Australian captain Michael Clarke to quit as England celebrate Ashes triumph

Australia’s last three wickets endured against Wood and club-mate Ben Stokes for only 40 minutes and 62 balls. This was long enough to please Nottinghamshire’s insurers, whose payout for the early finish was reduced by at least £500,000 when 10 overs were completed, and for Adam Voges to receive an ovation for reaching 50 which reflected the popularity earned in three years playing county cricket here.

Wood, who took two wickets, and Stokes, who took the other to complete an innings analysis of 6-36, allowed Australia to add only 12 runs.

Clarke said: “Win or lose, the decision might have been the same. I’ll never know. But I believe it is the right decision for Australian cricket and for me.”

He will lead Australia for the last time in the final Ashes Test at The Oval, starting Thursday week, where he will aim to reduce England’s final victory margin to 3-2 and improve a disappointing personal return of 117 runs from seven innings.

“He has been a fantastic cricketer, a fantastic batsman and a fantastic leader,” said his opposite number Alastair Cook. “When the clouds have lifted, what will be remembered is what a great player and a great servant he has been for Australian cricket.”

The Oval Test will be Clarke’s 115th. His 8628 runs for Australia trail only two of his most durable predecessors as captain, Allan Border and Steve Waugh. Only they and Donald Bradman have scored more than his 28 centuries. His misfortune has been to be a great player in the years just after Australia’s long era of dominance in international cricket.

This was his fourth losing Ashes series in England, the last two as captain – although he played in two whitewashes at home.

“Victories away from home have become very hard to achieve,” Clarke said. “But that challenge is what you want. If you can win consistently away from home, you’ll be the best team in the world. You don’t want it to be easy.”

While the rapidity of Australia’s demise here and at Edgbaston – two matches which between them lasted fewer than 400 overs, equivalent to a little over four days’ play – has been staggering, the fundamental weakness is an old one. Even good Australian teams have been wont to struggle against high-class spin bowling in favourable conditions.

England’s Australian head coach Trevor Bayliss said: “The ball does move in Australia, but here the ball moves further sideways through the air and off the wicket and it comes off a little slower as well. You have to have the skill to put it in the right place.”

The extent to which this ability is spread across the England attack is shown by their becoming the first Test team to have four different bowlers take six wickets in consecutive innings – Stokes following Stuart Broad in the first innings here and James Anderson and Steven Finn at Edgbaston. Ryan Harris, the Australian bowler best equipped for English conditions, was forced into retirement by injury just before the series started.

England’s triumph also reflects a transformation in approach and outlook shown in the aggression of their batting and the ruthless manner in which Australian weakness was exploited.

“I didn’t believe this group of players was quite ready to win the Ashes. I didn’t think they were match-hardened,” Cook said. “But they have really stepped up and become hardened match-winners.”

Cook, as ever, tried to deflect credit from himself to his players, but did accept that he has made some changes in a captaincy style formerly criticised as by-the-book.

“I may have become a little less stubborn. Stubbornness can take you a long way in cricket, you need self-belief about the way you do things,” he said. “But I’ve been prepared to listen to a few more voices in the last six months or so, and have probably relaxed a little.”