As if he needed it, Joe Root got a third kick in the nuts from the final ball of day four and it will have hurt him the most.
The previous two had literally been cricket balls that smashed into his nether regions, one before play from a throwdown without a box, and the other towards the end of play from a Mitchell Starc thunderbolt with a box on.
They both left Root in absolute agony, and writhing around on the floor, but he could at least smile about them in due course.
He even had to have a scan from the first blow which caused him to miss the first 80 minutes of play as Ben Stokes took the reins.
The second came late in the day as he and Stokes were looking to see England to the close three down and with a small ounce of hope that they might somehow climb their Adelaide Everest and save this game.
But with Root clearly still shaken up by the blow and doing a passable John Wayne impression with his crown jewels as tender as a strip of wagyu beef, the kicker arrived.
Starc bowling round the wicket managed to tempt Root into a prod that he didn’t really have to play nor want to, but it was good enough to take the edge through to Carey and ease Australia past their biggest obstacle to victory.
And in the context of a tour in which everything that could go wrong has gone wrong, the symbolism of Root being literally and metaphorically hit where it hurts is surely not lost on anyone.
With just six wickets left to take, and a fanciful target of 468 well out of reach, Australia are all set to cruise to victory at some point on day five, and the truth is it is what they deserve.
This was always likely to be the inevitable scenario and challenge for England who have been lagging behind the Aussies from the start of the match.
And despite once again showing glimmers of skill and fight on day four, they saw it cancelled out by yet more mistakes and Australian ability.
With a lead of 282 for the Aussies at the start of the day, it was set up to be a thankless task for England, but they gave it a good go.
Jimmy Anderson got rid of nightwatchman Michael Neser nice and early before Stuart Broad found Marcus Harris’ edge to prompt another stunning catch by Jos Buttler.
With tails up, next ball Steve Smith edged behind to Broad, a simpler chance, and, well, yep, Buttler dropped it.
Nevermind, the ball after that, Smith was trapped lbw, by a celebrating rather than appealing Broad, but wait, that too was denied as umpire Rod Tucker said no. Umpire’s call did a lot of heavy lifting there.
Moments later Smith actually fell, gloving Ollie Robinson down the legside and Buttler took yet another brilliant diving catch. Maddening and compelling in equal measure.
Australia scored just 40 runs from the first 20 overs of the day, losing three wickets, but in the blink of an eye Travis Head changed the mood and the momentum.
Maybe it had something to do with the sight of Robinson resorting to bowling off spin in sunglasses in order to up England’s over rate and use the turn on offer in the absence of Root.
Maybe it was the two poor overs from Stokes that released the pressure, or maybe it was just the skill of Head, either way Australia regathered and started to pull away again.
Both Head and Marnus Labuschagne hit 51 after the break with Cam Green and Mitchell Starc adding useful lower order runs.
Wickets fell to slogs and swipes, with Dawid Malan getting the chance to unfurl a few of his leggies that provided him with his first and second Test wickets, and two more for Root.
It was all about when Australia would declare, and Smith called them in with 40 minutes to go until the final break.
Haseeb Hameed didn’t last long enough to get there, edging a brute of a ball from Jhye Richardson to the keeper.
Both Rory Burns and Dawid Malan battled as well as they could under the lights but were undone by the skill and accuracy of the Aussie bowlers.
It really needed England’s captain and vice captain to still be there together at the close, like they were at Headingley in 2019 if there was to be even a hint of a chance of a miracle escape.
But alas, that hope was kicked in the nuts too.
