England slump to all-time low

David Lloyd13 April 2012

The figures are damning enough. But it was the faces which left a sell-out Old Trafford crowd once again fearing the worst for England as another Ashes series approaches.

Any hopes Alec Stewart's team had of reaching the triangular tournament final disappeared in Manchester once Australia had trounced them by 125 runs.

England have now lost nine consecutive one-day internationals and could easily add to that sorry record when they meet Pakistan in Sunday's 'dead' match at Headingley.

Even more dispiriting, perhaps, is that Stewart's men registered a new low yesterday by being bowled out for 86.

But while the exact details of England's smallest total in 329 limitedovers internationals will soon be forgotten by everyone bar the statisticians, the expressions on four faces suggested to 20,000 spectators that last night's events could be deeply significant when the summer's biggest battle begins next month.

Stewart and Michael Vaughan, who received just four balls between them and failed to score a single run, looked pictures of misery as they departed.

By way of complete contrast, though, Jason Gillespie - the triumphant bowler on both occasions - and Glenn McGrath, who played an equally big part in wrecking England's top order, wore the expressions of men who cannot wait to get cracking on an Ashes demolition job.

Gillespie has had terrible luck with injuries in recent years and missed the first two matches of this tournament because of a hamstring strain. Yet he instantly found top form last night to land some huge psychological blows.

Stewart, attempting to play his favourite pull shot, lobbed the simplest of catches to mid-on. Then Vaughan was bowled via a pad after playing what he assumed to be a textbook forward defensive stroke.

When McGrath ripped a delivery past Marcus Trescothick's groping bat, England's chances of challenging a victory target of 212 were written off.

All sides stress, as a matter of habit, that one-day performances have little or no bearing on Test battles. But Australia captain Steve Waugh struggled to stick to the usual script, so delighted was he with the way Gillespie and McGrath had bowled at three England batsmen certain to figure in the first Test at Edgbaston.

"It was a very satisfying win and our bowling was superb," he said. "We won a few battles and one or two things have come out of this match. We don't get too carried away but it was certainly very encouraging. I think Gillespie's dismissal of Vaughan was significant with the Test series coming up."

The challenge to Vaughan - and to Stewart and Trescothick, for that matter - is to prove that their dismissals in Manchester have no relevance so far as the Ashes are concerned. For the moment at least, though, Australia will believe that they did more than win a match last night - and a majority of England supporters must fear they are right, even though conditions became more bowler friendly as the game progressed.

On the bright side, captain Nasser Hussain, leading batsman Graham Thorpe and key all-rounder Craig White should be fit for the first Test following their early summer injuries.

Even if those three players had been available this month, it is doubtful whether England would have qualified for the NatWest Series final.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in