Adelaide [Australia], December 21 : After Australia beat England by 82 runs in the third Test to take an unassailable 3-0 lead and retain the Ashes, Three Lions captain Ben Stokes termed it "incredibly disappointing".
Reflecting on the defeat, Stokes said during the post-match presentation that they came to Australia with one goal to win the Ashes and that the series loss had hurt them.
"That dream that we came here with is now over, which is obviously incredibly disappointing. Everyone is obviously hurting and quite emotional about it. But we've got two more games to go, and that's where the focus needs to switch to now," Stokes said.
Stokes added that England would not give up over the final two Ashes Test matches. "We came here with a goal in mind, and we've not been able to achieve that. It hurts, and it sucks, but we're not going to stop."
England's goal will be to avoid a third 5-0 series whitewash in Australia in the last 20 years, following such scorelines in the 2006-07 and 2013-14 Ashes series.
The England captain praised his side for showing fighting spirit in Adelaide despite the defeat.
"All of the stuff from last week about me wanting to see a bit more from the team, I can definitely say I saw that this week. Some of the guys lower down the order dug in and showed that courage and fight that I was asking for. Yes, we've been on the wrong side of the result, but I think we can take a lot from this game into the remaining two games," Stokes said.
Stokes added that Australia executed their plan and were more consistent with the bat and ball in the field.
"Australia have just been able to execute things on a much more consistent basis than us - with the ball, the bat and in the field. We've showed it in passages in this first three games, and this week I thought we did incredibly well to take it to where we did do in the fourth innings," Stokes said.
"I thought we were on for another heist this morning when Jamie [Smith] and Will [Jacks] were playing so well, and though we now can't do what we came here to do, there's some good things to take out of this game. We aren't just going to fall over and let this series play out. We're going to give absolutely everything," the England captain added.
Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. Usman Khawaja's crucial 82 off 126 balls, including 10 fours, and Alex Carey's maiden Ashes ton of 106 off 143 balls, with eight fours, helped the Aussies post 371 in the first innings. For England, Jofra Archer (5/53) picked up a brilliant fifer.
In response, a century stand between skipper Ben Stokes (83 in 198 balls, with eight fours) and a resolute Archer (51 in 105 balls, with five fours and a six) powered England to 286, with their trail at 85 runs. For Australia, Nathan Lyon (2/70) and skipper Pat Cummins (3/70) were among the wicket-takers.
In Australia's second innings, Travis Head (170 in 219 balls, with 16 fours and two sixes) and Carey (72 in 128 balls, with six fours) helped Australia score 349 and set up a mammoth run-chase of 435 runs for the Three Lions. Josh Tongue (4/80) and Brydon Carse (3/80) were amongst the top bowlers for England.
While chasing, England lost Ben Duckett (4) and Ollie Pope (17), leaving visitors at 31/2. Joe Root (39 in 63 balls, with five fours) and Harry Brook put on a 78-run stand, but Root was dismissed by Cummins for the second time in the match and for the 13th time overall in Tests.
Crawley carried England's hopes forward with Brook until a brain-fade reverse sweep from Brook ended his stay at 56 balls and triggered a mini-collapse from 177/3 to 194/6.
Jamie Smith (60 in 83 balls, with seven fours) and Will Jacks put on a 91-run stand. However, Starc removed Jamie with Jacks (47 in 137 balls, with three fours) put on a half-century stand with Carse (39* in 64 balls, with four boundaries and a six) to keep England's heart beating.
But after Jacks' was gone, there was no coming back as Australia bundled out England for 352 runs and won the match by 82 runs and retained the Ashes. Cummins (3/48) and Starc (3/62) shone with the ball.
The hosts denied England an Ashes series win in Australia since 2010/11, keeping them winless at their den. Australia took an unassailable 3-0 lead, and Carey was named the 'Player of the Match' honours for his knocks of 106 and 72 in both innings.