Hales ignores Bailey 'lucky' jibe

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ADELAIDE Strikers star Alex Hales will let his bat respond to Hobart Hurricanes skipper George Bailey's prediction some teams will work him out during the Big Bash League.

Hales enhanced his reputation as the No. 1 Twenty20 batsman in the world when he smacked 49 runs off 19 balls in the Strikers' abandoned match in Hobart last week but Bailey believed the innings was "lucky".

"That's a couple of innings now where I feel like he's a lucky Twenty20 player,'' Bailey told media after the match.

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"He's a beautiful striker of the ball. He's a big strong man and he hits it really clean, but I think that the balls that sort of fly to third man, I've seen him do that a lot.

"There'll be times, I think, when he'll come off just through his brute force and power but I think there'll be teams that work him out.''

Hales hadn't heard Bailey's comments when he arrived back in Adelaide yesterday and wasn't going to be drawn on them.

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"Every team has their plans for you, and that's the game of T20, to try to get one over on an opponent," he said.

Hales Twenty20 numbers suggests there's more to his game than luck. He averages 39.11 at a strike rate of 135 in 21 internationals for England and is the No. 1 rated batsman in the world on the ICC's shortest form rankings.

The 24-year-old admitted his innings was a little streaky against Hobart but hopes to time the ball better against Sydney Thunder on December 27 and against Perth Scorchers in his home debut for the Strikers at Adelaide Oval on New Year's Eve.

English import Alex Hales: "every team has plans for you". Source: News Limited

Anyone who wants to bring in the New Year with fireworks might pay to head to the ground.

Hales took once took 55 from a single over in English Twenty20 tournament. He hit eight sixes and a four from a nine ball over which included three no-balls.

Adelaide will fancy itself to head to ANZ Stadium and beat the Thunder on December 27 with the struggling Sydney side almost certain to be without its two best batsmen.

David Warner will be on Boxing Day Test duties while Usman Khawaja suffered a hamstring injury during the side's six wicket loss to the Sydney Sixers on Saturday night.

The pair put on 116 for the first wicket during the match but the Thunder failed to capitalise, only managing 166, a score the Sixers comfortably ran down.

The Thunder has struggled in the opening two years of the BBL but features a new look side captained by retired Australian Test champion Mike Hussey.

"Two of our best batsmen are going to be unavailable,'' Hussey said. "I still think we've got the ability to cover it."

22.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

Bozza plays A-League Santa

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The A-League will continue on through the Christmas and New Year period and here is my proposed wish list from Santa for all 10 clubs.

BRISBANE ROAR

League leaders at Christmas, one would assume that the Roar would not want much but more of the same - that would be near enough true.

But the pitch at Suncorp Stadium needs to be better for their football to flow.

No major injuries to key players would also be high on the list and the re-signing of Besart Berisha is the top item on the list. There would be nothing worse for Brisbane fans than to see Besart lining up against them in another A-League shirt.

Wanderers must tie down Youssouf Hersi to a new deal. Source: Getty Images

WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS

Wanderland is travelling very well indeed. Sold out crowds at home and second in the league is tremendous for their second season. However, success can breed its own problems. Hersi, Polenz and Ono are all players that are key and coming up for contract renewal - a wish list would be to secure all three of them to long-term deals.

MELBOURNE VICTORY

Travelling along nicely, although the departure of coach Ange Postecoglou to the Socceroos job was not planned for. Should be higher up the table but for sloppy finishing. Their wish? A striker to be gained in January to finish off what they are creating regularly - chances.

NEWCASTLE JETS

Surprising many with their position on the ladder but a much better outfit than people realise. One wish would be to sign Nathan Burns permanently. He has been overall excellent and would be a big loss if he left.

Alessandro Del Piero and Shinji Ono. Source: Getty Images

SYDNEY FC

Quite simple for Frank Farina's boys, wish that when they are without Alessandro del Piero they can win! Also that they can carry their home form into away games. Their inconsistency is driving their fans, coaching staff and owners bonkers.

CENTRAL COAST MARINERS

The reigning champions need to stabilise in terms of losing their best talent. Too many times in recent years they have had to sell players to balance the books. Also they need to realise as a club that their heart and sole support and sponsorship comes from the Central Coast, not North Sydney. Their wish will be to keep punching above their weight.

PERTH GLORY

Well what does one say other than they need to get their best players fit and on the park and put this Alistair Edwards saga behind them. Their main wish will be to use this saga to band them together rather than pull them apart.

Josep Gombau, coach of Adelaide. Source: Getty Images

ADELAIDE UTD

A great example to Perth on how to use adversity to your advantage. Josep Gombau is trying to change their whole way of thinking and playing, and that takes time. Still one of the most entertaining teams to watch. Their wish must be to translate performance into victories.

WELLINGTON

Enjoyed their first win of they year against Sydney on Sunday night. Ernie Merrick's team will be wishing to turn their chances they are creating into goals. Much better position in the league awaits if they can do this.

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MELBOURNE HEART

Need to decide in which direction they wish to go as a club. Rumours are about that the club will be sold, and that can't be good for John Aloisi and co. First and biggest wish will be a simple one - to start winning games. Sixteen games, including last season, without a win is not good enough, nor is four points at Christmas. Starting Friday against Wellington, they need to win.

*Catch every game of Hyundai A-League's Summer of Football LIVE on FOX SPORTS.

22.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

The Clashes: what chance a revival?

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CAN England recover from three humiliating Test defeats and the controversy that has accompanied Graeme Swann's sudden retirement? News Corp Australia chief cricket writer Malcolm Conn previews the Boxing Day Test with his counterpart from The Sun, John Etheridge.

Malcolm Conn: Graeme Swann's retirement is the latest drama in a shambolic tour for England. What's going on with your lot?

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John Etheridge: Now that England are 3-0 down, he decided it was time for someone else to have their chance. And also I think his elbow is causing a lot of discomfort, particularly when he bowls long spells. That was part of his decision as well. He can't apply the same number of revs to the ball as he used to, so it's time to go. One thing you can say about Graeme Swann, he's certainly funnier than any of the Australian players.

MC: Well I must say I'm going to miss him dreadfully, not only for the way he bowled in the Perth Test when Shane Watson got after him but also because he gives the best press conferences in world cricket. He is a genuinely funny guy and I hope he goes into the cricket media or somewhere similar where we can see some of his best attributes. I thoroughly enjoyed his press conferences and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him smacked all over the WACA.

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JE: He did jovially say his last ball in Test cricket was hit about 120 metres by Shane Watson and indeed his final over went for 22, but he'll have a career in TV or the media. He'll be on Strictly Come Dancing type programmes and I'm sure he'll do some cricket commentary too. Behind the jocular exterior he's got a very sharp cricket brain; probably the best brain in the England team. He'll be missed for his bowling, his catching at second slip, and also for his character.

MC: It's a remarkable career. I think he played for five years and took 255 Test wickets. He came into the game fairly late and had a fair bit of success.

JE: He played in the one-day team back in 2000, and it didn't go well, he was only 20 years old. He kept missing the team bus and didn't create much of an impression. Duncan Fletcher banished him to the sidelines and he didn't reappear for more than seven years. When he did come back, his entire Test career was condensed into just five years - he took 255 wickets and no other bowler in the world took more Test wickets in that time than Graeme Swann. He's an orthodox spin bowler who's won matches with no doosra, no wrong-un, no carrom ball, and bowling with a straight arm as well.

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MC: An old-fashioned off spinner.

JE: Anyway Mal, it's all nicely poised isn't at 3-3 in the 10-match series. You can't get more exciting than that!

MC: Your juggernaut's rolling along beautifully isn't it? Or I should say bumping along. How many changes are you going to make this Test? Swann will be replaced by Monty Panesar. Stuart Broad's on one leg, he won't play, so you'll pick that Irish one day bowler Boyd Rankin I imagine, and then young Jonny Bairstow is doing all the keeping drills at training, so he'll come in instead of Matt Prior. You'll be missing a quarter of your side going into Melbourne.

JE: I don't want to give away a secret plan, but if five or six more players retire or get injured we won't have enough players to make up a team and the game will be cancelled - that would be quite good, wouldn't it?

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MC: I guess the one great achievement for England is instead of relying on South Africans the New Zealand-born Ben Stokes actually played very well in Perth. I guess that's some sort of beacon amongst the rubble.

JE: He was very impressive in his second Test match. An allrounder who can score Test hundreds and bowl at 140km/h. Sounds like the sort of cricketer that Shane Watson's always dreamed of being!

MC: Shane Watson's coming up to his 50th Test. The way he's launched into it in Perth, the next 50 will probably be much more fulfilling than the first 50, particularly if they keep playing England. Peter Siddle's also playing his 50th Test match and that will be quite exciting considering Kevin Pietersen's playing again.

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JE: Siddle's effectively played on KP's ego and dried up his runs and just eventually Pietersen can resist no longer and he makes a mistake. He's given his wicket away four or five times in this series already. One would hope there'll be a big Boxing Day crowd, the Boxing Day Test is one of the highlights of the sporting calendar. With 90,000 people there you'd hope the likes of Pietersen will be inspired by the occasion.

MC: Should we read Kevin Pietersen's name in brackets when Graeme Swann had a swipe at at least one, if not more, of his teammates?

JE: Graeme Swann is perturbed that one or two players have disappeared up their own backsides and cricket's got a habit of biting people on the arse, and he hopes that when that happens those people will be very embarrassed by their conduct. What he didn't do is specify which players he meant, he refused to name names and indeed didn't specify which country the players came from, so it might be that he was talking about Australians.

MC: I just wonder if he was talking about Englishmen or South Africans...

22.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

Only Swann can defend parting shot

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MONTY Panesar drew the short straw on Monday, assigned to try to defuse the latest eruption to rock the shell-shocked England dressing room - and he was the wrong man for the job.

Only one person could adequately explain to whom newly-retired teammate Graeme Swann was referring when he claimed some Test cricketers were up themselves - and that was Swann himself.

RICHARD HINDS: JOKER LEAVES JUST WHEN ENGLAND NEEDS A LAUGH

Weakly, he chose not to - he didn't even identify a team.

Just when the tour from hell seemed it could get no worse, it did with Swann's ambiguous outburst raising new questions about team unity and morale.

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The veteran off-spinner had said: "Some people playing the game at the moment have no idea how far up their own backsides they are.

"It will bite them on the a--- one day and when it does I hope they look back and are embarrassed about how they carried on."

Assuming Swann was referring to English players, former captain Michael Vaughan asked on Twitter "which ones exactly?" adding that he agreed some players were getting ahead of themselves but "I don't think he should have said it the day after retiring."

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Journalist Derek Pringle, a former Test player, suggested Swann's outburst was "a barely disguised swipe at some of his fellow England players for not respecting the game."

Pringle said Swann "refused to name the guilty players but it is well-known he and Kevin Pietersen do not send each other Christmas cards."

Swann replied to Vaughan's tweet, denying he was referring to teammates.

"Don't jump to conclusions Vaughney. I wasn't talking about the England dressing room or anyone in it. You too BBC," he posted, and then deleted it.

Graeme Swann pictured at the MCG after sensationally retiring on Sunday. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: News Limited

Vaughan hit back with: "We all make mistakes @Swannyg66 . I make plenty ... I am afraid on this occasion you have made one."

So who has earned Swann's disdain?

If it's not Pietersen or any of the other tourists, the next most obvious candidates would be the Australians - but which ones?

Whoever he's talking about, he might well be on the money - and if so, go for it. There's been worse sledging than that lately.

But its not acceptable to just to tip a bucket in the general direction of all and sundry.

If you're going to point fingers in this fashion, you should have the guts to stand up and be counted on it.

Swann's unexpected retirement was already controversial, with outspoken English media figure Piers Morgan leading the charge in one direction with: " ... it's not courageous to quit an Ashes series before its finished, its selfish."

British media firebrand Piers Morgan - a close friend of Kevin Pietersen - couldn't resist unleashing on Twitter.

Most, though, accepted that with his 34 year old body arcing up at the workload, he was entitled to time his sign-off as he saw fit.

He said he regarded his teammates as family and was nervous about moving on without their mateship.

He also said playing international cricket was like winning the lottery. "It annoys me when people take it for granted and get above their station because they shouldn't.

"It's the most privileged thing any man can do."

That was seen as an applaudable exit line which might have retrieved any goodwill he lost when he was forced to apologise for a regrettable social media gaffe in which he compared the Perth defeat with being raped.

Now, for all his humour and popularity, the loose cannon side of him has people off-side again.

Team management chose not to respond themselves on Monday, instead sending Swann's replacement to the daily media conference.

GRAEME SWANN: I COULDN'T BE MORE SATISFIED WITH MY DECISION

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Predictably Panesar had no criticism and said he had "no idea to be honest" who Swann was referring to. "We are right behind him," he said several times.

Whistling in the dark, he also repeatedly insisted the dressing room was hungry and determined and would now demonstrate fight and character.

But the impatient, aggressive tone of some of the questions told its own story when he was asked whether the campaign had become a joke and should there be an apology.

Mild-mannered Monty didn't think so.

ron.reed@news.com.au

Twitter: @Reedrw

LIFE AFTER SWANN: MORE ISSUES FOR ENGLAND

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England set to make three changes

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ENGLAND is poised to make up to three changes to the team that meekly surrendered the Ashes in Perth last week.

Left-arm tweaker Monty Panesar will be rushed from Sydney grade cricket back into the fray after Graeme Swann's shock retirement on Sunday.

But as the tourists went through a demanding first training session at the MCG on Sunday, two more switches became distinct possibilities.

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Jonny Bairstow, who has batted well in limited opportunities on tour, was heavily involved with the gloves during fielding practice and took additional practice after the main session, appearing to try to familiarise himself with the backdrop of the giant stands.

With regular wicketkeeper Matt Prior going through the batting horrors and coming off a bad Test with the gloves in Perth, a change to bolster the feeble England middle-order seems likely.

And Stuart Broad was badly hampered by the foot injury he suffered when hit by a Mitch Johnson missile at the WACA Ground.

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Broad clearly looked in pain and it would be a huge surprise to those who watched him hobbling if he could recover sufficiently before Thursday.

This leaves the path clear for another non-English player to pull on the navy blue cap for the first time with Northern Ireland-born Boyd Rankin the most likely replacement.

Rankin, who has played all bar five of his 42 one-day internationals for Ireland, has moved past the erratic Chris Tremlett and Steve Finn, who has struggled for even the most basic rhythm throughout the tour.

It's a remarkable rise for Rankin, 29, who for most observers would have been a distant last among the three beanpoles in consideration for a Test berth when the tour began.

22.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

We'll show England no mercy: Boof

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DARREN Lehmann maintained the party line on Sunday when asked his thoughts on England's horrendous Ashes tour.

The Australian coach insisted his focus was solely on his own squad and wouldn't be drawn on the myriad problems engulfing the tourists before the Boxing Day Test.

But in the next breath he was keen to discuss the success of his team's plan to tire the England pacemen by getting after retiring spinner Graeme Swann.

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Lehmann lauded Swann's 255-wicket Test career, but said the batsmen's instructions to launch after his bowling had been important to his team's 3-0 series lead.

"We had a plan for him in England and we didn't execute it as well (in the winter series). We obviously changed things around a little bit, but he's a big player when they only had four bowlers (before Ben Stokes' inclusion)," Lehmann said.

"You have to try to take one or two of them out of the equation and make their quicks bowl more. That was certainly the plan for us.

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"If we make them bowl as much as we can, it means we're batting well and that's the key. We didn't have the opportunity to do that in England and in a long series you have to do that."

Lehmann said the exclusion of several veteran English players could provide an important edge in what has been a hard-fought series full of niggle.

"We just want to play the brand of cricket that wins us cricket games. Obviously it's been quite aggressive from both sides and it's good, hard Ashes cricket.

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"To have two senior guys not play, that may be an advantage, but also (their) younger guys get a chance.

"But I only worry about us. That's all we can do. We can't worry about England and I'm sure they weren't worried about us (earlier in the year)."

Lehmann said there would be no lack of motivation for the Aussies, despite having secured the Ashes.

And he said the improvement he demanded needed to come from the top-order batsmen in the first innings.

But he was quick to hose down any talk of pressure on Victorian opener Chris Rogers, who made the candid confession on Saturday that he thought his place was the most in jeopardy among a team that will start with the same XI that has played all series.

"There's no dramas at all," Lehmann said of Rogers.

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A joyful player's joyless end

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GRAEME Swann had always posed a threat. The problem on this tour was that Jonathan Ross was in more danger than Michael Clarke.

Ross is England's talk-show king. Think Rove McManus with a lisp and some actual jokes.

Swann, a sportsman with rare wit and charisma, could easily fill his shoes. The highlight of the off-spinner's interviews was more often improvisational comedy than his observations on the game.

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After a spectacular take in Adelaide, Swann insisted: "I'll take no less than 10 questions about the catch."

That provided a rare laugh on a tour that has been as much fun as a vasectomy with a pair of hedge clippers.

A tour that will be remembered for the sensational implosion of a team that had, just five months ago, posed and selfied on the dais at The Oval after winning a third consecutive Ashes series.

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Swann was rightly castigated for telling his brother via Facebook that he would have preferred to be at a concert at home than "being arse-raped in Perth''. But if the choice of words was regrettable, the sentiment was unmistakable.

For England, cricket had suddenly been reduced from the source of huge enjoyment, incredible self-worth and rich rewards to joyless drudgery. All in the time it takes to narrowly avoid decapitation by a Mitchell Johnson bouncer.

We have spelt out the reasons for this mind-boggling transformation before. The hubris of a team that had, until now, planned its cricket as meticulously as it planned its gourmet meals. The failure to acknowledge, and adequately prepare for the hostile conditions and - particularly in Johnson's case - the improved team they would face.

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Swann's retirement will be mistakenly bracketed by some with Jonathan Trott's early departure. But Trott falls into a different category because he succumbed to a pre-existing illness. Even if the symptoms were triggered by some harrowing experiences on the field.

On the other hand, Swann's mid-series retreat quite reasonably poses a tough question of a once fiercely focused and grimly determined England outfit. Is the team that dominated Australia and, for a time, was near the summit of the game a bunch of shameless front-runners?

This is not to belittle the talent or the achievements of the best England team in decades. Certainly not those of Swann, whose 255 Test wickets at 29.96 made him, in some expert minds, the best English spinner since 'Deadly' Derek Underwood.

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But if you believe adversity most often provides a true test of character, on this tour England has been more Mr Bean than Atticus Finch. With a few honourable exceptions such as Joe Root in Adelaide and Ben Stokes in Perth, they have been meek, fragile and, all too ready to wave the white flag.

Swann cited the injuries he felt no longer allowed him to perform over five days as the reason for his retirement.

But the initial suspicion was that he had promptly called it quits after being told he would be left out of the Boxing Day Test.

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Which, given he had taken just seven wickets at 80 in the first three Tests, would not be the most shocking English selection decision since the Conservative Party dumped Margaret Thatcher.

Whatever the reason, Swann's timing seems uncharacteristically selfish. He will have Christmas with his family here while his former teammates wander out onto the MCG hoping not to be force-fed more humble pie.

It is one thing to know when your time is up and make a dignified exit. It is quite another to leave a bunch of embattled teammates in the lurch because pride will not allow you to run drinks or bring out the new gloves.

The current team - or what's left of it - put English cricket back on its feet. Now it is dying on its knees.

22.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

Watson thrashing sent Swann off

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AS it transpired, the final over Graeme Swann bowled in Test cricket simply underscored his inkling that his time had come.

With Shane Watson swinging for quick runs in Perth, the larrikin who had for years traded in flight and deception as much as his off-spin had no answer.

Four. Six. Dot. Six. Dot. Six. An inglorious 22-run salvo to effectively end the career of one of England's finest spinners.

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History will show that Swann's 255 Test wickets came at a more than commendable average of 29.96. He took five wickets in an innings an impressive 17 times and 10 in a match three times.

What doesn't jump off the page is that England won half the 60 Tests in which Swann played and, befitting his own self-perception, his record of 150 wickets at 22 in those 30 games regularly had him branded as a match-winner.

Yet as much as Swann was a constant topic and threat in his 18 Ashes appearances, Australia didn't see his best.

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His average was almost exactly 10 runs worse against the Aussies - despite their often lengthy list of left-handers - and his economy rate also by far his worst.

Worse, his average in Australia is 52.59, including just seven wickets at 80 in the current series.

Yet for all that, he deserves his spot in the pantheon of great English tweakers.

He's second only to left-armer Derek Underwood's 297 victims as England's most successful spinner. In fact, he's sixth among all bowlers to have worn the Lions.

And other than Shane Warne (708), Swann's haul leaves him seven clear of Australia's next most prolific spinner, Richie Benaud (248).

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Yet most veteran observers will say he wasn't in the same class as Jim Laker - he of the 19-wicket match haul against Australia in 1956 - whose 193 wickets came at an average of 21.2.

But he of the proud collar said when he slid into retirement that he rated winning far above the numbers that invariably define cricketers' careers.

And as his 34-year-old body - in particular the troublesome right elbow that kept him out of last summer's tour of New Zealand - betrayed him, his motivations were never clearer than yesterday when he made his exit midway through a losing Ashes cause.

"I wasn't willing to hang on and just get by being a bit-part player. I want to be a guy who wins matches for England and I don't feel I was doing that ... any more," he said.

"As a result, it's time to go."

22.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

Strikers offer Bailey tougher Test

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ADELAIDE Strikers enforcer Shaun Tait and protégé Kane Richardson have pledged to make life tougher for George Bailey in Hobart on Sunday than England paceman Jimmy Anderson this Ashes summer.

Test No.6 Bailey (39 not out) smashed a record 28 runs off one Anderson (0/105) over in Australia's resounding, 150-run, third-Test win against England in Perth last week.

Tait, 30, laments he can only sling one bouncer an over at Bailey in the Big Bash League opener at Bellerive.

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"He is a great player, we have to play him this week but Twenty20 will be a whole different ball game. It will be a whole lot different to a Test match," said former Test speedster Tait.

Hurricane's skipper Bailey will have less time to set up - and margin for error - against Tait and Richardson's 150km/h missiles.

"We will have to put a bit of heat on him I reckon," said Tait.

Watching Mitchell Johnson devastate England has provided Tait with fresh impetus to press for a berth in Australia's Twenty20 World Cup squad to Bangladesh next April.

"It gives you an inspiration to keep having a crack, I think I am in peak fitness," said Tait, who figured in Australia's 2010 T20 World Cup campaign in the Caribbean and 2011 one-day showpiece in India.

Richardson was signed for a $700,000 debut 2013 season with Indian Premier League franchise Pune Warriors.

Skippers Johan Botha and George Bailey face off ahead of Sunday's BBL clash. Source: News Limited

Tait believes new-ball partner Richardson, 22, will better his 10 wickets at 21 in the BBL last season - starting with an emphatic display against Hobart.

Tait vowed to blow away rivals inside the first six overs this tournament and leave spin twins Johan Botha and Adam Zampa to mop up the rest.

"Kane Richardson is one of the better Twenty20 bowlers going around at the moment in world cricket. There is a reason why he went for $700,000. He is dangerous," said Tait.

"I think we will have a good bowling attack. Michael Neser is in good form for Queensland in the one-day series."

Mumbai based Tait is an IPL stalwart with Rajasthan Royals and took Strikers teammate "Richo" under his wing on the subcontinent.

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"He was playing for Pune and we played against each other a few times. A mate of mine has a restaurant down there in Pune so we got him out of his hotel room and away from the PlayStation a few times," said Tait.

"We got him used to Indian conditions, I think it opened his eyes up a fair bit. I think he got a bit bored there."

Tait recalled the days mentoring Richardson as a junior but has been impressed by the Northern Territory export's rapid progress to an Australian one-day debut against Sri Lanka in Adelaide during January.

"He's getting paid more than all of us now, turned into a big lad, has the tatts," joked Tait.

"He has grown a beard which I have nailed him about but he is a good lad, a talented player."

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Bell urges calm from selectors

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IAN Bell has urged England's selectors to give the same players a chance to redeem themselves in the final two Tests despite their 3-0 Ashes humiliation.

England are in danger of a 5-0 whitewash after Australia wrapped up the series so emphatically in Perth.

And while Bell admits England have been outplayed in all departments and deserve to be 3-0 down, he has cautioned against making wholesale changes to the long-established team.

"I think the management will be very careful on those decisions," said Bell, who is an ESPNcricinfo columnist.

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"It's very easy to make rash decisions when you're quite emotional and things have happened quickly, but I believe there are some very good players here.

"You don't become a bad player overnight and I believe this team still has a lot of good cricket to play over the years. Things haven't gone right here, but they've been doing a lot of good things for a long time and that doesn't change things.

"We're still a very good Test side and we certainly don't want to lose 5-0."

The result has been a reality check for England. They arrived in Australia on the back of three consecutive Ashes wins and rightfully expected to at least compete for a fourth.

That didn't happen and now, with the urn gone, Bell says England will have to take a tip from the Australians.

"I don't think there's any embarrassment in the fact that we've been outplayed, but now we've got to react in a good way and then try and get better as quick as we can," Bell said.

"We have been a good Test side for a while, but maybe we need to start improving. That's the reality we've been hit with. Yes, we've done well, we've won three Ashes on the bounce, but Australia have come back better and stronger and that's what we have to do now - exactly what Australia has done, we have to react.

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"These two games are important for us as a team going forward."

England will be desperate to avoid a repeat of the 2006-07 Ashes series when they were beaten 5-0.

Bell admits it will be a huge test of their character, but they don't have any other option but to show some fight in Melbourne and Sydney.

"If you can't get yourself up for a Boxing Day Test at the MCG, or a New Year's Test at the SCG, then you're never going to get yourself up for any Test match," he said.

"When you're in this position, for me, there's no alternative. You've got to go out there and fight and scrap and try and do as well as you possibly can.

"You can't run away from these things and sometimes it happens at this level of sport. You want to win every series you're involved in, but the reality is that's not going to happen. We're playing against a very good Australian side and we've been outplayed.

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"The important thing for us now as a group is to show a bit of character. The reality is the series is gone, but we've got two games to play for. The important thing for us is to make sure we do the right things in Melbourne and if we can do that right then we'll do the right things in Sydney."

Australia's turnaround might seem remarkable since the Lord's Test against England when they lost by 347 runs and were themselves expected to lose 5-0, but Bell hasn't been surprised by their response at home.

"They're a very good side with Darren Lehmann and Michael Clarke leading that camp," he said.

"It doesn't surprise me because, to be honest, in England it was a lot closer than what people gave Australia credit for. But the important thing is we won the key sessions in England and unfortunately we haven't even got close to competing in the key sessions here on this tour, so we're going to have to improve."

* Ian Bell will be writing exclusively throughout the Ashes series for the leading cricket website www.espncricinfo.com

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