ENGLAND avoided a 7-0 whitewash as they won the final one-day international at the Riverside by four wickets.
Notts spinner Graeme Swann was man of the match as he took career-best figures of 5-28 to dismiss Australia for 176 before England laboured to their target.
But this consolation victory will come as little comfort for the England fans who have seen their team thoroughly outplayed in this series.
Remarkably, England found themselves 5-0 down after the first five matches despite Andrew Strauss having won the toss each time.
He also won the toss in the seventh match, making the final outcome six correct calls to one.
After a close run opening game ended in defeat, brittle batting meant England failed to complete their overs three times, twice at Lord's and once at Trent Bridge.
It also meant they were unable to set a sufficient target at the Rose Bowl and even a high-score against Australia of 299 was not enough on a sedate batting surface.
Even this time in victory, England nearly managed to make a mess of it after a fine opening stand of 106 from the irrepressible Strauss (47) and Joe Denly (53).
From 106-0, they collapsed to 162-6 but Paul Collingwood (13 not out) on his home ground and Tim Bresnan (10 not out) ensured there would not be a seventh loss.
But the series has still been an embarrassment for England who now travel to South Africa to play more 50-overs cricket in the ICC Champions Trophy.
Hopes will not be high after this drubbing.
The deficiencies of their limited overs team as a batting unit without Kevin Pietersen have been cruelly exposed by a well-drilled team intent on taking some joy from a hitherto long, miserable summer.
Australia were knocked out in the first round of the Twenty20 World Cup on these shores before losing the Ashes series 2-1.
But it is a good job for England's sake that the urn is not a shiny trophy - or else, it would have already lost some of its shine.
For the record:
1st ODI (The Oval): Australia 260-5 beat England 256-8 by four runs. Scorecard
2nd ODI (Lord's): Australia 249-8 beat England 210 by 39 runs. Scorecard
3rd ODI (The Rose Bowl): Australia 230-4 beat England 228-9 by six wickets. Scorecard
4th ODI (Lord's): Australia 221-3 beat England 220 by seven wickets. Scorecard
5th ODI (Trent Bridge): Australia 302-6 beat England 299 by four wickets. Scorecard
6th ODI (Trent Bridge): Australia 296-8 beat England 185 by 111 runs. Scorecard
7th ODI (Riverside): England 177-6 beat Australia 176 by four wickets. Scorecard
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EARLIER REPORT AFTER FIVE MATCHES:
ENGLAND went 5-0 down and face the prospect of a whitewash in the one-day international cricket series against Australia after a four-wicket defeat at Trent Bridge.
The latest loss comes despite captain Andrew Strauss winning the toss for the fifth consecutive time.
In fairness to tonight's effort, England gave their best performance with the bat all series to score 299, a record by an England team against Australia in 50 overs.
But Ricky Ponting capitalised on some poor fielding to score 126 off 109 balls as the tourists held their nerve to win with 10 balls remaining.
Before this match, it had been England's batting which had gave most cause for concern with only Strauss performing with any consistency.
In the first match at The Oval, the scene of their Ashes triumph, England elected to field and Australia's total of 260 looked an achievable target.
But the hosts started slowly and lost wickets regularly, leaving the tail with just too much to do as they lost by four runs.
After that tight finish, hopes for another competitive series were high but England are clearly missing big-hitter Kevin Pietersen and have performed woefully since.
Strauss again chose to field in the second match at Lord's and this time Australia could only manage 249 runs from the 50 overs.
But it was more than enough to beat England who were all out for 210 in 46.1 overs with only Strauss (47) and Paul Collingwood (56) managing more than 30 runs.
In the third match at the Rose Bowl, England changed their tactics and chose to bat first.
It made little difference, though. Only Strauss (63) and Eoin Morgan (43) were the only real contributors to a measly total of 228 off a full 50 overs.
Australia made short work of the reply as Cameron White (150) and Michael Clarke (52) enjoyed a 143-run partnership in a six wicket victory.
In the fourth match, back at Lord's, England managed their most abject performance yet.
Batting first, they collapsed from 96-1 to 220 all out as they failed to last their 50 overs for the second time in the series.
Again Strauss scored 63 but the next highest individual score was 39 from Owais Shah.
Australia knocked off the runs with more than six overs to spare and have belatedly found something to celebrate about this tour after defeats in the Twenty20 World Cup and The Ashes on these shores.
Of course, the Aussies responded to their 2005 loss with a whitewash in the 2006-07 Test series.
And while this time many of the faces have changed and indeed the format of cricket is different, the riposte has been no less striking.
By Strauss's own admission, England remain a pretty inconsistent Test side. But, by that standard, their one-day international line-up without Pietersen is awful.
Even with KP, England frailties with the bat down the order ensure they remain a limited side in limited overs cricket.
It is of no surprise that they are capable of no higher than sixth in the ICC ODI rankings.
It will also be no surprise if Australia complete another post-Ashes whitewash with further wins at Trent Bridge and the Riverside.
Only, this time, it will have come 18 months sooner.
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