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| December 3, 2002 | Tuesday | Ramazan 27,1423 |
British media blast Ashes debacle
LONDON, Dec 2: The England cricket team’s capitulation to Australia in Perth Sunday met with the usual round of scathing headlines in Monday’s newspapers.
England’s defeat by an innings and 48 runs inside three days meant Steve Waugh’s Australian side retained the Ashes in crushing style — leaving England skipper Nasser Hussain’s men physically and emotionally battered and bruised.
Hussain’s photograph adorned many front pages, the Guardian capturing him on the ground under a predictable headline “Down and Out” while the Telegraph featured his pained expression with a caption “Hussain’s hopes are in ashes”.
The Daily Express called England’s loss of the series in 11 days as “shameful” while its inside pages devoted endless words to where it all went wrong.
The mass circulation Sun tabloid ran a headline “Nassacre” above a photo of Hussain’s reaction to being given out, caught behind off the bowling of Shane Warne.
There were few calls for the England captain to quit, however, with the general consensus being that the gulf in class between the two sides and England’s catalogue of injuries had made the tour doomed from the start.
David Morgan, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, said an enquiry would be launched into England’s poor performance, but said he was backing Hussain.
“He is still the man to lead England,” he said in the Guardian.
“Against the background of playing an extremely strong and well-organised Australian team, with depleted forces, I do believe Nasser’s task has been a huge one and it has been a difficult time for him.
“A thorough review will be done in a business-like fashion with the England head coach, the captain, Rod Marsh and the people who run the academy, together with the management board and the executives at the ECB.”
Meanwhile, England named Robert Key and Steve Harmison, both uncapped in one-day internationals, Monday in a 16-man squad for the triangular limited overs series, which includes Sri Lanka and starts later this month.
Key made 47 and 23 in the third Ashes Test in Perth last week, which Australia won by an innings and 48 runs within three days.
The 23-year-old from Kent, who has displayed impressive technique and temperament as team mates crumble around him, was only selected for the tour after Graham Thorpe pulled out.
Team: Nasser Hussain (captain), Kabir Ali, Ian Blackwell, Andrew Caddick, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Ronnie Irani, Robert Key, James Kirtley, Nick Knight, Owais Shah, Jeremy Snape, Alec Stewart, Marcus Trescothick, Craig White.—Reuters
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