England slumped to a new low in their latest defeat of this Women’s Ashes series and the inevitable inquest will surely lead to changes at the top.

Jon Lewis can continue to defend his England side but, unless they learn to confront the gravity of these losses in Australia, it is hard to see how a whitewash can be avoided.

Heather Knight was emotional after her team crashed to their heaviest defeat of the six Ashes games so far with England bowled out for only 90 runs, the second-lowest T20 total in their history. Only Knight’s 40 prevented it from being the worst.

Lewis had claimed Grace Harris’s call for Australia to “embarrass” England galvanised his side, even saying that he would pat the power-hitter “on the back” for her comments. Yet it is clear who is having the last laugh.

In Adelaide, Beth Mooney struck a powerful 94 runs, not only outscoring the entire England side but showing all the facets of the game that the tourists lack.

Australia turned ones into twos, with Mooney sprinting and diving to make her ground even in the 20th over. England, on the other hand, almost turned twos into ones on occasion.

Lewis acknowledged the hosts’ superiority the day before this final T20 match, saying: “They [Australia] are a much more athletic team than us. They’re more agile, they look faster, at times they look more powerful.” However, he denied that influenced the outcome of the series.

Lewis rejected any criticisms over fitness, first made by BBC pundit Alex Hartley after England’s dismal T20 World Cup last October. The head coach insists the side are “incredibly dedicated” and that he has “never seen a cricket team work like this” in his 31 years in the sport. He also strangely highlighted non-playing Bess Heath for running more than 30km for her own enjoyment as an example of the standards of the squad.

The head coach has bizarrely placed the blame for the athletic disparity between the teams on their “cultural difference”, drawn from seeing the number of people exercising on a walk he took from Bondi to Coogee.

A day before the final T20, Lewis said he believed that the two sides were not as far apart as the scoreline suggested, but as only two England batters reached double figures in their worst batting performance of the series, the gulf was clear. In fact, England have come close to winning only one match in this entire series, in Canberra, where rain and lightning scuppered them.

“One of the things that’s stood out for me across this tour is actually, we practise really, really well, but we haven’t played very well,” Lewis said after Australia claimed a 12-0 lead in Adelaide. “The bit that’s missing is when we cross the line as to how we go and perform.

“We’re doing a lot of really good stuff in practice, which is for the players and the coaching staff really frustrating.”

Unfortunately for Lewis and England, on-field performance is the only metric that counts and the fact that the team is not delivering raises serious questions of the set-up.

Hartley again pulled no punches on the BBC’s Test Match Special, saying simply: “England have embarrassed themselves tonight.”

Former England batter Ebony Rainford-Brent was also critical of Lewis’s apparent lack of answers to the questions Australia are posing, saying on TNT Sports: “He [Lewis] has done a brilliant job bringing through young players, but the question for England is not how do we tick around with Australia but how do we dominate Australia? I’m not sure that quote [about what Australia are better at] gave any clarity on how we’re going to get there. Unless we have someone who understands how we’re going to overtake, it is a really tough place to be.”

Just over a decade into the professional era of English women’s cricket – and almost the same amount of time since their last Ashes victory – the side are facing their darkest moment since the start of central contracts in 2014.

“I am trying not to cry,” Knight told BBC Radio 5 Live after the sixth successive defeat in Australia. “It has been a disappointing tour.” She added: “There’s a lot of learning to do. We’re gutted, we need to learn a lot from this Australia team.”

Yet an Ashes series is no time for learning. The current one may have a more hectic schedule than is ideal for the players, but it has been the same for both sides.

Australia have dominated women’s cricket for a decade but have not changed the way they have played, nor done something exceptional. They just have a wealth of talent, a philosophy and enviable professionalism. As they stand on the brink of a thoroughly comprehensive victory, they will have one singular goal in mind: complete the whitewash.

England have less than a week to prepare for the Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground – their last chance to avoid a 16-0 defeat, however unlikely recent results make that appear. But behind the scenes, the England and Wales Cricket Board should already be looking at the future and a change in leadership.

Reaction to England’s latest defeat

Ebony Rainford-Brent, former England batter on TNT Sports

“What I think fans want, what I want, is to see England finally overtake Australia. Not compete and be in the mix but overtake. So when the comment comes that they’re faster, stronger, all those sorts of things, it doesn’t help.

“It feels like they ran out of plans. I asked about spin and how they crafted their plans, and it sounded like they did but the execution wasn’t there and maybe they ran out of ideas. That is not a good place to be. You need full clarity, for everybody to feel that intensity to go and execute. Something feels like it is off there.”

Alex Hartley, former England bowler on BBC

“It has been a horrific tour for England. There will be an inquest into England cricket after this. They are so much stronger than South Africa and New Zealand in bilateral series and yet at Ashes and World Cups, they crumble.”

Michelle Goszko, former Australia batter on BBC

“This is starting to be really embarrassing for England. It is a debacle from England and this is a series low point.”

Jason Gillespie, former Australia bowler on ABC Sport

“It almost feels like in English cricket at the moment the results don’t matter. ‘We’re just trying to entertain.’ Well, England’s women’s team isn’t that entertaining at the moment.

“Some of the batting leaves a lot to be desired. They’re trying to go out there and smack it everywhere. But you’ve got to adapt and adjust to conditions and situations in games, [as opposed to] just then go out and play one style and hope for the best. It feels like it’s a Hail Mary to me, and I think it’s a bit of a cop-out.”

Fans’ criticism on social media