Trent Bridge Test, Day 3, close
Thursday, August 3, 2001

England still had a chance to win this match and keep the series alive in the period right after lunch. They got the early wicket of Ricky Ponting, and then Steve Waugh was injured, so Australia were effectively 88 for 4. The game was still very much in the balance then.

For me, it all changed when Mark Waugh and Damien Martyn faced about 16 balls in between the rain delays. In that time they scored 20 runs which broke the back of the run chase and rescued Australia from the slightly precarious position they were in. It was at that point that the match went away from England. All of a sudden it was game over.

I would have persisted with Robert Croft. Mike Atherton was probably thinking that Waugh likes facing off-spinners and if he'd had a couple of good overs against Croft that would have been it. But if England were ever going to win, they needed Croft to get three or four wickets. He came on straight after the break and picked up Ponting - and then he was off. I'd have kept him on, although, let's face it - Croft's not quite a Shane Warne. And that's the disadvantage Atherton had.

Apart from that, I don't think there's anything else Atherton could have done. He had to go with his main strike bowlers, especially with so few runs to play with. At that stage there's no point trying a part-timer, because it only takes a few bad overs and the game's gone.

Although they've lost, England seem to me to be competing more. They've improved as every game has gone on, and they need to continue along those lines. Obviously there'll be a few changes, and Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe will come back. England have to make sure they get something out of the last two Tests, because Australia will be coming at them really hard and aiming for a 5-0 whitewash.

Mark Taylor was the winning captain in the last three Ashes series. He was talking to Camilla Rossiter More Mark Taylor
Options limited by collapse- Lunch

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