BBC SPORT | Cricket | The Ashes | Australia turn the screw

Former England captain Graham Gooch says England failed to do themselves justice in the fifth Test.

Australia really turned the screw in the final test match of the summer to illustrate their superiority.

They went out and scored in excess of 600 and even though England batted pretty well in their first innings you're always going to be up against it when a side has that many runs on the board.

I had fully expected England to make a much better fight of it on the final day but Australia bowled brilliantly in that opening 25 minutes.

The task facing England was not impossible, but by removing Butcher, Trescothick and Hussain in quick succession Australia denied England any chance of saving the match.

Phil Tufnell was the last wicket to fall
Tufnell was the last wicket to fall
To be in with a shout, England had to survive the opening hour without losing a wicket but they failed to do so.

If Butcher and Trescothick, two left-handers, had managed to stay together they would have made it harder for Warne, but it was not to be.

In Warne and McGrath Australia had what was essentially the difference between the two sides and it was no surprise the pair did all the damage on the final day.

They are both world-class performers and they showed in this series with 31 wickets for Warne and 32 victims for McGrath.

England's premier bowlers Gough and Caddick, in comparison, took 17 and 15 wickets respectively. There is a massive difference between the two figures.

But Australia were not just about individuals, they were about the team as Steve Waugh was only too keen to stress whenever he had the chance.

Shane Warne
The collective ability of Australia was too much
Their strength lies in their all-round ability throughout the team, and in certain departments they are outstanding.

But one area they were not quite as strong as elsewhere was at the top of the order.

Their opening partnership failed to fire until the last test, but their middle order always produced the goods.

It didn't seem to matter who they played - they would come in and do the job asked of them and that has a lot to do with the strength of their cricket.

There are a host of Australian players in the county game here who could step up and make the grade but England don't seem to have the same depth.

I was disappointed that England were not more competitive this summer because I felt they had a chance to really compete even though I didn't think they could win the Ashes.

To be competitive they needed to find a way to unsettle the Australians and they failed to do so.

The Australian excellence did not allow them to play to the best of their ability.