Over-by-over updates from the Sydney Cricket Ground
Play starts at 10.30am local time, 11.30pm GMT
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In that press conference, Stokes put England’s defeat down to the Australian bowlers and their ability to get it right under pressure. They’ve certainly brought a lot more experience – even their new bowlers are fairly old. But England too have bowled better than they usually do in Australia.
The Aussies’ average (completed) score has been exactly 300, which is their second-lowest in a home Ashes series in the 21st century, only just beating the 292 they managed against Andrew Strauss’s triumphant team in 2010-11. England’s average score has been 242, so the gap has been 58. On England’s last Ashes tour, under Joe Root in 2021-22, it was a gulf of 148; on the tour before, also on Root’s watch in 2017-18, it was 222. On the tour before that, under Alastair Cook in 2013-14, it was 198.