From the ‘seaming viper’ that got Travis Head to the MCG two-day stinker: The best and worst of these Ashes

Worst collapse: England’s slump from 2-76 to 7-104 on the second afternoon in Perth allowed Head’s innings to destroy a winning position for the tourists in a series where they simply had to get off to a good start. As part of that, the loss of Ollie Pope, Brook and Joe Root for zero runs in the space of seven balls turned the match and the series on its head.

Best Matches: Sydney was a great way to cap off a series at the SCG’s best ground for years, but the lack of a live series somewhat dampened its impact. For that reason, Adelaide’s ripples come at a premium as England have struggled of late to keep the Ashes alive and provided Australia with some nervous moments on day five that dragged on considerably longer than Pat Cummins would have liked.

Worst Matches: Melbourne is a two-day. Both pitches and batting were of poor quality, depriving the roughly 180,000 spectators of cricket and leaving a deflationary atmosphere after the holidays. England won in Australia, but they weren’t the ones singing from the rooftops.

Best Press Conference: Not everyone will agree, but retired Usman Khawaja’s 50-minute chat was fearless, insightful and heartfelt. It was also almost the perfect length for a podcast.

Worst Press Conference: Assistant coaches are never good at this and it’s hard to get past Marcus Trescothick, who insisted in Brisbane that England had never discussed trying to avoid long balls in Australia, or Jeetan Patel, who told the BBC in Adelaide: “I think the story [the Ashes] being a series is everyone else’s story.” Cue the perfectly logical repetition of every big statement England made before the series, and there were many.

Biggest surprise: Head opening and dominating. Khawaja’s back spasms made him the target of much criticism, but it was also the breaker of many years of circular talks within the team about whether Head should emulate David Warner. In his first attempt, Head carved out three centuries, leaving England bereft of his bowling. So much for the idea that at five he was too valuable to move.

Best players: It has to be Mitchell Starc after his brilliant performance with the ball in five Tests and some crucial knocks with the lower-order bat. He was probably the least trumpeted of the ‘big three’ along with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, but that won’t be the case anymore.

Biggest Disappointment: Stream. The mammoth talent England have earmarked as their next leader has previously fizzled out on both fronts in Australia as well as on the road to New Zealand. The revelation that he rounded up $60,000 ended up getting into an altercation with a nightclub bouncer the night before the ODI in which he was due to captain England summed up the fundamental lack of rigor in Brook’s attitude. He should lose his Test vice-captaincy because of this.

Best and worst prediction: Anyone who has suggested England get the Ashes back is in that conversation, but the best and worst calls probably go to Steve Waugh, who has finished presenting the trophy.

His best: “I think the best fielder will win the Ashes this year, so catching will be really important.”

And his worst: “I think it’s going to be one of the best Ashes series we’ve seen in a long, long time.”