There was to be no resurrection. Australia retained the Ashes at four minutes past two on a sparkling Adelaide afternoon when Peter Such, a number 11 batsman only because there is no number 12, was leg-before wicket to Glenn McGrath, a contest roughly equivalent to Tiger Woods playing Bill Clinton level - or Australia playing England at cricket.

Mark Taylor's team seem on their way to a record-equalling sixth Ashes series in a row. The prospect of them making it seven in two years is overwhelming.

The end was swift and utterly without mercy. Needing to bat all day to keep Ashes hopes alive, England almost made it to lunch for the solitary loss of Mark Ramprakash. Almost.

The second new ball, taken 10 minutes before the interval, was the chosen instrument of execution. In its third over, with the lunch table just three balls away, John Crawley lost his concentration, hanging first his bat and then his head as a wide delivery was steered to second slip.

Graeme Hick, at number eight, came, tried to squeeze his first delivery square to the offside and succeeded only in offering a catch to fourth slip. The batsman stood his ground, hoping the ball had been hit on the half-volley: the umpire's decision, made after mutual consultation on the field but without recourse to the hapless third umpire, was spot on.

Eleven times now this calendar year, an England batsman has gone to the crease and not survived a single ball.

Darren Gough, Alan Mullally, who finally got off the mark in the series albeit with an inept edge over the heads of the slips, and Such then lasted 16 more deliveries. It left Alec Stewart, the England captain, unbeaten on 63, a welcome if frenetic and not entirely convincing innings after a disastrous personal series, and only his seventh half-century in 44 innings against Australia.

Against reason, all the spoils yesterday were to the seamers. The last five wickets had fallen for 16 runs in 29 balls, four of them to McGrath. Of the other bowlers, Damien Fleming took three for 56, including the ball of the series - a stunning, late in-dipping yorker that uprooted Ramprakash's leg stump after a stay of more than three hours had brought him 57 - and Colin Miller, the journeyman jack of all trades still goggle-eyed at the unexpected thrill of being part of the Australian success, managed three for 57.

There are no more gags, no more jokes to be made about England collapses. It is beyond that now. There are those, including the England captain, who say that the malaise in the side is not down to whether tail-enders of doubtful pedigree score runs, and to an extent they are right. In this match, for example, the toss, won by Australia, was, as Taylor admitted, a huge advantage, allowing them to bat first in furnace heat, on a first day pitch devoid of pace or bounce, with the prospect of deterioration over the match. Once they got a total, England were always under the cosh.

England's recent collapses are a symptom of the general mind set of the team as a whole: certainly Australian captain Mark Taylor thinks so. "I have to say I think they are intimidated down the order," he said.

"I think that Nasser Hussain and Mark Ramprakash have batted against us as well as any Englishmen in the last 10 years or so. But those wickets at the end are a bonus.

"We have a mental edge which comes in part from our performances in the last decade and it shows down the order with the respective tails where we can be five for 250 and still make 400 while England can still reach five for 250 but are all out for 275. It is a big difference. We seem to be able to get those extra 150 runs from somewhere."

Stewart, for his part, looked devastated after the match, his voice wavering as he faced, with considerable dignity, the post-match grilling. He is a proud man and wore his England cap rather than a sponsor's baseball hat. But he now knows his hopes of Ashes success were little more than pipe dreams.

"Australia have learned how to win," he said. "If the going gets tough, they know how to hang in and come out the other side. I'd like to think that my players are not intimidated. But, if they are out-bowled, and I think our bowling has been pretty good if without luck, out-batted and outfielded, then it is not very easy to win.

"This hurts, though, I can tell you. There are a lot of disappointed players in the dressingroom but we have got to keep our heads up. And I have to apologise to everyone at home. But we have worked really hard out here, I want people to know that, and that won't stop."