The Ashes: England collapse with the bat again to hand Australia 4-0 win

England delivered another vintage batting collapse in the fifth and final Ashes Test in Hobart.

Despite a promising start - that saw the two openers put on a 68-run stand - Joe Root's side slumped to a 146-run defeat and a 4-0 scoreline.

Asked to chase down 271 in the day/night clash in Hobart they produced a horror show on the third evening, careering off the rails from 68 without loss to 124 all out.

They lost all 10 wickets for just 56 runs, queueing up to throw away their wickets in a blitz of hapless dismissals in the space of 22.4 overs. It was an embarrassment that will take some getting over and only increase the call for change in a set-up that has not only forgotten how to win but how to compete.

Last week's nail-biting draw in Sydney means Joe Root's side will not go down in the history books with their whitewashed predecessors from 2006/07 and 2013/14, but few would disagree that this has been a less competitive and less accomplished campaign.

The closing chapter was as grim as anything that came in the first three Tests, when the urn was surrendered in 12 demoralising days, as the outside chance of a face-saving win gave way to yet another weak-willed, soft-centred collapse.

Former England batter Mark Butcher said another sorry batting collapse by Root's side came as no surprise.

Butcher told BT Sport: "I was about to say the collapse came as a bit of a surprise, but it doesn't really, does it?

"This sort of quick losses of wickets seem to dog this team wherever they go. They do not seem able to bat for any length of time, or withstand any kind of pressure.

"That was ghastly. It really was. I don't blame the bowlers for coming out there and having a swish, the game is done. They did their job in this Test match, in this series really.

"The batsmen just haven't given them any rest and that was the epitome of the way the tour has gone."

Former captain Sir Alastair Cook added: "You don't win games of cricket with it (batting in that manner). The fact we've lost 10 wickets in an hour and a half… yes the conditions are tough, and some good bowling, but there was no resilience there.

"I said at the beginning of the game it was going to be a really hard week for them mentally because they're about to lose, go home, the thoughts about that, and as soon as they get put under pressure you see how much resolve there is. They showed a lot at Sydney but probably used it all there.

"That was very tough viewing, that has to be our rock bottom, there cannot be a worse place than getting bowled out in a hour and a half.

"OK, you competed in this game with the ball, but I actually can't believe an hour and a half to lose 10 wickets, that's the biggest shock as a batter and a professional who plays cricket… you get bowled out in a session once or twice in a career and this side, after a couple of wickets, we said 'something is on here' and you see a batting line-up devoid of all confidence, once they lose one or two, no one steps up and stop the slide.

"You can talk all you want about the battle in the dressing room, but until some people grab it by the scruff of the neck, I can't see this changing."