England humiliated once again

Cricket:  England today crashed to their most humiliating defeat of a miserable tour Down Under after capitulating for a sorry…

Cricket: England today crashed to their most humiliating defeat of a miserable tour Down Under after capitulating for a sorry 110.

They chose Australia Day to nosedive to their lowest ebb of the three-month trip, dismissed in just 34.3 overs, and barely stretching the contest into the second half.

Australia were almost halfway to their target, at 54 for one, by the interval and finished the most one-sided encounter between the sides this winter before the floodlights took effect.

The end came in the 25th over when Australia captain Ricky Ponting pulled for four off Chris Tremlett's first ball and got to his half-century with another cross-bat shot for two a couple of balls later.

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England's solitary success was a result of a mix-up between Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden which saw the former run out.

The earlier collapse followed a similarly woeful display with the bat against New Zealand on the same surface on Tuesday when Andrew Flintoff's men were bundled out for 120.

It was an astonishing collapse, after Flintoff won the toss, with the top half-a-dozen batsmen all out trying to force shots.

They lost their final eight wickets for a paltry 38 runs inside 19 overs - against an attack lacking rested duo Glenn McGrath and Nathan Bracken.