The very tallest men, men who make the ball steeple in its bounce from not far short of a good length, are England's chief tormentors, along with leg-spinners and, occasionally, genuine swing bowlers.

The list is harrowing: Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh; Shane Warne and Mushtaq Ahmed; Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis . . . and Glenn McGrath. Seemingly, England do not have an answer when faced with the very best. Perhaps this is because the general level of technique in English batting is substandard, or perhaps it is because the necessary level of mental resistance is missing. Perhaps both.

Mainly the problem of England's dramatic collapses has centred around Michael Atherton's wicket - if it falls, so do the rest. Yesterday it was the lower order which crumbled and that has happened before as well, too often.

It is inexcusable to give in so abjectly, especially when a player of Mark Ramprakash's capabilities is left unbeaten and kicking his heels. Australia's last five wickets put on 307 runs, England's last five managed just 60. This is a ridiculous imbalance and it is not acceptable continually to fall foul of the same bowlers.

England should have known what to expect against McGrath during the morning session of play, should have identified him as the only possible danger in the Australian attack, and should have resolved to blunt him. They should absolutely not have looked to take him on with the hook or the pull shot.

McGrath is a relentlessly accurate bowler who extracts alarming bounce from a pitch even as flat as this but still Graham Thorpe, Dominic Cork and Alan Mullally lost their wickets when attacking balls that came at them shoulder high and above.

Robert Croft is exempt from this criticism because he has so clearly worked in the nets at overcoming McGrath's threat. Equally, it may seem unfair to criticise Thorpe for he has the ability and the courage to challenge McGrath and win points for England. But was the timing of his stroke right? Could it not have waited? Is this sort of judgment not a part of the art of batting?

Of course it is, which is why, on this occasion, the admirable Thorpe was culpable. The best teams, such as Australia, gain a considerable advantage by the ability of their players to think on their feet. Too regularly England fail to react to the requirement of the moment, which reflects their inflexibility.

McGrath changed gears yesterday morning, knowing that upon the session hinged the match. He wasted less energy on the verbals and used more energy on intelligent, pretty fast bowling at off stump and on well directed short-pitchers. When bowling this well, McGrath is metronomic, making the batsmen play at everything and altering length to upset his opponents' footwork. There was no help for him in the pitch, rather he used his fine bowling brain to outclass England again.

But England are too frequently outclassed during sudden, depressing periods of play and it is too often the same bowlers who cause the pain. The problem should be addressed, otherwise a team with some potential will not progress as it ought.