Oh, the Paine

Trent Bridge. Sixth one-day international

Preview

Three hours before the start of this match, under heavy cloud that will never produce rain, it is difficult to see what England can gain. They are 5-0 down, Luke Wright who could use international appearances to boost his street cred, is out of the series, and the spirit of the whole side is clear down rather than up.

In the short term they will be lucky to qualify for the second stage of the Champions Trophy, in the medium term they lack Kevin Pietersen and in the long term it is unlikely that Andrew Flintoff, rapidly becoming a remote figure because he wants to freelance, will ever play for England again.

It is a lonely life being a freelance Freddie. Believe me, I know.

Australian innings

After winning the toss for the first time in the series, Australia celebrated by reminding us that when they return in four years some of their young players will be stars. Tim Paine, stand-in wicket-keeper and opening batsman, hit 111 off 148 balls - with a quiet time in the 90s - his first one-day hundred full of attractive shots through the offside and the basis for the score of 296-8. Michael Hussey added 65 just in case we had written him off after a moderate tour but he will be 38 by the time the Aussies are here again.

England innings

From the moment Andrew Strauss was given out caught behind off the second ball - wrongly - his batsmen sought out new ways to be pathetic. Five passed 20 yet only Tim Bresnan reached 30 as they were all out 185 to lose by their nightmare number 111 and fail to bat out their overs. Ricky Ponting, a batting flop for the first time since his mini holiday, produced two dead-eye strikes to run out Matt Prior and Ravi Bopara which settles his future. With that sort of hand-eye co-ordination he could be a top class professional darts player when his cricket days come to an end. Meanwhile he will want to make the series score 7-0 at Chester-le-Street on Sunday; no world side has ever lost 7-0 and England deserve to be the first.