Perth, Australia: Alastair Cook got to hold the Ashes for less than four months as England captain before handing the old urn over to Michael Clarke in a match neither of them will forget.
Cook's team celebrated a 3-0 series win in late August and came to Australia confident of being the first England team in more than 120 years to win four consecutive Ashes series.
Instead, the 2013-14 series was decided in three big defeats in the first three matches. The last of those, by 150 runs, was in Perth, where the opposing captains were both marking their 100th test caps.
"We haven't had enough players in form," Cook said. "The dressing room is hurting like hell. It's a tough place to be. We've had plenty of success and this is the other end of it. It's not pleasant."
Cook scored an unbeaten double century and two big centuries the last time England toured Australia in 2010-11, winning an away Ashes series for the first time in 24 years. In the first three tests of this tour, he has scored two half centuries and had three scores under 4, including a golden duck when he opened the second innings after England was set an improbable 504 to win.
Cook said the team showed more character in Perth compared with the 381- and 218-run defeats in Brisbane and Adelaide. Ben Stokes, a 22-year-old New Zealand-born allrounder, posted the first century of the series for England as he defied the Australian attack for 120 on Tuesday, when the series was all but gone.
"I think we've shown a lot of character in this game. I thought Ben Stokes' innings shows the amount of talent there is in English cricket," he said. "For him to be able to deliver that in an Ashes test match under that kind of pressure, bodes well."
The younger players stood out for England. Joe Root, elevated to bat at No. 3 when Jonathan Trott quit the tour with a stress-related illness, batted and fielded at a level beyond his 22 years against an imposing Australian pace attack.
Stokes showed the kind of pluck England needs batting at No. 6 in the second and third tests, and bowled with more speed than the established bowlers.
Stuart Broad took 14 wickets in the series before Mitchell Johnson crashed a yorker into his right foot and rendered him unable to bowl or field in Australia's second innings in Perth and perhaps making him unavailable for the next test in Melbourne.
The seasoned players have been out of form. Jimmy Anderson was plundered for a world record-equaling 28 runs in one over by George Bailey on Monday, in the over before Clarke declared and set England a 500-plus target for the third time in the series.
Graeme Swann has rarely troubled the Australian batsmen. Vice-captain Matt Prior has struggled with the bat, scoring just one half century in six innings, and missed two stumping opportunities on Monday.
England at times had Australia under pressure, notably late on the first day of each test, but either the bowlers couldn't finish off the job, poor fielding let them down, or the Australia batsmen were too resilient.
Cook couldn't explain the margin of the losses, particularly after England had gone 12 months previously without losing a test.
"Every time we got a partnership going or a few wickets with the ball, Australia always responded better than what we could deal with," Cook said. "They've been very ruthless with us. When they had a sniff, they'd taken their chances. And when they had us down, they kept us down."
While Cook said losing a five-match Ashes series after just three tests was the lowest point as an England player, Clarke was on a high. His team went through a nine-test drought, including losses in India and England, before these three home wins.
"I know what Alastair feels like at the moment. It's not that long ago I sat in the same position," Clarke said. "They outplayed us two months ago, in the UK. I got asked before the Ashes series in the UK, if it would define my captaincy or my career.
"I don't think it's fair to judge his career or his captaincy on three test matches in Australia."
