Technical director Andy Flower has admitted that England never recovered from Mitchell Johnson's rapid first Test blitz after they fell to a 5-0 Ashes whitewash.
A 281-run win in Sydney secured Australia a series clean sweep, which started via a Johnson-inspired victory at Brisbane, where the left-arm paceman rocked the tourists on his Test recall to record match figures of 9-113.
Johnson continued to clock 90mph and rip through the England middle order throughout their tour Down Under, and Flower concedes that they had no answer to his speed in a series in which his side's long-term first-innings struggles with the bat finally cost them in terms of results.
"We have underperformed on this tour," Flower told Sky Sports News. "If I'm honest, we could have seen this coming earlier than now.
"The pace rocked our batting order in the first Test and we never recovered. We should have, but we didn't."
Johnson was named man of the series for taking 37 wickets at an average of 14 and was supported ably by fellow seamers Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle, who claimed 22 and 16 dismissals respectively.
Joe Fish
