Going into the fourth Test, I was hoping for yet another turnaround in form and fortune for both teams.

Surely Australia could not play as badly for a third time in this series?

Surely England had used up their good fortune and home ground advantage?

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They hadn’t won two successive Tests since August last year, and were due an ‘L’.

I genuinely thought Australia could win, it wasn’t simply wishful thinking and patriotism.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Steve Smith has borrowed it before, now the captaincy will be his full-time. Photo: Getty

It was based on the quality of the World Cup win (most of these guys played in the best white ball team on the planet a few short months ago) and the demolition of England in the last series Down Under.

The Ashes, lost yet again by Michael Clarke, has prompted his resignation and retirement.

He has been a prolific run scorer for many years.

His debut hundred in Bangalore was a treat, made on a spinning pitch against bowlers who know what do to with such a surface.

It seems like only yesterday that the hero had arrived on centre stage; now his exit is stage left with muted fanfare.

His recent form has been poor but a captain’s poor form can be wallpapered if his team is winning.

Michael’s actions don’t make him a scapegoat for this defeat – he has plenty of companions from the batting, bowling and coaching departments who will have their immediate futures questioned.

The currency to pay for a spot in the top six is plain and simple: runs, and he was making very few.

Let us hope that he goes out on a high at The Oval with a personal milestone or a team victory.

Captain-in-waiting Steve Smith will bring a very different mindset to the dressing room: uncomplicated, low pressure but with high expectation (something that Trevor Bayliss has carried with him into the England sheds).

Surely Shaun Marsh is out of lives. Photo: Getty

Smith plays no favourites except for those who are performing.

While the players have careers to defend it will be interesting to see how much scrutiny the national selectors will come under.

For the past 139 years England have played better on their home turf and Australia on theirs.

There is little unknown about the differences in environment between the vastly geographically separated nations, especially the pitches.

Techniques for playing the seaming, swinging ball in Nottingham are different to those required on concrete hard pitches with high bounce and little movement in Perth or Brisbane.

There is no point complaining about it, that is the way it is.

You had better adapt to the conditions or find some people who can.

Chris Rogers was one who adapted through his experience at Middlesex and he was clearly Australia’s best.

His technique? Play the ball as late as you can, don’t go searching for it with hard hands and a forcefully thrust blade.

The modern idiom created by big bats and 20-over cricket of ‘hitting your way out of trouble’ didn’t come close to working.

Chris Rogers was Australia’s most consistent batsmen. He is another who will retire at the end of the series. Photo: Getty

Darren Lehmann, as a former very successful batsman for Yorkshire, would have been aware of nuances.

The Marsh brothers play in that fashion and were selected, albeit Mitchell with a second string to his bow of bowling seam up.

Given that he was the Watson replacement it seemed a little premature to drop him, especially for his hard-handed, hard-wicket playing brother.

Shaun has surely played his last Test for Australia, it’s time for some youth and flexible minds.

But it was not just the batsmen who have failed to come to terms with foreign conditions, the bowlers could not convert from swing to seam and back again when they needed to.

When they lost confidence and control, the result was chaotic thinking and poor decision making.

Jimmy Anderson bowled swing, Stuart Broad bowled seam (most of the time) when conditions suited.

These two bowled like seasoned pros who knew their subject intimately – it is TEST cricket, bowlers are supposed to be adaptable.

White-ball skills often transfer to red ball but maybe the preoccupation with T20 and 50-over cricket was too much for the Australians.

The selectors love using the term “horses for courses” – maybe they need to re-examine the form guide.

The urn is lost, but The Oval can restore some pride.

Australia will get that chance back on home soil, but in the short term Haddin, Rogers and Clarke will go and Watson is gone.

We will rebuild, from The Ashes.