Former England captains Michael Vaughan and Ian Botham were distraught after the tourists’ dreadful collapse in Hobart saw them crash to a 4-0 defeat.
England briefly teased a potential win when Zak Crawley and Rory Burns took them to 0-68 needing 271 for a victory.
Cameron Green sprung the first three breakthroughs and the Poms lost their 10 wickets for 56.
“It’s been embarrassing, to be honest. Gutless,” said Ashes legend Ian Botham on Channel 7.
“The way they performed today disappointed me and will have disappointed people at home. They should be disappointed in the dressingroom too with that performance.
“The one thing we have to do now is get our heads out of the sand and prioritise red ball cricket because if we’re not careful the eskimos will be beating us.’
“This has been embarrassing to see an England side throwing in the towel and that’s what they’ve done in the last hour – just thrown the towel in,” Vaughan told Fox Cricket when the last wicket fell.
“It’s been a long tour, it’s been difficult the Australians were too powerful, too strong, had too much expertise, too much quality but I just can’t accept when I see an England side throw the towel in.
“In Sydney we saw a lot of fight but that’s not the way to end a Test match, the way that England side has played in the last hour or so.
“We were only on the pitch at tea saying they had a genuine chance of winning. It’s just not good enough. As much as the bubble life and everything, the preparation has not been there but when you see a team throw in the towel you go there’s problems.
“There’s real problems in English cricket and they need to try and iron it out.
“There’s some real hard questions to answer after this. I want to see fight. The Aussies are a better team and I can accept that but I can’t accept when they throw in the towel.
“What we’ve seen in the last hour, Ollie Robinson I know he’s a bowler but to be backing away first ball I can’t have that – you have to show a bit of fight.”
Vaughan said captain Joe Root would be hurting but should keep his job.
“He’s a proud captain. I absolutely hope he carries on,” said Vaughan.
“He needs to lead English cricket through this situation.
“It’s going to take time. It might be that England go back before they go forward.”
Co-commentator Shane Warne added: “It’s been pretty tough to watch those last few hours. When you think about the start, Crawley and Burns gave England 0-68. They lost 10 wickets for 56. There’s collapses and collapses. They gave up at the end.
“You’ve got to give it to the Australians – they were one ball away from 5-0 they played better cricket and were the better team.”
The Australians enjoyed the celebrations afterward with Justin Langer smiling in the midst of the players.
“I don’t know what more he can do,” said Warne of Langer’s contractual situation. “What do you judge a coach on? It can only be performances.
“Is Australian cricket in better shape now than when he took over? They’ve won an Ashes series and T20 World Cup. I don’t know what they’re waiting for. He should be re-signed.”
Akitas
Roar Rookie
I think the biggest risk for English cricket now is that they may replace Root as captain. He is clearly a class act, both on and off the field, and whilst he might benefit from some tactical advice from time to time, I see no player capable of performing better than him. I know Stokes has his fan club who will be calling for him to replace Root, but just look at his disinterested demeanour and failure to support his captain off the field. Coupled with his off-field history, I don't believe he should ever be considered. They have several players who have shown they could be the nucleus of the future team (Crawley, Wood, Billings, Pope) along with others who were unavailable for this tour. My advice would be to start with a clean sheet, leave Root in place and basically start over.
Tom
Guest
I agree. Wood genuinely showed up some of the Australians with the ball, and overall they batted quite poorly in Hobart. Most other sides will not let them off the hook so easily with such an insipid batting performance.
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
This sums it up pretty well; “You’ve got to give it to the Australians – they were one ball away from 5-0 they played better cricket and were the better team.” I thought at the start of the innings this was England's chance. The target was comparatively reasonable, not so large that they were effectively batting to save the game. It was gettable and therefore AUS couldn't maintain fields that were too attacking as they could have with another say 50 runs. England could bat positively and started that way. They didn't finish that way however which was a really disappointing way for them to end the tour.
sheek
Roar Guru
I remember back to the 1975/75 series, England couldn't handle the pace of Thomson & Lillee in the first 5 tests. But they never stopped trying, & when Thommo missed the last test injured & Lillee quit injured after 6 overs, they won by an innings. That grit is no longer existent in this England team. The Aussies aren't that good. We should be very cautious about how good our team is. Last summer, India suffered many injuries, & a horrible 1st test loss, their skipper went home, yet they came back to win the series. That should never have happened, but our guys panicked at critical moments. Would they have held their nerve against England had they been able to fight back? The true tests of this team will be when they prevail against strong willed opposition.
Tony
Roar Guru
Some days are diamonds...
Tony
Roar Guru
Played like they had an early flight this morning
Tony
Roar Guru
Many of them wouldn't be fit enough for a park cricket team
Stuart B
Roar Rookie
There's always something to play for. Form... team pride... individual pride... if nothing else, sheer bloody-mindedness to force the opposition to come back the next day...
Stuart B
Roar Rookie
I hope I never see an Australian team finish off an Ashes series like that. They looked like they couldn't wait to get to the airport lounge.
AJ
Guest
Doesn’t the coach drive the the team to the ground?
Mike
Guest
I reckon Ollie Robinson sums up English cricket. Some skill but just hopelessly under prepared, unfit and basically not up to playing a hard 5 day test match against a strong assertive opponent. A flabby under belly of softness I'm afraid to say!
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Well they saved the best till last. Hats off to the poms for coming all the way to Australia and making us feel great especially during a pandemic. Wonderful achievement really!