Australia beat England by five wickets on day five of the fifth Ashes Test – as it happened

Time to call stumps. On behalf of the Guardian’s over-by-over team, thanks for your company today and throughout this 2025-26 Ashes series. Over and OUT!Geoff Lemon pays tribute to player of the series Mitchell Starc.It was right that Mitchell Starc should clean up the last two English wickets of this Ashes. Right, too, that Travis Head should mop up a few more runs, but for all of the enjoyment that Head brings with his Jayasuriya-lite batting and his Boon-lite persona, the difference in the series has been the other left-hander

Talismanic Mitchell Starc adds final flourish to his imperious Ashes series | Geoff Lemon

It was right that Mitchell Starc should clean up the last two English wickets of this Ashes. Right, too, that Travis Head should mop up a few more runs, but for all of the enjoyment that Head brings with his Jayasuriya-lite batting and his Boon-lite persona, the difference in the series has been the other left-hander. The fifth morning of the Sydney Test took Starc to 31 wickets at 19, and crossing 30 is the stuff of great Ashes series. Sixteen other Australians have done it, a list mostly comprised of players who only need be identified by surnames.In the manner of schoolteachers meeting you as an adult, some people are stuck with a memory of Starc as he was at the beginning: a lanky possessor of promise with the risk of being wayward, expensive or injured

Australia hold on to win fifth Ashes Test and leave England rueing missed chances

There were a couple of wobbles along the way but at 2.30pm on the final day in Sydney, Australia had knocked off a target of 160 to win the fifth Test by five wickets and claim this Ashes series by a 4-1 scoreline.Like their tour as a whole, there was a nagging sense of what might have been for England with a few more runs on the board, or better catching and tighter bowling earlier in the contest. But there could be few quibbles from the injured Ben Stokes as he watched the final rites from first slip.This has been a chastening tour for Stokes and his men, the Ashes lost in a record-equalling 11 days and just that two-day shootout victory in Melbourne to show for it

Simon Yates announces surprise retirement with ‘deep pride and sense of peace’

Simon Yates, one of Britain’s most storied riders and the winner of last year’s Giro d’Italia, has stunned cycling by announcing his retirement at 33.The Visma-Lease a Bike rider said on Wednesday that he is quitting with “deep pride and a sense of peace” after a 13-year career that delivered wins in two Grand Tours, 11 elite stages and 36 professional races.Yates posted on social media: “I have made the decision to retire from professional cycling. This may come as a surprise to many, but it is not a decision I have made lightly. I have been thinking about it for a long time, and it now feels like the right moment to step away from the sport

Former Bengals and Texas receiver Jordan Shipley severely burned in ranch accident

Former Texas star and NFL receiver Jordan Shipley is being treated in hospital after suffering severe burns in an accident on his ranch near his home town of Burnet, Texas.According to a statement from his family, Shipley was operating a machine when it caught fire. Although the 40-year-old was able to free himself from the machine “it was not before sustaining severe burns on his body in the process,” read the statement. “He was able to get to one of his workers on the ranch who drove him to a local hospital. He was then care-flighted to Austin, where he remains in critical but stable condition

Injured Ben Stokes at risk of watching final day of Ashes tour from SCG pavilion

Ben Stokes is set to spend the final day of this Ashes tour watching on from the old pavilion at the SCG and hoping for a miracle in his absence after seeing yet another Test series cut short by injury.The all-rounder had worked hard to get through all five Tests in Australia only to fall at the final hurdle, limping off 10 balls into his opening spell on the fourth morning in apparent distress. An England spokesperson later confirmed it was an issue with his right abductor (groin).Stokes did bat later in the day, emerging at No 8 but falling for one after struggling to move at the crease. The upshot is that when England come to defend a target on the final day – their lead was 119 overnight, eight wickets down – they will do so without their seam-bowling captain