AS THE Sydney Cricket Ground continued to reverberate yesterday to celebrations of England's 3-1 Ashes win - the home side's worst performance in a series in Test history - Australia's chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, insisted that his panel had "done a very good job".

Hilditch placed the blame for the defeat - which marked the first time an Australian Test team had lost by an innings three times in a series - squarely with the players. But he also backed those players to continue.

Hilditch refused to accept blame for the embarrassing outcome and said he would not stand down from the role he "loves".

Asked how much responsibility he accepted for Australia losing the Ashes in such a manner, Hilditch replied: "I think we've done a very good job as a selection panel, but reality is we were totally outplayed. You can't get away from that fact, they were better than we were. We put a side on the paddock we expected to compete really well, but they gained momentum probably at the start of the Adelaide Test match. We regained a bit in Perth - only a little bit - and then lost again in Melbourne.

"That's the way the game went. England took chances and I thought they were superb.