Ashes: Australia vs England, 3rd Test: Highlights, Post Match Presentation, Stats, Records

Melbourne, December 28: England captain Joe Root expressed disappointment after his side were blown away by Australia on day three of the third Test here at the MCG on Tuesday (December 28).

Scott Boland, who made his Test debut, returned with figures of 6/7 in his four overs as Australia defeated England by an innings and 14 runs in the third Ashes Test.

With this win, Australia retained the Ashes as the hosts took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. The Ashes now moves to Sydney for the fourth Test, and for the fifth Test at Hobart.

England, on the other hand, were left to ponder where exactly things went wrong as their horrendous tour continued.

Here’s what the captains and player of the match said post the third Test, and some records to go by.

Joe Root, the England captain, in the post-match presentation said: "We've been playing in these times for a while now, all you can do is try and front up. Credit to Australia they blew us away. A lot of hard work to do.

"[Covid] It's not ideal, I thought the way we went about our cricket on the field was excellent. We put them under pressure and were very much in the Test match.

“We've got to do things for longer, been small pockets but nowhere near long enough. We know the areas we need to improve on. We have to stay strong and look at the next two games to take something from the tour,” Root added.

Pat Cummins, the Australia captain: "It's pretty insane...an awesome few weeks, so proud of the group. Everything has clicked. So happy for Scotty in front of his home crowd. I think we've been relentless.

“The bowlers have owned that good area. Some big partnerships, they have earned the right to bat long. They've been really brave and taken on the game.

“Michael Neser, really disappointed he didn't get the chance, but a great sign of the strength of Australian cricket. We were really confident Scotty would do a great job. Maybe not 6 for 7!

“Any Ashes series is when you try and make a mark on your Test career. Last series was 4-0, one before that was 5-0, so a chance to start cementing our identity."

Player of the Match is Scott Boland who gets the Mullagh Medal: ”Coming here today, though we had a good chance. Found out on Christmas Eve, told some family and friends. Thought it was going to be really tough, a big step up.

“Hoping to make a little bit of an impact. Like to thank the crowd for all the support, really appreciate it. There were about 17 of us who went away a few year to commemorate the 1868 tour, very proud to win this award.”

Lowest first innings lead for a team to win by an innings:

46 - ENG (246) vs NZ (200 & 26) in 1955, Auckland

74 - WI (392) vs ENG (318 & 51) in 2009, Kingston

82 - AUS (267) vs ENG (185 & 68) in 2021, Melbourne

87 - WI (218) vs PAK (131 & 77) in 1986, Lahore