Brighter days to come for England

By Scott Heinrich
BBC Sport in Melbourne

If Adelaide will be remembered as the Test England lost, rather than the one Australia won, then Melbourne will go down as the match England could never win.

New adjectives need to be invented to illustrate England's defeat in Melbourne, a loss that sees the recent holders of the Ashes go 4-0 down and face a first Ashes whitewash since 1920-21.

Local hero Shane Warne departs the MCG in glory for the last time

Under normal circumstances, Andrew Flintoff's decision to bat first after winning the toss may have been subject to the kind of scrutiny that awaited Ricky Ponting at Edgbaston last year.

But the unshakable impression left from three days of one-sided cricket was that England were never in the hunt.

They would have lost either way and were humiliated in this match, a new low on a tour of troughs.

The architect on day one, almost inevitably, was Shane Warne. It was written in the stars he would play a big role in his final MCG appearance, and he duly delivered with a five-star, five-wicket haul on a day tailor-made for seamers.

It provided England with a reminder, as if they needed it, of what will be missing when they next face Australia in an Ashes series.

I am reminded of a conversation I had with Bill Frindall the night before last year's Edgbaston Test.

Australia had won convincingly at Lord's, and Frindall was austere in his belief that England simply could not beat Australia while Warne and Glenn McGrath were playing.

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History shows that McGrath injured himself on the morning of the second Test, England won it and went on to claim a classic series.

Fast forward 15 months and England have been put back in their place, with Australia's two premier bowlers at the forefront. But the end of an era is nigh.

"I think the future looks very good for England. Australia will lose Warne and McGrath after this series and you just can't replace one and a half geniuses," former England captain Mike Gatting told BBC Sport.

"People talk about Warne being on a par with the batting legend Don Bradman, and without a shadow of a doubt he is. Then you've got someone like McGrath who is not far behind genius level but not quite there with well over 550 Test wickets.

"You don't often get two people like that in a side together. Then you've got players like Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and one or two others who are right up there.

It will be interesting to see who hangs around for the next Ashes in 2009 Mike Gatting

"But to replace two guys who have given you total control for well over a decade, it just won't happen."

Australia face a similar scenario to 1984, when Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh and Greg Chappell all left the scene at once.

With Damien Martyn already gone and Adam Gilchrist and opening batsmen Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer deep into the twilight of their careers, Australia's future is uncertain.

"The future for Australia will be known when next November Ricky Ponting tosses the ball to Shane Watson, not Glenn McGrath, and to Cameron White or Stuart MacGill instead of Shane Warne," Gatting said.

"You'd have to say Ponting will be less well off. Gilchrist is not in the flushes of youth, neither are Hayden or Langer.

"It will be interesting to see who hangs around for the next Ashes in 2009.

"It is the end of an era. Australia still have some wonderful batsmen, without a shadow of a doubt. The likes of Ponting, Hussey and Clarke and others waiting in the wings. There's no lack of batting talent there.

"But after Sydney, this team will look nothing like it does now."

Perhaps so, but England's serial tormentors will both be in action at the SCG, a Test that presents the tourists with one final chance to prove Frindall wrong.