Australia ended England’s resistance on Monday to claim an innings victory in the fifth Ashes Test and complete a 4-0 series rout in Sydney.
The beleaguered tourists collapsed after lunch, losing their last four wickets for their fourth comprehensive defeat of the series.
England finished at 180/9 off 88.1 overs as Australia won by an innings and 123 runs.
It followed comprehensive losses on the troubled five-Test tour in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The fourth Test was drawn in Melbourne.
At the presentation ceremony, Cricket Australia decided to rub it in by bringing out two larger-than-life cutouts of hands painted with the colours of the flags of the two teams. The Australian hand stuck four fingers up while the England one showed a zero.
What a moment for the Aussies! #BeatEngland pic.twitter.com/WowgcyWwWi
— cricket.com.au (@CricketAus) January 8, 2018
Rubbing it in much 😩#ItsTheAshes #Ashes pic.twitter.com/RbP1tUthU0
— The Ashes on BT Sport (@btsportcricket) January 8, 2018
The cringeworthy props attracted their fair share of criticism on social media, with journalists and fans from both countries calling the organisers out for it.
Some used humour to call Australia out...
Little disappointed CA hasn't gone with this pic.twitter.com/TLe8enOdtp
— Jarrod Kimber (@ajarrodkimber) January 8, 2018
Typical of England under Trevor Bayliss.
— Vithushan Ehantharajah (@Vitu_E) January 8, 2018
Always recklessly persisting with “rock”, whatever the situation. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/nNTLQhQhS3
The only way it could be worse is if it was flipping the bird... https://t.co/l3qA7pSleJ
— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) January 8, 2018
For all those who struggle to count... https://t.co/DYsohnish6
— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) January 8, 2018
Others were a lot more critical and harsh.
We have reached peak #Ashes kitsch pic.twitter.com/bwnBlmf6bL
— Daniel Brettig (@danbrettig) January 8, 2018
Cricket Australia holds up four garish fingers on the Ashes podium, and two to any idea of taste, humility and decency.#Ashes
— Greg Baum (@GregBaum) January 8, 2018
The classless staging - those bloody hands - both diminishes the presentation, and reinforces the view that Australian cricket is full of boorish bogans. #infantile #stablegeniuses
— imagine (@sallyr56) January 8, 2018
Nope not a fan of the 4 nill hands, for one they just look tacky and it’s just unnecessary, the score line is irrelevant it’s one series.
— Joel Johnson (@jbjohno) January 8, 2018
How inappropriate. How awful. Tasteless.
— Jenny (@jennyah46) January 8, 2018
It is horrendous. The Meatloaf of cricket presentations.
— Jane Thompson (@yellowwig) January 8, 2018
Australian here. Not a fan. Crass, free from class and generally tasteless......and yet I'm not as shocked as I should be.
— Alexander Finnis (@Ajmf185) January 8, 2018
Much like the ball-tampering allegations, that’s rather classless tbh. You humbled us, no need for that.
— Gordon Hawkes (@GordonDJHawkes) January 8, 2018
In case anyone was wondering what would have happened if England had managed to hang on for a draw, the answer is here:
Charlie Sale has found the three fingers!! pic.twitter.com/snp6WypYib
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) January 8, 2018
If Australia really wanted to rub it in and be more classy about it, perhaps they should have just used this photo:
.@davidwarner31 shares his victory with his two beautiful girls, Ivy-Mae and Indi-Rae. #Ashes pic.twitter.com/BH3BtEJtTD
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 8, 2018
With inputs from AFP