Australia vs England, 3rd Test at Perth, Dec 14 2017 - Ball by Ball Commentary

4.05pm: Was it ever in doubt? Well, perhaps for a couple of days in Brisbane... and for a while this morning. But not even some English weather could bail out England in the WACA's farewell Ashes Test; that's eight defeats in a row here, and that too having been 4 for 368 in their first innings. It's also the third time in little over a year that England have scored 400 only to be beaten by an innings. Smith was MoM for his magnificent 239 but Josh Hazlewood was the wrecking ball on the final day, blowing through England's resistance with the gusto of last night's storm. You can read all about it in Brydon's report, and there'll be plenty more reaction and comment on the site later, from George, Dan and Mel at the ground (in fact, there might still be time to get your #PoliteEnquiries in). To cap a sweet day for Australia, they are now 33-32 ahead in Ashes series. For England, the autopsies are only just beginning... Thanks for sticking around through an oddly squishy finale. Gnasher and Miller will be back to pull the crackers at the MCG. From myself, Al, Varun and Deiva, it's cheerio for now. The kangaroo is safe in his den, for another four years at least. Bye!

3.50pm: Done and dusted. The WACA bears witness to Australia wrapping things up at the earliest possible opportunity, just as in 2013-14. Never mind the weather earlier, the sun is shining now...

No sooner is Steven Smith out of the victory huddle, he has a microphone under his nose: "Captaining an Ashes winning side is an amazing feeling. It's a moment we've been looking forward to, so much has gone into the preparation, the way we've gone about it was spectacular, 400 is a pretty good total but we come out and got a massive score and only had to bat once. The bowlers have done a massive job, Nathan Lyon has been exceptional. So many emotions coming out, the boys are going to celebrate hard tonight. Josh Hazlewood was exceptional, he hit really good areas and got Bairstow early. To win an amazing Ashes series, to be 3-0 up and get that urn back, I'm really proud."

Joe Root is understandably more downbeat: "Very difficult to take but fair play to Australia, they've outplayed us in all three game and we've got to be better. [Pitch?] It wasn't fit to play this morning, it obviously dried up and I think by the end there it was probably fit to play. [Only 400 first inns] Yeah, that's not ideal, but the [Malan-Bairstow] partnership and the way those two played was outstanding, they should be really proud. From the position of 100-4, that's not good enough. We've got to learn from it and get better but there's good thing to come from this week. Those guys putting in big performances under pressure was outstanding, the way Vincey played in the second innings was proper batting, it took that delivery to get him out. We've got to make sure we got to Melbourne, prepare well and put in good performance there."

And Smith is then interviewed again as the Man of the Match: "Nice to get recognition. I'm really proud to score my highest score and put on that performance with Mitch Marsh. Really set the game up for us, to get us in the lead. I'm just so proud of the boys, the way we've been able to wrap things up here in Perth and get that urn back. The boys have done a terrific job to get us the 20 wickets in each game, we haven't won a toss and probably had the toughest of the conditions. [Worried about weather?] It was horrible last night, I've never seen weather like that here in Perth. We knew if it cleared, and we had enough time, we'd be in for a show. Credit to the selectors, they made some bold moves but everyone who's come in has done a great job. [MCG next?] Absolutely, we're going to celebrate this one first. The Boxing Day Test match is an amazing occasion, hopefully we can get ourselves 4-0 and maybe 5-0 in Sydney. Everyone has been fantastic to get us the result we deserve."

Short leg moves to point, fine leg comes in

"JUST 1 more session to go. What are the chances of Anderson and Woakes grinding it out?" About the same as Santa popping down your chimney to join you for Christmas dinner, Balashankar

Cummins continues, 7-8 minutes until tea

"Cleverly done by Woakes. Wonder if the Australians will fall into the trap of just trying to get Anderson back on strike, rather than trying to dismiss Woakes," wonders Craig. Not much of a trap, is it?

Anderson survives, as do England... but for how much longer?

Two balls for Starc to Anderson... Short leg, leg slip in place

Mitchell Starc now, the tail-end demolition expert

"Clearly something wrong with Anderson after that crack on the head," chuckles James. "He was smiling. "

Anderson pops a pill, puts on his helmet and gets ready for a broken effing arm to face Cummins. Apparently they've extended the session again, so the sanctuary of tea is 15 minutes away

"Now what Ian Chappell shall have views about English team to tour Australia in future, as he said in the past that Pakistan team should not be called to tour Australia..." Ha, indeed, Khalid Mehmood. One of my colleagues, who shall remain unnamed, is looking forward to pointing this out. Although England haven't actually been whitewashed yet. At least not on the pitch

Fine leg comes up, they're trying to prevent one