No cause for panic and it's business as usual for England

CRICKET THE ASHES:ENGLAND'S COACH, Andy Flower, has witnessed England's crushing defeat at the Waca and by his own admission has been shocked by it. But Flower is a coach who operates by logic and not by emotion. His immediate response is to change nothing.

England’s top six batsmen, Paul Collingwood among them, look certain to play in the St Stephen’s Day Test in Melbourne even though they made 310 runs in two innings. The four-bowler strategy remains cast in stone. And as for extra nets, do not be so crass: England will allow their badly beaten cricketers four days off, refusing to change their tour plans after a 267-run defeat that has left Australia crowing about a renaissance in the nick of time. “They still have problems,” Flower suggested.

“Business as usual, no cause for panic,” is the message from both Flower and the captain, Andrew Strauss. Flower admitted that he did not expect England’s capitulation in Perth, with Australia’s pace bowlers, Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris, taking nine wickets each. The suggestion has taken hold that England’s coaches did not plan for Johnson’s sudden rediscovery of his inswing, preferring instead to believe the statistical evidence that he had lost the knack.

Flower hinted that, as Johnson swung his first ball, England’s batsmen should have been able to think on their feet – and he had a point. This is a united dressing room, but heavy defeats create tensions. “Our performance did surprise me, absolutely,” Flower said. “But we also knew that coming to Australia was not an easy task and for anyone to think that would be naive.”

There will be no changes in England’s top six for the MCG. Flower made a characteristic call for Kevin Pietersen to strut his stuff, be the big man on the big occasion. But it is Collingwood, the only England batsman without a hundred on tour who is struggling the most. Collingwood is as close to a fifth bowler as England have got, still takes inspirational catches and may just feel entirely at home at the MCG. No change there then.

Fatigue is growing among the bowlers, but England’s reliance upon a four-strong attack will also not be abandoned.

Stuart Broad was injured after two Tests, now Jimmy Anderson has a stiff side – “not a strained side”, Flower emphasised, “indications are that he will be fit for Melbourne” – and Steve Finn is tiring by the day. Rest seems thoroughly sensible for the bowlers at any rate.

“Finn is 100 per cent fit,” Flower said. “He’s taking wear and tear like all the bowlers will in a five-Test series. I think he’s done superbly for a 21-year-old playing in his first Ashes series away in Australia.

“Is he getting weary and feeling the effects? A lot of players will feel the effects three matches in to a five-match series. For bowlers the workload is physically difficult. We’ve got a few days off in which those bowlers can rest and recuperate then we’ll make decisions.”

Four bowlers became three at the Waca as Graeme Swann’s off-spin became virtually redundant. A repeat of that will surely be unimaginable at the MCG, however green the pitch turns out to be. Spinners have had minimal impact at the MCG all summer but Xavier Doherty did take five wickets there in a Shield game and forced himself into the Test side as a result.

As ever, a large Wags contingent is a cause of debate. Flower pondered long and hard before the tour about how best to integrate the sizeable number of wives, girlfriends and children who will all have arrived in Melbourne (delayed flights permitting) by Christmas. England won heavily in Adelaide before the first wave of Wags landed, then were trounced in Perth in their presence. It is all too tempting to draw the conclusion that here is another of those “little one per cent differences” that can turn a winning side into a losing one.

Flower disagrees. “We’ll have a brilliant Christmas lunch all together which we’re all looking forward to,” he said. “We did the same in Durban last year and then came out and won that Durban Test. I don’t equate the arrival of the families with us losing the Perth Test at all. We didn’t bat for long enough, that’s the bottom line. I don’t think families have anything to do with getting hit on the pad by a left-arm swing bowler.

“It was a bad game for us and I’m obviously not happy with the way we handled it. But in the context of the tour as a whole, it’s a setback. We’ll have to regroup and be better in Melbourne.”

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