The Ashes are gone for England in 11 days of cricket. Across exactly a month from the moment they lined up for the national anthems at Optus Stadium to sombre glances at their feet on Adelaide Oval as Australia celebrated another retention. They sell under-the-counter vapes here that last longer. The deciding defeat, by 82 runs, happens to be the closest of the 16 since they last won in this country and, sure, that means something. Likewise the final-day effort that saw England produce their highest total of the series.

Indeed the last two days have been their best of the tour; taking out Australia's last six for 38 in their second innings, then embarking on a pursuit of 435 with moments that made England fans - and themselves - believe glory could be seized. They can even rue the drop on 5 of Usman Khawaja, who went on to 82, and the Snicko mistake that allowed Alex Carey to move from 72 to 106.

But even this fight, called for by Stokes in the lead-up but only administered in the final, meaningful round, just served to make Australia's victory sweeter. Head coach Brendon McCullum's admission to BBC Test Match Special that the team had "put so much pressure on ourselves" that it took this long to "immerse ourselves and just play" was particularly jarring. Since 2022, he and Ben Stokes had focused on insulating their players from exactly this kind of stage fright.

It spoke to the captain's state that, when asked why it had taken this long for his charges to produce something tangible, he began with a beleaguered "oh godů don't know". All this was too late. Australia won the Ashes today, but England had lost it long before. They were 105 ahead and just a single wicket down in their second innings of the first Test, before a 9 for 99 collapse. They gave up a position of 176 for 3 on day one of the second Test - four of the middle order seen off in 75 runs, set off by Harry Brook's attempt to hit the first ball he faced from Mitchell Starc for six.

They scrambled to 334 with Joe Root's first Australian century, only to bowl appallingly as the hosts piled on 511.The question marks about preparation are valid. Tuning up at the WACA or another Test ground would have been far better than a three-dayer at Lilac Hills - a club ground - against an inexperienced England Lions. But the lead-in for this series began way back in 2024. When this group of players really began their journey, which now reads 11 wins and nine defeats across 21 Tests. 

James Anderson was bumped off in the summer's opening Test against West Indies, with the debutant opening the bowling at the other end, Gus Atkinson, groomed as a replacement, after Stuart Broad had retired at the end of 2023's Ashes. Jamie Smith essentially replaced both Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes as wicketkeeper. Jack Leach, for so long Stokes' favourite person in the dressing room - and No. 1 spinner - was replaced by a 20-year-old novice offie in Shoaib Bashir. All those moves had sound reasoning.

The management had proof, ironically from those they discarded. Bazball's positivity and soul-nourishing qualities were real. Why not channel it with a new team for this Ashes tour? The problem, however, is Bazball succeeded as a remedy to what came before it, which climaxed with a debilitating 2021-22 Covid Ashes series. That we are already back here, with the Ashes gone by the third Test in one day fewer, underlines the fact that being reared solely on rainbows and no consequence just does not work. Consequences aid growth, and it speaks volumes that in this series, with the stakes so high, most England players shrunk.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)