Steve Smith believes Australia were not aggressive enough in their fourth Test defeat to England in Melbourne, which dashed the hosts' chances of an Ashes whitewash.

Having built an unassailable 3-0 series lead within just 11 days of play, the hosts were looking to complete just the fourth 5-0 victory in Ashes history.

Australia previously whitewashed England on home soil in 1920-21, 2006-07 and 2013-14, but their chances of replicating that rare feat are now over.

England won a whirlwind, two-day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground by four wickets, bowling Australia out for 132 in their second innings then chasing down a target of 175.

It was the tourists' first red-ball victory Down Under since January 2011 and means the best result Australia can now obtain is a 4-1 victory, with the fifth Test starting in Sydney next week.

No Australia batter managed a score above 46 in either innings (Travis Head, second innings), with Smith only achieving scores of nine and 24 not out.

"I think the guy with the most success on that wicket was probably Harry Brook, running down the wicket, playing some rogue shots, and trying to get the bowlers off their lengths that way," he said.

"Whether we could have been a bit more proactive potentially, and played a few more of those... That's something we'll talk about.

"But in the end, it's also tricky to do that. You want to try and dig in for your team sometimes.

"You have to weigh up whether you should have gone harder, or you should have reined it in. And everyone's different the way they go about it as well."

Jacob Bethell top-scores with 40 as we complete our first Test win in Australia since 2011.

The series may have gone, but that's a result to be proud of  pic.twitter.com/lkuzSY4Iar

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) December 27, 2025

Australia faced 479 balls across the fourth Test, their fewest in a match since the Brisbane Test in the 1928 Ashes, which saw them bowled out twice in 457 deliveries.

"I think if we got 50 or 60 more runs across both innings, we might have been there at the end, but credit to England.

Australia had gone 5,468 days and 18 Tests without losing to England on home soil, with Smith bemoaning the way some lacklustre batting brought that run to an end.

"They came out today and fought really well this morning, didn't let us get away.

"We'd love to win every game and keep every streak going, but England played really well today. 

"We probably controlled the first half of the game, all yesterday, and then they came back into play today and took the game away from us."