LONDON, July 25: A chastened English press pulled no punches on Monday in assessing England’s performance in their 239-run defeat to the “old enemy” Australia within four days in the first Ashes Test at Lord’s.

“Vaughan Again Losers” was the headline on the pack page of The Sun tabloid after English captain Michael Vaughan’s men succumbed meekly to a devastating display of fast bowling by Glenn McGrath and the spin of Shane Warne.

McGrath finished with four for 29 and match figures of nine for 82 as Australia wrapped up the game in just 50 minutes play on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in the five-Test series.

It was not the script England’s cricket writers had planned in the lead-up the most eagerly awaited series in decades, following England’s strong showing against weaker competition over the previous two years.

“The last thing England’s cricket bosses should do now is panic. No, they can do that the week after next when the Aussies take a 2-0 series lead at Edgbaston,” The Sun’s chief sports writer Steven Howard wrote.

“This scenario is looking almost inevitable given the huge gap in class between the two sides.”

The Times’ chief sports writer Simon Barnes was no less brutal, starting his back-page post-mortem with a mock letter of congratulation to the Australians.

“Dear Australia, congratulations on winning the first Test match by 239 runs. You were great. We beg to remain, sirs, your humble servants, the England cricket team,” he wrote.

“England looked into the eyes of McGrath and blinked, looked into the eyes of Warne and blinked again. It will take an awful lot to get England believing again.”

Many pundits openly ate their pre-match words about the advancing age of 30-somethings McGrath and Warne, noting that both looked as good as ever.

“Laid to rest here yesterday (ashes to ashes) were all the delusions of early summer. McGrath may be 35, and Warne’s private life may resemble that of a dissolute rock star, but these are not the over-the-hillbillies of English myth,” wrote Paul Hayward in the Daily Telegraph.

“The ruthless suppression of English cricket in the opening Ashes Test by two of the game’s great bowlers is brutally familiar and unlikely to be overtaken by fashion or events before Australia can be shoved back on the plane.”

But it was not all about McGrath and Warne. The English team’s dismal fielding, with seven dropped catches, and the vulnerability of its relatively inexperienced middle order were also matters of much consternation.

“England’s game fell apart. Their fielding became abject, the batsmen surrendered and the body-language spoke of a beaten team. All the things Vaughan had insisted must not happen did happen,” wrote Colin Bateman in the Daily Express.—Agencies