The Hindu Business Line : England in dust over Ashes

The time to throw in the towel, and raise the white flag is unfortunately past. Had the Ashes been a boxing contest, the referee would have stopped the fight long back, such has been Australia's domination of England.

Instead, the English team is once more in the middle with an opponent hell-bent on crushing whatever little spirit remains in the dressing room.

England has landed a punch or two in this series, but they have served only to illustrate the vast gulf in class between the two sides. Australia was tottering at 84 for 5 in the first innings of the fourth test. Yet, England was unable to land the knockout blow. Instead, Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds, with a Test average of 18, who had England on the ropes. In truth, England probably lost the Ashes before a ball was bowled. Michael Vaughan and Simon Jones, two of the pillars of the side that won the Ashes a little more than a year ago, were sidelined. The Andrew Strauss versus Andrew Flintoff captaincy debate further unsettled the side. It was clear to all that Strauss had a burning desire to captain England, though not necessarily shared by Flintoff.

Besides Flintoff had his own injury worries to overcome. Add to that the onus of opening the bowling and holding the batting together, and the responsibility proved too much for even his broad shoulders. Imran Khan remains the only all-rounder of the modern era to prove to be an astute captain, a shining example of how difficult it is to marry all three tasks.

Then there was Marcus Trescothick's decision to abandon the tour for personal reasons. England went from having one of the best openers in the world to opening with an Ashes rookie. Alistair Cook's century in the Perth test may have showed his potential, but potential does not win Test matches, least of all against Australia.

And once the first ball was bowled, things got progressively worse for England. Stephen Harmison's howler wound up in the hands of a shocked Flintoff at second slip. Comparing that delivery to Warne's "Ball of the Century" tells you all you need to know about the mental strength of the players on either side.

The Australians were single-mindedly determined to regain the Ashes. The team was so far ahead of England in terms of application and desire, that whatever little hope England had going into the series quickly evaporated, Flintoff's comments to the contrary not withstanding.

Not surprisingly, whisperings have now emerged of a lack of unity in the England camp. Some members apparently chose to do their own thing on Christmas Day, ignoring the traditional team lunch. Kevin Peterson refused to move up one spot in the order for the good of the team, choosing to do so only when batting with the tail began to limit his own run scoring opportunities.

England's management must also share in the blame for what will undoubtedly be the second whitewash in Ashes history. Duncan Fletcher's stubborn reluctance to play Monty Panesar, Chris Read and Saj Mahmood until the last desperate moment will go down as one of the great what-ifs in Test history. New blood would have helped revitalise a tired side heading into the Ashes. Perhaps. In all probability, Australia would have dominated nonetheless, as their victories in the third and fourth Tests suggest.

Tariq Engineer