Already two down in the series, things continued to go from bad to worse for England in the third Test match, in Perth.
Australia won the toss and batted, making 385, Steven Smith making 111, David Warner 60 and Brad Haddin 55. In reply, despite 72 from captain Alastair Cook, England were dismissed for 251, the Australian bowlers sharing the wickets.
Australia then consolidated their lead by making 369/6 before declaring. Warner and Shane Watson both completed centuries, and Chris Rogers scored 54.
Set 504, England were all out for 353, despite Ben Stokes, playing in only his second Test match, making 120. Australia won by 150 runs.
There was no change of fortune for the English at the fourth match, the Boxing Day Test at the MCG in Melbourne.
Again, Australia won the toss but this time decided to bowl. The decision appeared to have paid off when England were all out for 255, despite 71 from Kevin Pietersen. Mitchell Johnson claimed 5-63. England, though, kept themselves right in the game by bowling out the Australians for just 204, a score that would have been even worse had not Brad Haddin made 65 at almost a run a ball. James Anderson took 4-67.
All that good work though was undone in England’s second innings. Cook gave them a platform by scoring 51, but apart from Pietersen, who made 49, no other batter made a substantial contribution. They were all out for just 179, Nathan Lyon taking 5-50.
Set 231, Australia reached their target for the loss of just two wickets, Rogers making 116 and Watson 83 not out.
The 5-0 whitewash was completed in emphatic fashion in Sydney.
This time England won the toss and chose to field. It was a questionable decision as Australia went on to make 326, Steven Smith leading the way with a hundred. Stokes took 6-99 with the ball and then was their top scorer when they batted, with 47, in what was another poor display.
England were all out for 155. With a big first-innings lead, Australia built on it by making 276, Rogers with 119 this time.
England needed 447 to win but, clearly with their minds already thinking of home, they were all out or just 166 second time round, Ryan Harris taking 5-25.
Australia had won by 281 runs and had dominated the series almost from the first ball to the last.