The futility of playing one-day internationals under floodlights in Britain was displayed once more at Old Trafford last night when England were subjected to the torture of worldclass bowling on a pitch juiced up by evening moisture. The new white ball did not simply talk for Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie, it sang.

England were left to flounder towards the modified target of 212 that would leave them an outside chance of remaining in the competition, but as the evening wore on the more realistic target was 94 to beat the previous England worst in a one-day international, in 1975 at Leeds against, yes, Australia. In the end they made history, as it were, with a total of 86.

The England and Wales Cricket Board now must surely look at the wisdom of staging day-night matches, for all the evidence shows that they might as well sell tickets for the toss and leave it at that.

Australia would probably have won in any case. They might conceivably have lost had they been forced to bat second, but the England batsmen had no conceivable chance as McGrath and Gillespie stormed in to the sort of ring of close fielders that they might use when in the ascendant in a Test.

They snaked the ball about wickedly off the seam and reduced the innings to tatters, and batsmen, to all appearance, to novices. Even Marcus Trescothick, who with Owais Shah had held the show together at Lord's on Tuesday, struggled for 43 balls until he fell to McGrath's class and the capricious, clammy surface.

It was never going to be easy. Australia had been restricted by improved England bowling, with Steve Waugh (64) and Damien Martyn (51) underpinning their total of 208 for seven from 48 overs. However, with rain reducing the reply to 44 overs, the Duckworth-Lewis system upped the target to 212.

A good start was needed. Instead, batsman after batsman flailed as the ball careered erratically past the bat and wickets tumbled to the sound of Australian celebrations.