Cricket: Knives out for England's old guard after Ashes disaster

LONDON - England's crushing Ashes defeat is expected to herald a cleanout of players, with veterans Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart heading the list.

Several Sunday newspapers suggested that stand-in captain Atherton would retire at the end of the season after England lost their seventh successive Ashes series against the Australians yesterday.

The Sunday Telegraph, under the headline "The end of an era," argued that Atherton and Stewart could be followed by captain Nasser Hussain, who has missed most of the series through injury, and pace bowler Darren Gough.

It said Atherton had "played in all seven of those Ashes defeats and even a man of his unyielding perseverance can have enough."

Wicketkeeper-batsman Stewart had featured in six out of the seven series and "the selectors will probably decide that the time has come ... to let him retire."

Australia's seven-wicket victory at Trent Bridge gave them a 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

Atherton, 33, who has played 113 tests since 1989 and who was one of the few England players to look the part against Steve Waugh's side, has refused to commit himself.

"I will continue to play cricket until the end of the season and then make a decision about my future," he said at Trent Bridge. "Whether new blood is brought in is down to the selectors. It's nothing to do with me."

The Mail on Sunday, however, agreed with its back-page headline that it was "Time to go," arguing that pressure would be applied on Atherton, Stewart and Gough to "declare their long-term plans."

No 6 batsman Ian Ward, who has looked out of his depth in averaging 13.6 in the series, also faces the axe, while Mark Ramprakash's dismissal at a key time at Trent Bridge has reignited concerns about his temperament.

The Sunday Times preferred to dwell on the scale of England's latest humiliation.

"Australia completed the fastest demolition job in modern times when they regained the Ashes on the 11th day of the series," it said.

"A historic 5-0 whitewash, a feat neither country has achieved in more than 100 years of competition, remains a probability rather than a possibility."