Clarke says Ashes winning Australian team was 'sick of losing'

Australia's transformation over the last three months came about because the players simply got fed up with losing and decided to put in the hard work to turn their fortunes around, captain Michael Clarke said after they won the Ashes on Tuesday, a report said.

According to Sport24, in March, Clarke was captain of an Australia team in crisis with as many off-field problems as they had on it and soon to lose their coach after a 4-0 series drubbing in India.

In August, having conceded a third straight Ashes series to the English, he was in charge of a team that had played 10 tests, lost seven, drawn two and won one in 2013, the report said.

On Tuesday, though, he was celebrating winning back the earthenware symbol of Anglo-Australian sporting rivalry with emphatic victories in the first three tests of the series, the report added.

Although reluctant to single out individuals for credit, Clarke was prepared to pay tribute to the work done by a bowling unit spearheaded by Mitchell Johnson, the report further said.