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ONCE again England return home from Australia empty- handed. This has not been a good tour because so few matches that mattered were won. There have been moments to enjoy and individuals to cherish - Darren Gough most specifically -but the fact remains that Australia are still better at cricket than England.

Never more sharply was this illustrated than on Saturday in Melbourne when England's custom-built one-day team, who needed to win the second final of the Carlton and United series in order to force the third deciding match, surrendered without so much as a scrap.

Australia smothered them, like senior club cricketers might do to a school XI, with one of their committed and uncompromising trademark performances. It is not fair to say England played as if they wanted to go home but it is fair to say they knew the plane was waiting, so the hunger which Australia displayed in abundance was missing from their game.

The impact of the wretched 10-run defeat in Sydney last Wednesday was clear. Recriminations and the apparently detailed post-mortems would have taken their toll. England needed a week to recover from such a shock, not a couple of days.

Afterwards, Alec Stewart claimed he was not as jaded as everyone suggested but the scars of a failed mission were evident by the exaggerated lines on his well-lived-in face. He is a proud man who takes defeat in the hardest way and even if he does not know it himself, he must be exhausted from the mental effort of his own responsibilities and the constant intensity with which cricket is followed in Australia.

Stewart was understandably frustrated to lose the toss on Saturday; he had won it on Friday before the rain came and had gratefully chosen to bat. Though Mark Waugh was out-thought by Gough, Adam Gilchrist and the others at the top of the Australian order made splendid use of a near perfect pitch. Darren Lehmann was given the man-of-the-match award for his inventive and pacy innings but not much beats Ricky Ponting's mixture of exemplary technique, power and arrogance from the spectators' point of view.

It is a fascinating reflection of the Australian way that Ponting is enthusiastically cheered each time he walks to the wicket or touches the ball in the field. Less than a month ago, when England in their turn were outplaying Australia, he was suspended for a few games because he got drunk after a night match in Sydney and became involved in a pub brawl. It would appear that this can make a hero of a man.

The Australian innings ended with Shane Lee thumping two sixes over midwicket and as the players left the field for supper, the suspicion lingered that the 273 needed for victory was an awfully long way away. Within minutes of the restart it had become impossible. Four wickets fell for just nine runs in nine balls of excruciating Australian dominance.

First, Nick Knight was involved in a cock-up run-out with his captain. Then Graeme Hick holed out to third man of all places. As if that was not enough, Nasser Hussain thrust forward and was told by umpire Harper that he had made contact with the ball and Neil Fairbrother waved vaguely at a good one from Adam Dale which had some extra bounce.

There were not many bones left to pick from that little mess though Stewart, who had stood forlorn at the non-striker's end while Australia roared, briefly blazed away in search of the glory that he craves but which had long gone to the green and gold.

Yet again, Australia bowled outstandingly well in support of their talented array of batsmen. They are beginning to field like champions, too, which they have not always done, and if this is to be their form during the World Cup they will be a handful even for teams as tough as, say, the South Africans.

It may sound odd to say so, but England must not be written off. At home, where they are comfortable and less tested by the challenges of environment, the character and expression in the players surface more freely. During this decade, England's one-day cricket abroad has been dreadful. At home, it has been very good. It is as simple as that.

One of two changes are probably needed, a third seamer for example to accompany the impressive new-ball bowling of Gough and Alan Mullally - Ian Austin, Peter Martin and Angus Fraser are the candidates. The selectors must also work out if they are to continue their search for a utility all-rounder and if so, must pick the chap who has most about him, one who will grab a game by its scruff and shake it about a bit - the improving Vince Wells and the lively Matthew Fleming are in the running.

Overall, though, it is the batting which most lets the team down. Hick made three hundreds in this series, and, incidentally, was chosen as the joint man of the series with Glenn McGrath, but England won only one of those three games. A specialist batsman is needed who can attack spin in the orthodox way of fast footwork and straight driving down the ground rather than by reverting to English cricket's appalling obsession with the sweep shot. Mark Ramprakash, Ali Brown and Chris Adams come to mind, though if a young buck stood out, Aftab Habib for example, he would be worth a chance.

David Graveney did announce yesterday that Graham Thorpe had made himself available for the short tournament in Sharjah at the beginning of April, which was jolly decent of him. But Graveney will know what a risk it would be having two key batsmen in the World Cup party, Thorpe and Fairbrother, who are so prone to injury.

These decisions will have to be made by March 31, the deadline for announcing the final 15-man line-ups for the World Cup.

The other concern for the team's management is in the field, where acceptable catches are still being missed and where the inner ring of fielders who are saving the single are going through one of those periods in which they cannot hit the stumps when a run-out is on.

Because Graveney is a phlegmatic fellow, he and his fellow selectors are unlikely to panic by making any dramatic alterations to the personnel or plan which have been in place for some months now. He will hope that the rest which so many of these over-played cricketers badly need will regenerate their energy and skill. After Sharjah, it would be valuable for most of them to spend a little time back in county cricket where they are at ease with the lie of the land and can grow again in confidence.