Long before the final ball was bowled, there was an inevitability about the result.
Even sports betting fans and the most ardent England supporters knew the obituaries had long been written.
The betting odds did not lie as Australia offered the tourists no respite under the savage Sydney sun.
Yes, the furnace was a big disadvantage for England on the city’s hottest day since 1939. But this final test result – and indeed the series – cannot be put down to extreme heat.
For as Sydney sweltered, so the very public humiliation of England bowlers continued with the Aussies clinching their ninth win in 10 home Tests against England.
They were simply relentless, their pace bowlers rotating from one end due to the excessive heat as the temperatures out in the middle soared above 50C.
Once Australia racked up their third-highest home Ashes total, having notched the second-best in the third Test in Perth, it was only a matter of time.
It was only the presence of England captain Joe Root at the crease that gave England a slim hope of surviving for any length of time on the final day.
He is one of few players—James Anderson, Craig Overton and Dawid Malan amongst the others—to have emerged with some credit after a series which caps a miserable run of just one Test series victory outside the UK since 2012.
England assistant coach Paul Farbrace was correct, of course, in highlighting a failure to score big in the first innings as an example of ‘always playing catch up’.
That failure to turn 50s into centuries was telling, and Australia needed no further excuse to apply the cricketing heat.
For England, the post-mortem will now be long and hard.
In fact, it will likely continue until the two test matches in New Zealand start in March during which a more even contest is anticipated and much needed.
For Australia, the questions they faced before the first Test in November now seem a world away.
This has been a rout which has exposed England’s mental weaknesses which now, as much as anything, need addressing.
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