England cricket fans awoke on Friday to the news they had dreaded.
The Ashes were lost and in the most humiliating way possible -- a 5-0 hammering by Australia in a whitewash not seen between the two countries for more than 80 years.
The euphoria that surrounded the England triumph in 2005 began to fade early in the series with a 277-run thrashing in the first test in Brisbane.
The first ball bowled by England paceman Steve Harmison, wide, wayward and ugly, remains etched in the memory.
But open any England supporter's heart and you may well find the word Adelaide engraved.
In hindsight, they could have batted the Australians out of the match there instead of declaring the first innings at 551 for six and gone to the third test at least only one down knowing the Australians would have to win two of the last three matches to regain the Ashes.
Instead, the home side fought back brilliantly and then blew the opposition away for just 129 in their second innings. It was a textbook example by England of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Psychologically, the damage was done and from then on in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney it was downhill all the way. Painful defeat upon painful defeat, collapse upon collapse.
So why did it all go wrong?
NO DOUBT
Former England batsman Geoff Boycott was in no doubt, putting it down to lack of "bottle" (mental strength under pressure).
He told BBC Radio: "Quite frankly, they were totally outplayed. Whenever the questions were being asked of England, they have faltered and they have not been mentally strong enough or technically good enough to hold the Australians at bay."
Other critics point to lack of preparation with only seven days cricket on Australian soil before the first test.
True, England were without injured skipper Michael Vaughan and paceman Simon Jones and the loss of opener Marcus Trescothick with a stress-related illness nine days before the Brisbane game was a big blow.
With neither wicketkeeper Geraint Jones and Chris Read contributing much-needed runs, the England tail was long and fluffy. Friday's capitulation in the final test in Sydney was typical of the genre.
Arguably, the knowledge the tail would not bail them out put extra pressure on the top and middle order.
They were already having to cope with a fired-up Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath and the admirable Stuart Clark who topped the wicket-takers on 26.
BIG SCORES
Eight of the Australian players averaged more than 40 with the bat, against two by England. Mike Hussey and Ricky Ponting were often a joy to watch and big scores flowed all round.
For England, only Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood and Alastair Cook made centuries.
Australia's four front-line bowlers all averaged under 34 a wicket. England's best was just over 37 by Matthew Hoggard with the errant Harmison coming in at a very costly 61.4.
Many critics felt the talismanic Monty Panesar should have played long before he was finally called on in Perth in preference to fellow spinner and useful bat Ashley Giles.
Panesar responded with 10 wickets at just under 38 but despite some entertainment lengthened the tail with just 35 runs in six innings.
England captain Andrew Flintoff thinks his young side may benefit from the thrashing endured over the last few weeks and the experience will help them in the next series in 2009.
Happily for him, Australia will be without Warne and McGrath who retired after Friday's victory along with openers Justin Langer and Damien Martyn.
But Ponting warned: "I've got a good feeling about the next crop of players. I'm excited about that.
"When you get young players in the squad there's excitement around. With the nucleus of this group it will still be together and I can see us being a very dominant team."
Bookmakers William Hill took note, quoting Australia at a conservative 14-1 to repeat the whitewash in 2009 but also offering 500-1 against the Australians holding the Ashes until the next century.
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