da dobrowin： As fleetingly as the English resistance appeared, it went away just asquickly
David Wiseman22-Nov-2002As fleetingly as the English resistance appeared, it went away just asquickly. Unable to build on the foundation, Michael Vaughan had laid forthem, a score of 342 had to be settled for after 450 had seemed a possibility.Losing seven wickets for 47 didn’t do anything to dispel the perception of a brittle Englishlower-order line-up. Warne and Gillespie ripped through them without too muchfuss.There is not enough consistency for England if they wish to compete againstAustralia. They require sustained periods of excellence both with bat andball. Not glimpses of it.Vaughan basically played a lone hand as no other English player passed 50.Are England playing like the West Indies were a few years ago when all youhad to do was dismiss Brian Lara and the innings would unravel before youreyes?Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer knocked off 100 runs in the blink of an eyewith 342 looking more inadequate by the second.England can still lose this game by an innings. Something which lookedhighly unlikely when they were 2/240, but cricket is a game made up ofperformances by individuals within the fabric of a team.Superb efforts by Warne, Gillespie and McGrath dragged Australia back intothe game. They bowled tirelessly to restrict the Englishman and after thebreakthrough was made, homed in on the lengthy English tail.There is no doubt that cricket is a batsman’s game but it is the differencein class between the bowlers of the two sides which will decide this series,England do not have the same resources in the field that Steve Waugh cancall on. Not one of the English bowlers looks as though he is a constantthreat of taking wickets. They wait or pray for an Australian mistake asopposed to being able to force one.Losing three of their starting bowlers from the original tour party hasn’thelped matters either. The field placings must pay some attention to savingruns which allows the Australian batsmen even more freedom.The shortcomings of the bowlers comes back onto the English batsmen. Theyare then required to bat out long periods of time or do somethingextraordinary if England are to hope to have even a modicum chance ofsuccess.Different times to when England could boast class bowlers such as John Snow,Bob Willis, Derek Underwood, Ian Botham, Graham Dilley, John Emburey and Phil Edmonds.Facing bowlers such as these, the Australians didn’t have the carte blanchethey seem to have done.So where to for England from here? -Defeat in Adelaide means basically theend of the series and another long summer with the only point of interest beingwhether England can snatch a win in a dead rubber like they have on their last twotrips down under.