Thrilled Australia captain Pat Cummins praised his players for turning his childhood dream into reality with a victory in Melbourne on Tuesday that delivered an Ashes triumph in his first series in charge.
Australia thrashed England by an innings and 14 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, sealing the series 3-0 before lunch on day three in front of a festive crowd of 40,945.
“Everything's gone to plan ... I think our bowlers have been fantastic,” Cummins told reporters.
“I haven't even felt like there's been one session where it's really got away from us.
“It's what dreams are made of, the way we've played.”
Australia's bowlers routed England for 68 in their second innings, their 13th lowest total in Tests, with debutant Scott Boland proving the surprise hero with a six-wicket innings haul in front of his home MCG crowd.
Australia have now retained the urn twice in succession for the first time since Steve Waugh's side claimed an eighth consecutive series win in 2002/03.
Though Cummins was forced to miss the second Test in Adelaide after being identified as a close contact of a Covid-19 case, the 28-year-old fast bowler has been a big part of Australia's success.
Promoted to the captaincy just before the series after Tim Paine's resignation over a 'sexting' scandal, Cummins has marshalled the team superbly.
He has taken 10 wickets at an average of 14.40 in his two matches and contributed 21 with the bat in Melbourne to help build an 82-run lead that England proved unable to reel in.
“I grew up watching Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, those guys winning Ashes series,” he said.
“It felt a million miles away from me playing cricket in the backyard and here I am a decade later in this position.
“It's madness ... No way near what I could imagine my life would become as a young kid.”
Boland, only the second Indigenous Australian to play a men's Test match, came off the Melbourne Cricket Ground turf with a prize stump and astonishing innings figures of 6-7 as England capitulated before lunch.
“I thought we had a pretty good chance of winning but I had no idea we would do it before lunch,” said 32-year-old Boland, who won the Johnny Mullagh medal as player of the match.
“Obviously I thought (debuting) was going to be really tough, a big step up from anything else I'd played before. I was hoping to make a bit of an affect.”
England are now playing for pride in the final two Tests in Sydney and Brisbane.
Australia won by 275 runs in Adelaide and nine wickets in the Brisbane opener.
Skittled for 185 in the first innings, England had resumed on 31 for four in their second on Tuesday, needing another 51 runs to make Australia bat again.
Their faint hopes were pinned on Root and Ben Stokes building a partnership after another calamitous collapse late on day two.
But it all went up in smoke as Starc bowled Stokes for 11 and Boland fired up for a fairytale four-over spell.
The Victoria paceman had Jonny Bairstow lbw for five, Root edge to the slips and removed Mark Wood for a caught-and-bowled duck, sending his home MCG crowd into delirium.
Two balls after Wood's wicket, Boland had his sixth victim when Ollie Robinson also went for a duck by hitting straight to Marnus Labuschagne.
All-rounder Cameron Green sealed England's humiliation by bowling James Anderson for two before the stroke of midday, leaving ticket-holders short-changed, if mostly thrilled.
Australia have claimed both the Ashes and the T20 World Cup title in a golden six weeks, bouncing back from the 2-1 Test series defeat to an understrength India over the last home summer.
They will head into the final matches of the series hopeful of sweeping the Ashes for the first time since 2013/14. — Reuters
Ashes triumph 'what dreams are made of': captain Cummins
Image: LOREN ELLIOTT / REUTERS
Thrilled Australia captain Pat Cummins praised his players for turning his childhood dream into reality with a victory in Melbourne on Tuesday that delivered an Ashes triumph in his first series in charge.
Australia thrashed England by an innings and 14 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, sealing the series 3-0 before lunch on day three in front of a festive crowd of 40,945.
“Everything's gone to plan ... I think our bowlers have been fantastic,” Cummins told reporters.
“I haven't even felt like there's been one session where it's really got away from us.
“It's what dreams are made of, the way we've played.”
Australia's bowlers routed England for 68 in their second innings, their 13th lowest total in Tests, with debutant Scott Boland proving the surprise hero with a six-wicket innings haul in front of his home MCG crowd.
Australia have now retained the urn twice in succession for the first time since Steve Waugh's side claimed an eighth consecutive series win in 2002/03.
Though Cummins was forced to miss the second Test in Adelaide after being identified as a close contact of a Covid-19 case, the 28-year-old fast bowler has been a big part of Australia's success.
Promoted to the captaincy just before the series after Tim Paine's resignation over a 'sexting' scandal, Cummins has marshalled the team superbly.
He has taken 10 wickets at an average of 14.40 in his two matches and contributed 21 with the bat in Melbourne to help build an 82-run lead that England proved unable to reel in.
“I grew up watching Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting, those guys winning Ashes series,” he said.
“It felt a million miles away from me playing cricket in the backyard and here I am a decade later in this position.
“It's madness ... No way near what I could imagine my life would become as a young kid.”
Boland, only the second Indigenous Australian to play a men's Test match, came off the Melbourne Cricket Ground turf with a prize stump and astonishing innings figures of 6-7 as England capitulated before lunch.
“I thought we had a pretty good chance of winning but I had no idea we would do it before lunch,” said 32-year-old Boland, who won the Johnny Mullagh medal as player of the match.
“Obviously I thought (debuting) was going to be really tough, a big step up from anything else I'd played before. I was hoping to make a bit of an affect.”
England are now playing for pride in the final two Tests in Sydney and Brisbane.
Australia won by 275 runs in Adelaide and nine wickets in the Brisbane opener.
Skittled for 185 in the first innings, England had resumed on 31 for four in their second on Tuesday, needing another 51 runs to make Australia bat again.
Their faint hopes were pinned on Root and Ben Stokes building a partnership after another calamitous collapse late on day two.
But it all went up in smoke as Starc bowled Stokes for 11 and Boland fired up for a fairytale four-over spell.
The Victoria paceman had Jonny Bairstow lbw for five, Root edge to the slips and removed Mark Wood for a caught-and-bowled duck, sending his home MCG crowd into delirium.
Two balls after Wood's wicket, Boland had his sixth victim when Ollie Robinson also went for a duck by hitting straight to Marnus Labuschagne.
All-rounder Cameron Green sealed England's humiliation by bowling James Anderson for two before the stroke of midday, leaving ticket-holders short-changed, if mostly thrilled.
Australia have claimed both the Ashes and the T20 World Cup title in a golden six weeks, bouncing back from the 2-1 Test series defeat to an understrength India over the last home summer.
They will head into the final matches of the series hopeful of sweeping the Ashes for the first time since 2013/14. — Reuters
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