ADELAIDE, Jan 26: England coach Duncan Fletcher has apologised for his team's dismal nine-wicket loss to Australia on Friday. Fletcher has defended his team throughout their disastrous tour of Australia but could deliver only apologies for the defeat.

“We have to offer an apology, we just didn't play any good cricket,” Fletcher said. “The boys are very disappointed. We have to make sure we keep them going - there's still a lot of purpose there.”

England captain Andrew Flintoff was at a loss to explain his team's continued failure. England have lost all nine matches against Australia on the tour and Friday's defeat came just three days after New Zealand hammered them by 90 runs.

“The lads were hurting after being beaten by New Zealand, today they're feeling worse,” Flintoff said.

“The bowlers are doing fine – it's just the batsmen letting their part of the bargain down. It's just not good enough. We are far better players than we are showing.

“We can challenge Australia, we've done it in the past but today we were far below par.”

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said credit should be given to the way the Australians had performed consistently and did not underestimate their opponents.

“It doesn't get much more comprehensive than that. That was a terrific win,” Ponting said.—Reuters