Overnight, England fell to Australia’s lowest point and cricket fans took the chance to make fun of the Australians.
On day three of Boxing Day Test, Melbourne’s visitors suffered a crushing defeat. They were bowled for just 68 and Australia took a commanding 3-0 lead.
Joe Root’s side required 51 runs to prevent an innings loss, despite the score being at 31-for-4. The last six runs were lost for only 22 runs, as Scott Boland’s debut took six runs for seven runs.
England’s score of 68 was their lowest run total in Australia since 1904. This highlights the quality gap between Australia and Australia’s top Test teams.
Cricket fans took to social media to make fun of England, posting a range of memes such as Root and Co from the Melbourne massacre.
After humiliatingly losing to Australia, England reached rock bottom in Melbourne
After Joe Root surrendered the Ashes for a mere 68 runs, cricket fans mock Joe Root.
@wheelswordsmith tweeted that England’s cricketers spent longer in quarantine when they arrived in Australia after their departure than playing cricket.
He said, “Spending 14 Days in Quarantine to Lose the Ashes in 12 Is Very Funny”
Nine of England’s batsmen failed to reach double figures, but four players, Jack Leach (Dawid Malan), Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, all had ducks.
England has scored 54 ducks in Test cricket so far this year, which is a new record.
At this point, @GregBaum sent a tweet with a picture of the “England team” – a simple group of ducks.
Although broadcasters have the most modern technology available to them to communicate information, nothing can beat an old-fashioned wagon wheel to show a player’s batsman performance.
@harish_pareek07 was able to create one for each of England’s 11 players in Melbourne. It is a straight line running from the crease to where it meets the pavilion.
A fan made use of the Pink Panther as a symbol for England’s faith in Root. Root has run 1178 more runs than anyone else this year. Another mocked the famous newspaper article that was published after England’s first loss to Australia. The date was changed to 28 December 2021.
England’s defeat in Melbourne is a significant step back from their triumph in the 2010-11 Ashes series. Andrew Strauss’ team went on to become World No 1 with Alistair Cook, Jonathan Trott and dominating the Test format.
Root had been on the fringes, but now he’s surrounded by inferior players. Another meme featured Root alone at a table that was once filled with Cook, Kevin Pietersen Matt Prior, Ian Bell, and Matt Prior.
One meme showed how Australia’s Marcus Harris scored more runs (76 runs) and was at the crease longer (189) than England for the second innings. This is in stark contrast to England’s pathetic performance (68 runs, 166 balls).
The travelling Barmy Army will ultimately be the ones left most scratching their heads down under.
A cricket page thought of Melbourne fans with a meme featuring Come Fly With Me’s Peter & Judith. The England fans can attest that they had ‘the vacation from hell’.
Pat Cummins, Australia’s captain, and the Ashes winner celebrated their win over England on Tuesday with beers at MCG.
Cummins claimed that the Ashes triumph was what dreams are made of, as his team won in a resounding victory. This feat came less than five months after he got the job.
The Sydney Morning Herald called England’s surrender totalitarian, while the local media focuses on the woeful tourists.
He posted a photograph of his team toasting their successes on the MCG pitch and was quick to tweet the Aussie skipper.
After thrashing Joe Root’s team, they also played another match of cricket on the pitch against England’s children.
Cummins stated, after their side beat rivals in Melbourne by 14 runs and an innings respectively: “Winning on Day Three is not possible at the MCG. This is a great result.
“It is what dreams are made out of. It’s the way we played. This is the Ashes’ first victory. It feels more than a win at 3-0. We are setting ourselves up for success in the future.
“It’s not fully hit me yet, but it makes me think about what this means for our team of players. This is a great way to see that our team can be regarded as a very strong and good side in cricket.