McCullum.
Ben Stokes was diplomatic about the future of the England hierarchy (Photo: Getty)Don’t be so sure McCullum’s position is safe just yet. He might not be sacked – a decision that would cost the ECB around £1million – but he could still walk away from the job if he feels his wings are being clipped by the men in suits who run English cricket. “I’m not against assistance but I also have a firm belief in how to get the best out of these players,” he said immediately after this Test.
Captain Ben Stokes was as diplomatic as he could be when asked if McCullum would accept change being forced upon him.
“We’ve got unbelievable resources in English cricket and the ECB as a whole,” he said.
“But the dressing room is a different beast, it comes with different pressures and responsibilities.
“You’ve got the players to look after and we also don’t have to deal with stuff outside like the people who sit above us do. We don’t understand that world.
“Everyone has got an opinion on how things should be run. It is always tough. I would never try to tell someone who runs a huge business what they should do because I haven’t got any expertise in that whatsoever.”
As for the post-tour review, the two Richards have a smorgasbord of low points to examine from the past nine weeks of this series.
Take your pick:
The poor pre-series preparation, leading to the collapse after lunch on day two in Perth as England threw away the opening Test. Jamie Smith’s hideous shot that saw him dismissed on the second day of this match in Sydney. Will Jacks trying to cap in the second innings of the same match. The 19 drops that cost the team more than 500 runs across the series – with no fielding coach on McCullum’s staff. McCullum saying the team were “overprepared” after the defeat in Brisbane. Team security man Colin Rhooms’ altercation with a TV cameraman at the airport following that second Test. Ben Duckett being filmed apparently drunk and lost on the “mid-series break” to Noosa. McCullum looking up the answers of a crossword during the Sydney Test. Stokes limping off with a groin injury during the final instalment of this gruesome five-part horror series – an injury on which he will have an MRI scan when he returns home.We’ve seen it all – and more – on one of the most anti-climactic and shambolic Ashes tours of the modern era.
This final Test, when England only remained competitive thanks to centuries from Joe Root and the burgeoning talent that is Jacob Bethell, at least felt like a full stop.
The pain can stop. The nightmare is over.
Now for the post-mortem. Good luck Richards.
You’re going to need it.
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