"Scott Boland took the final wicket to seal Australia's unassailable 3-0 Ashes series lead, the 74th time this moment has been played out down the centuries, and immediately the white shapes converged to form a bobbing huddle. England's batters stood in an attitude of formal deflation. The umpires began their priestly last-things walk, framed against that huge, empty, lime-green field."
"Here he comes again, the reaper with his scythe, a reminder, perhaps, that there is a man with a broom who waits for us all. As there is now surely for senior parts of the current England regime. It has taken 11 days of active Test cricket for this powerfully resourced Englnd and Wales Cricket Board machine to collapse like a castle of dust, vibes and blue-sky wiffle, and to do so before the southern summer has reached its midpoint."
Scott Boland took the final wicket to seal Australia's unassailable 3-0 Ashes series lead at Adelaide Oval, where clean lines and crisp afternoon sun framed the moment. Players formed a bobbing huddle while England's batters displayed formal deflation and the umpires began their last walk across an empty lime-green field. The ground was quickly invaded by TV plinths, dignitaries, microphones and trucks, and a lone groundsman with a broom waited at the fringes. Eleven days of Tests revealed a collapse of the powerfully resourced England and Wales Cricket Board setup, with talent appearing too late and a rearguard offering only cosmetic resistance.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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