adminSYDNEY. — Battered England are desperate to avoid the ignominy of a 5-0 series whitewash against Australia as they scramble to salvage some pride in the final Ashes Test in Sydney starting this morning.
Alastair Cook’s team, coming off a dispiriting eight-wicket loss in the fourth Test in Melbourne, face becoming only the third English side to lose an Ashes series 5-0 to their oldest rivals. It has been a tour from hell for England with the loss of senior players Jonathan Trott (stress) and Graeme Swann (retirement), star players out of form and Kevin Pietersen admitting his teammates are “mentally fragile” from playing in back-to-back Ashes series.
England have so far used 15 players and there are expected to be changes for Sydney, with Gary Ballance, Scott Borthwick and Steven Finn mentioned as possibilities. In contrast, Australia have been unchanged in all four Tests.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes the tourists will be unable to stop the Mitchell Johnson-led Aussie juggernaut in Sydney with the same team that succumbed in Melbourne in four days. “It is not easy for them. England will not do this with the same XI. There is too much baggage, there are too many scars,” he wrote in an English newspaper.
As England’s tour has unravelled so has the pressure cranked up on Cook as skipper. — AFP.
Online Reporter