With the third Test wrapped up, I’ll do likewise. Thanks for your company throughout five (!) thrilling days of Test cricket and see you all in Melbourne.

Ali Martin has delivered his match report.

And Geoff Lemon has written about Pat Cummins and his Ashes legacy. Enjoy!

Having wrapped up the series in 11 days and retained the Ashes in ruthless fashion, Australia will have a very merry Christmas indeed.

Particularly pleasing for the selectors will be the fact that it has been an all-squad effort. Even with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood sidelined early, Mitchell Starc was able to step up to lead the attack with Scott Boland a willing deputy and fringe quicks Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett making valuable contributions.

In the batting, South Australia’s finest Travis Head and Alex Carey have led the way. Losing their champion batter Steve Smith on the morning of the Test was far from ideal but both senior men stepped up in style. Head’s 170 in the first innings, with Carey (72) in support, turned the match Australia’s way and Cummins (3-48) and Lyon (3-77) caused similar havoc with the ball.

We have five short days until the fourth Test in Melbourne. Given the ‘beach soccer and beers in the sun’ training philosophy before this Test has backfired so spectacularly on England, how do Ben Stokes’ men approach this period of festive rest?

England gave themselves a sniff of a Christmas miracle here, whittling a deficit of 228 in half with the loss of just one wicket. But brain fart batting cost them dearly. Will Jacks holed out just when Australia were starting to sweat and Jofra Archer couldn’t replicate his deeds from the first innings, swinging for the rafters when Brydon Carse was well-set at the other end.

Joe Meredith reckons: “If the English selectors want to start from a good place, then they should understand that the purpose of a system is what it does. Australia understand that. India understand that. England don’t.”

Here’s the wicket Australian cricket fans have waited for.

Ricky Ponting says the duel to replace Nathan Lyon in this squad is down to Victorian Todd Murphy or Queenslander Matthew Kuhnemann. Both have played Test cricket before with mixed results. The wider question is, will Australia play a spinner at all in the Boxing Day Test or go in with an all-pace attack?

That may depend on the health of Pat Cummins who pulled up sore scooping up a ball in the field and may not be risked in the fourth Test. If the skipper rests, will it be Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett who returns? Or will Jhye Richardson get another chance to impress on the Test stage after his impressive 4-35 against the England Lions earlier this month.

A bigger decision is which Australian batter goes out when Steve Smith returns? Given Usman Khawaja scored 82 and 40 in his 11th-hour call-up, Josh Inglis looks the most likely to get the axe. And will Cameron Green’s poor form see him replaced by fellow allrounder Beau Webster who also bowls some handy spin.

Decisions, decisions…

After a 3-0 drubbing inside 11 days, Darryl Accone emails to say the baby and the bathwater are both in danger of being thrown out in the next few days.

That there might not be a clear-out of coaches and players after Bazball has burnt down the house beggars belief. Perhaps the powers of English cricket, whoever they are, need to heed the words of the French general at the Battle of Balaklava watching the Charge of the Light Brigade:

“C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre” (It is magnificent, but it is not war.)

Bazball is fun and games, but it is not Test cricket.

Just like the men of the Light Brigade, the England cricket squad and team have been appallingly led, sent on a suicide mission to satisfy the vanity of coach McCullum (“Baz” being an amalgam of the careless, reckless cavalry commanders Lords Raglan and Cardigan), and destroyed because of their youthful gullibility.

Wise words, Darryl. But who comes in? England have only one batter in reserve in young Jacob Bethell and he is yet to score a first-class century but will now be thrown to the Australian wolves in the formidable furnace of the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Nathan Lyon is back from the hospital on crutches and looks a long-shot to play in Melbourne on December 26. It’s another blow to Australia’s second-greatest wicket-taker after he missed much of the last Ashes with a calf tear. Lyon is 38 years and 567 wickets into a storied career but after his benching in Brisbane and this injury, will he have the willpower to carry on?

After five months out of the game, Pat Cummins returned to frontline cricket with customary style, ripping the heart out of England’s second innings with three vital wickets and and combatting the loss of Nathan Lyon from his bowling attack by swinging the bowling changes astutely under pressure.

“Feels pretty awesome. Been thinking about it for a long time. Wasn’t easy today but got it done. Exciting changing room. The last two months have been a bit of a grind, but all worth it for days like this. That’s when we are at our best, you can’t really rush things in Australia…it’s good old-fashioned grind, and love the toil from all the guys. Got a bit closer than we’d have liked. First of all, you need more than 11 players in an Ashes…three Tests in, we’ve shown that. It’s focusing on what we do well as bowlers, not getting carried away by the opposition. There’s always things that crop up…the boys crack on and say what’s next. Incredible, think [Marnus] and Steve might have a fight over second slip. Marnus manufactured a couple more for us. Packed crowds, all five days, to see two homegrown heroes was awesome.”

Ben Stokes and his men arrived with a dream and are now 3-0 into a nightmare.

The dream is now over, which is incredibly disappointing. Everyone is hurting and quite emotional. It hurt… it sucks. But we aint going to stop. Australia have just been able to execute things more consistently than us. We’ve shown it in passages [and I] thought we were on for another heist when Jamie and Will were going. Losing the toss, bowling, keeping Australia to an under-par score and not being able to respond with the bat when we had an opportunity to put a big score on the board… We were confident we had a good chance of chasing it down, it was a very good wicket. Losing those three wickets at the backend of yesterday set us back. That stuff I wanted to see, I’ve seen that this week. Think we can take a lot from this game. We’ve got so much more to play for.

A popular choice too! Adelaide-born and raised, the Australian wicketkeeper-batter has had a wonderful series and iced it with a masterful performance on his home ground, striking an emotional 106 in the first innings and 72 in the second. Add to those feats his six catches and a stumping and Carey is an easy choice as best afield.

It’s been a lot of fun, this Adelaide crowd has been something special. Very special moment, having the family, to score a hundred and look up to the heavens was very special.

Australia have a reckoning of sorts to contend with too. Nathan Lyon, their 567 wicket champion spinner hobbled off today with a hamstring injury that looks likely to keep him out of the Boxing Day Test. Cameron Green and Josh Inglis are also on the verge of being dumped from the lineup, with Steve Smith to return and Beau Webster the next allrounder up. And what of Usman Khawaja? Not picked here but delivering a valuable 120+ runs in his last-minute call-up. Does he return? Or do the selectors blood youth into this ageing-but-still-raging Australian side for Melbourne and Sydney?

Now comes the reckoning. England arrived on these shores with the BazBall juggernaut in high gear and their best shot in decades of snatching back the Ashes and breaking their wretched run of series defeats in Australia. Plenty thought the Australians looked vulnerable to the ambush too. They were without their captain Pat Cummins and another pace ace in Josh Hazlewood. Their batting was also under heavy scrutiny with Usman Khawaja in his 40th year and Travis Head out of form. Instead, the men in the baggy green caps have crushed the pride of England in just 11 days.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust…

The home side have taken the series by 3-0 and the Ashes stay with Australia. England were brave today – they clawed their way from a deficit of 228 to get within 84 runs of the greatest run chase in cricket history – but Australia have utterly outplayed them in this Test and the two prior and are deserved winners today. “They never come easy,” Marnus Labuschagne tells Channel Seven. “It just felt like everything stuck.”

Boland tempts the edge. Tongue takes the bait. Labuschagne grabs the catch. Australia win the Ashes!

103rd over: England 349-8 (Carse 37, Tongue 0) One wicket to go for Australia now while England need 84 runs. Their hopes of a miracle were alive just half an hour ago, but Mitchell Starc has stomped on their dreams yet again, coming back into the attack and quickly removing Will Jacks and Jora Archer. Carse turns Starc for a single but there’s an ill wind blowing for England fans in Adelaide and the Barmy Army have gone deathly quiet.

Archer slashes wildly as Starc hangs a juicy ball outside off. The big English quick, fresh from a maiden half-century in the first innings, couldn’t resist temptation and gave it the cart and the horse. Weatherald stood firm on the third man boundary and took the catch down low. Starc strikes again!

102nd over: England 349-8 (Carse 37, Archer 3) Starc to Archer. A duel between the two fastest bowlers in the Test. Jofra slashes at the second but misses. The crowd sighs and Australian hands go to heads. Josh Tongue is the last man standing and he walks to the gallows as the green caps gather like wolves around a felled deer.

101st over: England 349-8 (Carse 37, Archer 3) England start this over needing 88 runs for a famous win, Australia require two wickets to snatch the victory and retain the Ashes. Scott Boland has the ball to Brydon Carse and the visitors pinch another run with a push to the off. Easy runs all morning for the batters as Pat Cummins started the day with the twin spin of Travis Head and Nathan Lyon. Is that an edge? No, it’s off Archer’s elbow. Carey, standing up to the stumps, doesn’t glove it anyway. A shout to the fourth ball but it’s too high and Australia don’t fritter their final review. A leg bye is stolen in the tumult. Boland whistles one past the Carse edge to finish the over.

100th over: England 347-8 (Carse 36, Archer 3) Starc resumes to Carse and he fends one off the gloves for a run. Archer steals another single as Starc gets his revs up to 144kph. Starc is delivering wide of the crease for fear of incurring a third and final warning for pitch trespass from umpire Nitin Menon. Law 41 of the MCC’s official laws say, “It is unfair for a bowler to enter the protected area in their follow-through without reasonable cause”. It’s just one of a few omens Australia have been rattled with on day five.

99th over: England 344-8 (Carse 34, Archer 2) Scott Boland to Jofra Archer. England have one man left in the sheds but ta form batter in Archer and a set batter in Carse at the crease. This Test has swung back to Australia but still sits on a knife edge. Boland turns the screws, catching the edge second ball. Now a DROPPED CATCH. Cameron Green has put it down at first slip. Tough chance but the man with the giant wingspan normally gobbles those. It runs away for four.

98th over: England 338-8 (Carse 30, Archer 0) Starc has done it again. Just when Australians were starting to worry, the big quick from Sydney’s west delivers a pearl and Australians fielders convert it into a knockout punch. England are halfway to their total and Australia now have two of the four wickets they need. What can Jofra Archer bring to this second innings?

A screamer from Labuschagne at first slip! Australia strike and Jacks is gone. Good grief, that catch is the equal of the ripper Marnus took in the first innings. A fast ball from Starc and Jacks chased it, looking to guide it past the cordon. Instead he got a thick edge that flew between Carey and his first slipper and a lunging left hand plucked it from the air. Massive moment!

97th over: England 333-7 (Carse 25, Jacks 47) Thanks James! With that runaway boundary, England are bnow within 98 runs of victory. That feat seemed remote when they started the day needing 228 with just four wickets in hand. But they are now past the halfway mark and the pressure is on Australia. Nathan Lyon is off the field, gone for the Test and perhaps the series. Mitchell Starc’s brain has been muddled by two warnings for trespassing on the protected zone of the pitch. Here comes Starc now. Can he produce some of the magic that swung the Perth and Brisbane Tests the home side’s way?

96th over: England 333-7 (Carse 25, Jacks 47) Brydon Carse swipes Head for six! Huge stroke from the big man. Three singles follow and the target is now 102 runs away. Scott Boland is coming on to replace Cummins and my work is done. I’m off to look up wines to pair with a four year old Dell laptop… Angus Fontaine will take you through to the close. Thanks for your company, goodbye!

95th over: England 324-7 (Carse 17, Jacks 46) Cummins is targeting the stumps but then surprises Carse with a short ball that slams into his midriff, the ball squirts away and England take three.

94th over: England 321-7 (Carse 17, Jacks 46) Head continues and four singles are taken with a minimum of fuss. Each one cheered to the rafters by the England fans in Adelaide.

“Watching from Geneva with my newborn daughter on my lap as mum gets some sleep” writes John Butler.

My aussie mate has gone quiet which is not helping me keep awake but may reflect Aussie nerves. As Leeds United won today, I decided to stay up in case of the miracle because it’s this or bust. No idea why we play dead rubbers. I wonder if we did do it, if we put Brook to 3, bump Jacks up and then add Bethell in lower? Anyway, idle thoughts to pass the minutes.”

What does the little one think? Two gurgles for Bethell at the MCG?

93rd over: England 317-7 (Carse 15, Jacks 44) Cummins nearly pins Jacks lbw but a thick inside edge squirts the ball into the leg side and they scamper a single. Carse is then given out lbw but this looks all wrong… he reviews immediately, he hasn’t hit it but it is missing leg stump by some distance! Drama but Carse survives in the end.

“I’ve woken up on the couch, bleary eyed and not entirely sober. This cricket has thrown off my sleep cycle, nothing to do with the daytime drinking… I hadn’t given up hope so much as forgotten about it, but maybe. Carse can bat. Archer can definitely bat.

They seem to do better when I’m not paying attention. Maybe I’ll take one for the team. Or watch a new record!”

You’re drunk Glenn Walton!

92nd over: England 316-7 (Carse 15, Jacks 43) Jacks and Carse rotate strike to pocket three runs off the over. Head bowling suggests Australia are in no hurry, they will likely rotate their seamers. The field is spread and there are plenty of singles on offer, can the England batters resist taking on the big shot?

91st over: England 312-7 (Carse 14, Jacks 41) Cummins starts after lunch, Jacks is watchful and clips for two off his pads. A stabbed single brings Carse on strike for one delivery. He survives a short ball. Travis Head is going to come on, he’s underrated with the ball but these are the injured Nathan Lyon’s overs.

Righto, here come the players for the afternoon session. If we’re still here at the next interval then someone’s dan sammink!

In case you missed it earlier – Nathan Lyon is out of the match with a hamstring injury. He must be a doubt for the rest of the series too with Melbourne just five days away.

“Very nervy session coming up for your laptop James” carps Patrick Wills. “What’s the live blogging contingency plan if the target drops below 100?”

Well I’ll be off shift shortly after the resumption, should England get the 26 runs to take the target to 100 runs you absolutely have my word that I’ll chow down on my Dell. 100 per cent. No questions asked. There are no weak men on the OBO. No glass promises.

90th over: England 309-7 (Carse 13, Jacks 38) Scott Boland with the last over before lunch. Jacks re-engages his noodle and blocks out the over. That’s the session. England have scored 102 runs but have lost the big wicket of Jamie Smith.

LUNCH: Australia need three more wickets and England need 126 runs. I know where my money is. Nevertheless, an absorbing session of Test cricket, when England knuckle down and apply their undoubted skill to the match situation they can challenge this Australian side even in their own conditions. The huge frustration from their perspective is that they have done it so little and now it is more than likely too late.

89th over: England 309-7 (Carse 13, Jacks 38) Cummins replaces Starc. He hoops one back into Jacks and it raps the Surrey man on the thigh pad. Five minutes til lunch, how England must be wishing they hadn’t lost Jamie Smith. Ohemgeeeee! Jacks walks over to the off side and tries to flick PAT CUMMINS through the leg side with a premeditated swish. What is with these guys!?

88th over: England 308-7 (Carse 13, Jacks 37) Boland beats Carse with his first ball! A tentative poke from Carse who looks much more comfortable against the pace of Starc over the nibble of Boland. The rest of the over is defended well by Carse who gets his foot out to the pitch. A maiden stitched together by Boland.

87th over: England 308-7 (Carse 13, Jacks 37) Carse punches off the back foot for a delightful four through the off side. Here comes Scott Boland for a burst before lunch. He cleaned up Carse in the first innings. Just saying.

86th over: England 303-7 (Carse 8, Jacks 37) Nathan Lyon has left the ground on the way for a scan. We’ll bring you any official news when we get it. Jacks is beaten by Cummins and then top edges a pull for four runs to bring up England’s 300.

“I would love nothing more than for England to get through this ordeal without looking completely ridiculous” writes William Lane.

“But let’s be honest with Lyon off, do you think if Starc, Cummins, Boland and Green all stumbled off with injuries, that England would be able to draw or even win the test match? Something has changed this series with the Bazball team. I reckon a year or so ago we would have chased this down, but Marnus could probably see the rest off without a fuss at this point.”

Marnus would love that eh? I think you are right to an extent, Bill. There was a confidence and an almost inevitability in those early chases, the first 12 months of the Stokes and McCullum tenure saw some amazing run chases. I guess once you fail then the familiar doubts start to seep in, the failures that follow then start to stack up and eat away at that initial invincibility and we eventually get to where England are in this series. An almost total loss of faith and confidence in their skills.

85th over: England 297-7 (Carse 7, Jacks 32) Starc thinks he has Carse lbw but it is just heading over the stumps and Australia lose a review. Carse drives the next ball for four through the covers. Two more are added in the same area, good balance from Carse, he can definitely bat. Knuckle down son.

84th over: England 289-7 (Carse 1, Jacks 32) Cummins gets Carse to flap at a short ball and the ball pops up but somehow lands safe. The game is prised open after Smith’s departure, feels like another wicket is coming any moment.

83rd over: England 285-7 (Carse 0, Jacks 29) Brydon Carse is the new man and he’s beaten all ends up first ball by Starc. Australia sense this is their time to pounce. They need 3 more wickets to win the Ashes, England need 149 runs.

Oh Jamie Smith. That sort of sums up England’s series, just as they were getting to a moment when they could assert some pressure onto Australia they throw it away. Smith hits Starc for consecutive boundaries off the over and then gets carried away and plays an ugly hoik off a back of a length ball to hole out to Pat Cummins. He’d got two boundaries off the over and then came the massive brain fade to release the pressure before it could really start to tell.