22 December,2025 09:37 AM IST | Adelaide | Agencies
Australia players celebrate after winning the Ashes on Day Five of the third Test in Adelaide on Sunday. Pic/Getty Images
Apparently, the worst Australian cricket team in 15 years just won the Ashes with two matches to spare against the best England squad assembled since 2011.
Long-time protagonist Stuart Broad lit the fuse ahead of a volatile contest for the longest-running rivalry in Test cricket when he described the host squad as the worst to contest the Ashes in Australia since England won the 2010-11 series Down Under.
The 167-test veteran played two matches for England in that winning series. Since then, a drought has extended to 16 losses, two draws and no wins for England on Australian soil.
Marnus Labuschagne, who produced a spectacular catch to help hasten the end of England's dogged last-day comeback in the third Test in Adelaide on Sunday, reflected on the pre-series pronouncements by Broad and others. "Have to say, being called the worst Australian team in 15 years, like it's nice to be sitting where we are, 3-0 up," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. "The job's not done yet. We want to make sure it's 5-0 and really take that urn."
It took all of 11 days - two in Perth, four in Brisbane and almost a full five in Adelaide - not quite a record for clinching an Ashes series but not too far off. Chasing what needed to be a world record for victory, England were all out for 352 in pursuit of 435, giving Australia an 82-run win.
Meanwhile, Australia face going into the fourth Test without pace spearhead Cummins and veteran spinner Lyon, who pulled a hamstring on Sunday while fielding on the boundary. He went for scans and was later seen on crutches at the ground. Cummins played his first Test since July after a long layoff with lower back issues and, while he came through unscathed, he said he may skip Melbourne to be on the safe side.
4
No. of consecutive Ashes series won by Australia at home
7
No. of consecutive Test wins for Australia at Adelaide
11
No. of days it took for England to lose the Ashes - joint second quickest since the 1921 Ashes, which was decided in eight days
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