It's all but over...

Third Test, Perth
Day 2 Comment

The day was as sad for England fans as it was predictable. There is little more to say then England are not good enough at the moment. Australia are driven enough to make up for their shortcomings and have raced ahead of England every time they tried to get near them.

The inevitable post-mortem will point fingers at the coach, but the players must take some responsibility too. Since the 2005 series, the focus and ruthlessness has been lost. Ironically they kept looking to this series instead of the ones they were playing, and they are paying the price for that now.

This was, for me, the saddest day of the series. England were brilliant at times yesterday, and even though it was all too late, I felt pleased that we had shown that we could match Australia. But today it finally sunk in that we can’t, not this time.

The current mood is best summarised by the Barmy Army Trumpeter, who began they day with ‘The Great Escape’ but ended with Christmas carols. There will be no escape for England in this game or series. Chilling as it is, they will have to strive to avoid a five-nil drubbing.