Was that the flawless time?’ But you’re always sucked in by an Ashes tour – he has never won a series in England and wanted the chance to put that to rest.

“Of course I was hoping, as we all were, to go home with the Ashes“, he said.

79 – Years since Australia were dismissed for a lower score in a Test innings by England (58 all out at Brisbane in 1936).

After Cook unsurprisingly chose to bowl first under cloud cover, Australia were well-served by Warner and Chris Rogers and it soon became clear there would be no repeat here of their Nottingham fragility.

Prior to this match, Clarke announced he would be retiring from worldwide duty after the end of the fifth Test.

Clarke said of the senior players: “Brad Haddin has probably played his last Test match”.

“We bowled really well and they just played well”.

“Criticism is certainly warranted but I’m looking forward to finishing this series on a high”.

Warner was the next man to fall in the 46th over, a straightforward outside edge to Chris Lyth in the slips from Moeen Ali, out for 85 from 131.

Batting in poor light after a late rain delay, Smith finished 78 not out in his captain-elect’s knock. But the change from the last two games owes more to Australia’s improvement than England going backwards.

Clarke, who will bow out after the dead rubber, said The Oval pitch was exceptionally green, a situation that has caused major headaches for his batsmen during the series.

“I’ve felt over the last six months or so, as a captain, a lot better about myself”.

The protest, which featured a three-minute silence, was also attended by the prominent sports ethics campaigner Jamie Fuller, whose sportswear business SKINS took out a full page advert in the North Somerset Times, Clarke’s local paper, that featured a mock obituary to cricket. Obviously it’s Michael’s retirement as well, but not only that, there’s places up for grabs in this side.

England have two major selection decisions this week – whether to recall James Anderson, their all-time leading wicket-taker, who missed the fourth Test because of a side injury and whether they should give a Test debut to leg-spinner Adil Rashid.

England’s captain Alastair Cook catches a ball during a training session at the Oval cricket ground in London, Wednesday, August 19, 2015.

“Jimmy’s not fit”, he said.

“I’ve got to keep trying to work as hard as I can in the first innings. He’s gutted about it”.

England have an undeniably tough winter ahead, against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates and then South Africa.

Australia is set to rest seamer Josh Hazlewood for the final test due to a heavy recent workload.