With a cover drive to the fence and a clenched fist of celebration in the middle of the SCG, Alex Carey brought the 2025-26 Ashes series to a close with a 4-1 margin for Australia over England.

Carey was a fitting man to administer the coup de grace, for he deserves to share top billing alongside Mitchell Starc and Travis Head as the players of the series.

England captain Ben Stokes (centre) congratulates Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja after the final day of the 2025-26 Ashes series.Credit: AP

Starc’s Compton-Miller Medal is his second such award in successive Ashes series, but Head’s three breakneck centuries and Carey’s combination of sublime glove work and confident batting were the difference in turning 2023’s 2-2 draw into a contest decided in just 11 days this time.

It was a dizzying series in many ways, comprising some moments of champagne cricket but many more of poor stuff that spoke to England’s ramshackle preparation for the task and Australia’s numerous vulnerabilities.

Still, this was a fair margin for an Australian side that overcame considerable odds in terms of injuries and fluctuations to deliver the same outcome as 2002-03, the series where they were led at home by Steve Waugh, who presented the trophy to Steve Smith, Pat Cummins and company.

Like so many recent series in Australia, the opening round of the bout proved to be definitive. At lunch on day two in Perth, England appeared to be set fair for an opening victory that would at least give them a chance,........

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