England batting coach Graham Gooch savaged his side’s miserable batting performance this Ashes tour after witnessing another meek collapse on Saturday.
Resuming at 1-8 on day two, England lost four for 15 to remove any doubt that Australia were on track for a historic whitewash.
It was a familiar story, one which has haunted England throughout a disastrous tour.
And it is one which Gooch finds completely unacceptable.
England’s leading Test runscorer slammed his players for throwing their wickets away rather than digging in and fighting for each Test and said they needed to face up to the criticism they will now receive.
“We have one 100 in four and a bit Tests. That’s not going to win you anything,” he said.
“Everyone has to look at themselves. That’s the coaches, the players.
“We all have to take (the criticism) on the chin.
“If you play the way we play the brutal truth is it’s not been good enough.”
Gooch envisaged a rebuilding process in the near future, presumably one which will be built around impressive 21-year-old allround Ben Stokes who top scored with a gritty 47 as England were rolled for 155.
“We have to look to ways to improve … That might entail taking some more pain before it gets better,” he said.
“…The powers that be will definitely be reviewing everyone after this series as they do, and quite rightly. We’ll all be under scrutiny.”
One dismissal more than any highlighted the shellshocked state the England team is in right now – when captain Alastair Cook was trapped lbw to the second ball of the day.
The under-pressure skipper shouldered arms to a straight ball from Ryan Harris and was sent packing for six, taking his series tally to a meagre 239 runs at 26.
“It’s particularly poignant when it happens like that at the beginning of the day when you’re trying to set the tone and you’re trying to lead from the front,” Gooch added.
“He’s a guy who likes to lead from the front.
“…It happens, you make mistakes.
“Sadly, we’ve made too many.”
Despite Cook’s failure, and his leadership in surrendering of the Ashes, Gooch backed Cook to be the man to lead England through the tricky times which they now face.
“No captain is going to be happy, in my opinion, with just being captain and not contributing,” Gooch, who wants to remain in his role, said.
“He’s not contributing the weight of runs that we have come to expect from him.
“He’s not been at his best and he’s been under pressure from the Australian bowlers, but he’s delivered a little bit.
“But for me … he’s still a guy who should be there when some sort of rebuilding takes place.”