Australia is totally outplayed by England, says Shane Watson

Australia's Shane Watson says his team have been "totally outplayed" by England as the tourists close in on a 3-1 Ashes series win.

With one day of the fifth and final Test in Sydney remaining, Australia are 213-7 in their second innings, still 151 short of making England bat again.

"We had so much to play for in this game but we've been totally outplayed again," said opening batsman Watson.

"They've continually stood up, all of their players, throughout the season."

England wicketkeeper Matt Prior enjoyed what he called "the best day of my career" as he hit 118 of England's 644 runs, then took four second-innings catches.

"It was phenomenal," he said. "It will go down as one of, if not the, best day of my career.

"The atmosphere and support we've had from the Barmy Army all tour has been phenomenal and this has been a great day for England.

"The guys did all the hard work [on day three] and I was able to come and take the initiative, play some attacking shots and ride my luck, and thankfully it was my day."

Before the start of day four, England batsman Paul Collingwood revealed he would be retiring from Test cricket at the end of the series, aged 34.

The 34-year-old Durham batsman, who has scored 4,259 runs in 68 Tests, had one of his quieter days as England looked to secure a third victory by an innings over Australia in the series.

"It's been a fantastic day and hopefully we'll finish it off," said the Durham batsman.

"It was another great effort by all the bowlers on what is quite a flat pitch.

"We have played some exceptional cricket throughout the series and put them under a lot of pressure.

"We got a great score on the board and scoreboard pressure does a lot of funny things to the opposition.

"We knew we had to bowl well and the boys got the ball reversing again which was crucial."

Courtesy: BBC