Rout shifts Ashes momentum firmly to Australians

Published on Sunday 9 August 2009 23:13

ENGLAND crashed to an innings-and-80-run defeat against Australia in the fourth npower Test at Headingley to set up an Ashes decider in a fortnight.

Some late-order thrills supplied by Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann entertained a full house in Leeds on the third morning, but only served to mask the gulf in class between the teams over just seven-and-a-bit sessions of play.

Australia developed the momentum mustered from escaping Edgbaston with a draw in stunning fashion, and an England side without either Andrew Flintoff or Kevin Pietersen for the first time since 2003 were blown away.

A resurgent Mitchell Johnson levelled the series at 1-1, with just the Brit Oval finale to play, when he bowled last man Graham Onions at 2.04pm.

But it was undoubtedly the damage inflicted before Onions' previous dismissal in the match, exactly 48 hours earlier, which sent Andrew Strauss' men to a crushing loss.

England resumed the third day on 82 for five, still 261 runs in arrears, with defeat inevitable and only pride to play for.

Dashing half-centuries from Swann and Broad restored some of that but it is the health of a more prominent member of the middle-order which will be of greater interest in the aftermath of this match.

All-rounder Andrew Flintoff, ruled out of the penultimate contest of the series after consultation with the team management on Thursday evening, the night before the Headingley Test, will be assessed by a knee specialist in London today.

The 31-year-old had intended to bow out of Test cricket at the end of this Ashes campaign, in which he had hoped to play every match, and whether he gets his swansong at the Oval will now depend on expert advice.

On this evidence England are certainly in desperate need of the 2005 Ashes hero, for the sheer presence he brings to the side as much as his return with both bat and ball.

England will have other areas of concern in the deconstruction of this heavy reverse, most notably the paltry return of 16 runs in six visits to the crease from Ravi Bopara, Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood, and the fitness of fast bowler James Anderson, who tweaked a hamstring batting on the first day.

England team director Andy Flower has said he will not consider Flintoff for the final Test unless the team talisman can prove his fitness.

But after the debacle in Leeds England may think they need him more than ever, especially given Kevin Pietersen remains unavailable.

"He's seeing the specialist tomorrow and we'll know more after that," Flower said after the match.

"If he's there, it's great having a class cricketer like him around. If he's not there, we've got to win it without him.

"He's got to be able to say, 'I'm okay to bowl you 15 overs a day'. He was keen to play (at Headingley] but I think he acknowledged he wasn't right to play."

Flower confirmed that there would be discussions about the England batting line-up, after key men failed to perform in the fourth Test.

"You've got to have a think about that middle order," Flower said. "We've got one Test hundred in the series so far, and Strauss has been holding the batting together a bit, and I think they (Australia] have got seven or eight. So that tells the story."

Ravi Bopara appears the most vulnerable of the batsmen, although Flower appears reluctant to rush into any decisions.

"I wouldn't describe him as mentally shot, no," Flower said. "He's had a hard time. He came out of the West Indies series in very good form and feeling very confident.

"He's taken some knocks in this series and that's hard for anyone to take.

"When he came in and scored those Test hundreds in a row I thought he looked good, he looked composed, he looked confident. He certainly looked talented enough.

"It was a great start and the jury was still out.

"I said it at the time, that the jury was still out about whether he'd make a great Test number three. Ands I'm certainly not going to say he's not going to be a great Test number three.

"I think he's a fine player with a very high ceiling. But he's had a hard time in this series."

Despite this, Flower believes that England can recover from defeat at Headingley, and still do enough in the last Test to claim the urn.

"We're 1-1 in the series and we've got a chance to win the series at The Oval," he said. "Let's let this poor result settle and then we'll make decisions."