The British press on Friday were fearful of the first Ashes whitewash in 85 years after England crashed to defeat in the fourth Test in Melbourne, with one newspaper saying ”only a miracle” could save the tourists from suffering a clean sweep.
Australia defeated England by an innings and 99 runs in the penultimate Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in a match that saw hometown leg-spinner Shane Warne become the first bowler to capture 700 Test wickets before pacemen Brett Lee and Stuart Clark piled on the agony for the tourists.
The home side wrapped up a comprehensive victory inside three days and will be vying to emulate Warwick Armstrong’s 1921 Australia team when they try for a series clean sweep in the fifth Test, starting on Tuesday.
In the meantime Britain’s press held nothing back in their criticism of England’s effort, with many papers expecting next week’s Test in Sydney to be Andrew Flintoff’s last as England captain.
The Times led the way, its match report reading: ”Of all the matches that have dashed expectations, all the one-sided Australia triumphs, all the humiliations inflicted upon imploding England teams, the game that ended two days prematurely in an innings victory for Australia … ranks high.”
”To the justified anger of the more discerning of those who have paid thousands of pounds to come to the other end of the world to support them in the hope of something less abject than this, England were bowled out cheaply for the second time in three days.”
The Sun tabloid, Britain’s best-read daily, meanwhile was similarly downcast, declaring that ”England have descended into a team devoid of fight and bottle” and dubbed the series the ”Thrashes”.
”Flintoff’s flops are now so lacking in heart they have virtually no hope of avoiding a 5-0 Ashes whitewash … only a miracle can prevent the Aussies securing their first 5-0 Ashes rout for 85 years.”
The Daily Mirror continued with the theme, deciding that the Ashes were in fact an acronym for ”Atrocious Shameful Horrific England Surrender” — its match report headline.
”A whitewash would have been unthinkable in 2005 after all the sweat and tears of more than 16 years had secured the Ashes for England, but with the five-nil scoreline a probability in Sydney the only thoughts now are ones of desperation,” the tabloid’s report read.
The Guardian, meanwhile, focused on Flintoff and the impact the tour would have on his prospects as England’s captain, writing: ”England’s disastrous Ashes campaign has left Andrew Flintoff close to exhaustion.”
”He looked, when the fourth Test was all over at the MCG yesterday [Thursday], like a man on autopilot, drained, bewildered and with little left to give.”
”Australia now need only to win in Sydney … and the victory that would bring [Australia captain] Ricky Ponting’s side lasting fame would surely bring his own leadership to a depressing conclusion.”
The possibility of a series whitewash, for the Independent, raised the question, ”Did what happened in 2005 really take place?
”Of the four defeats suffered by England on their ill-fated tour of Australia, this was the most disheartening,” its match report read.
”There were no exceptional performances, only muddled thinking and inadequacy. They lacked skill, thought and, most worryingly of all, fight.” – Sapa-AFP