Cricket: England's hearts elsewhere

By STEPHEN BRENKLEY in Sydney

England played the first final in the tri-series competition as though they had one foot on the plane home.

This was probably because that is precisely the position they wanted to be in. They had a point as well: after their abject exhibition against Australia, there was a prima facie case for sending them all packing immediately.

That it was a performance marked by a chasm in ability was presumably influenced by the team's disagreement with the England and Wales Cricket Board.

The side went into the match after their employers had rejected a formal request from several players to return home for a few days before the World Cup in southern Africa next month.

Distracted, England were dismantled by Australia. The tourists' paltry score of 117 all out, in 41 overs, was overhauled by the home side without loss in 74 balls.

It was England's 12th consecutive one-day defeat by Australia and, while few of the previous 11 had been close, none had been as emphatic as this.

Only once before in 365 one-day internationals had England been beaten by 10 wickets.

There were 226 balls left when Australia won after batting for 57 minutes. In terms of crushing defeats by one of the major senior nations over another, only Sri Lanka had more balls remaining, 276, after dismissing Zimbabwe for 38 last year.

"It was a fair walloping, that is for certain," said England skipper Nasser Hussain.

"As long as my players feel they gave their best it's not a low moment ... It's a low moment when I think people didn't give it their best."

Brett Lee won the man-of-the match award for a burst of breathtaking fast bowling which went up to 157 km/h, brought him three wickets and was of a type which can scar batsmen until their dying day.

But the award might well have gone to Adam Gilchrist, who smashed his way to 69 not out from 37 balls and bludgeoned 15 fours in an innings as terrorising as Lee's bowling.

There were denials all round later that the differences with the ECB had impinged on the English performance. Indeed, Australia were simply stupendous.

But a side who have their minds on home, not to mention the row over Zimbabwe, are sure to be affected in spirit. Nor can their approach have been helped by the fact that Hussain is one of those heavily in favour of returning to England, while the coach, Duncan Fletcher, is against the idea.

Although England wilted under the Australian cosh, there was an element in their play which said, "Well, if the bosses feel like that, they can have some of this."

If Australia's bowling was menacing in its accuracy and pace, the shot selection against it was dire.

If Australia's batting was withering in its power and glory, the bowling intended to quell it was puny.

The end could not come soon enough. No wonder England wanted to go home.

On the evidence of this, the gap in experience, class and talent between the teams is merely growing wider.

It would be an undesirable result at any time. With the World Cup only a fortnight away, it may have demolished England's chances before they begin.

For England to level the series in Melbourne today and force the tournament to a third match would take an effort of will and spirit that their tired bodies will not allow.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting described his side's performance as near-perfect.

"It's not very often you can walk off the field and say you've almost put on a 10-out-of-10 performance, but we pretty much did that," Ponting said.

Test No 7 Gilchrist's elevation to the top of the order in one-day games is a calculated gamble. He might fall cheaply every now and again, but when he fires, the rewards are massive.

He hit six consecutive fours in full flight to the delight of a crowd of 38,980, who were less impressed when forced to head home at 7.27pm.

"When he gets on a bit of a roll he just keeps going and going, so let's just hope he has a few more performances like that in the coming weeks and months," Ponting said.

"Hopefully, he can be a very consistent run-scorer for us in the World Cup."



Lee admitted he had rarely bowled better.

"I think I'm improving each game," said Lee, relishing the chance to open the bowling in the absence of Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie.

"It's certainly up there with my best. Getting that new ball again makes my eyes light up, getting that new rock in your hand - the ball tends to swing around a bit more and flies through the air that extra bit quicker."

- INDEPENDENT