Australia A 205 for 9 (Langer 62, Irani 3-30) beat England 182 by 23 runs
Scorecard

England are still waiting for the first victory of their ill-fated Ashes tour after their middle order crumbled against Australia A at Sydney. Chasing a modest target of 206 after a good performance in the field, England were bowled out for just 182 with three overs still in hand. Given that they were cruising at 110 for 3, this was another special collapse.

As usual, the wheels came off for England as soon as the pace came off the ball. The spinners, Brad Hogg and Andrew Symonds, returned combined figures of 4 for 56 off 20 overs, and even Greg Blewett (7-0-15-1) proved impossible to get away.

England's best offerings were a couple of 33s from Ronnie Irani and Nasser Hussain. They were chalk-and-cheese affairs: Irani romped to his off 22 balls, with six fours; Hussain took 72. That was after Craig White, thrust up to open, continued his woeful tour with the bat when he was run out for 1 (3 for 1). But with Irani smacking it everywhere, England were looking good.

Then Irani fell lbw to Ashley Noffke's first ball (59 for 2), and Nick Knight followed two overs later, caught behind for 20 as he carved at a short one (72 for 3). Hussain and Owais Shah took time to regroup, adding 38 in 14 overs before it all started to go wrong. Hussain was lbw on the sweep to Hogg (110 for 4), and Shah, having played well for 25, heaved at Brad Williams for the last time (130 for 5).

The heat was on, and England began to frazzle. Ian Blackwell was run out for 6 (136 for 6), and Robert Key – who saved England in the three-day game against Australia A, but couldn't here - hoicked Hogg straight to deep midwicket. Enter Alec Stewart - at No. 9 - and he was so disorientated by the situation that he took a staggering 20 balls to get off the mark.

In the meantime Andrew Flintoff was caught behind driving at Symonds, and after some defiance from Kabir Ali it was all over when James Kirtley was bowled by Brad Hogg.

The miserable nature of this defeat was compounded was the fact that England had done well with the ball, restricting Australia A to 205 for 9. Irani, with 3 for 30, was again the star of the show.

Kirtley bowled Jimmy Maher for 0 in the third over (1 for 1), but then Justin Langer, who was crucially dropped on 12 by Key, and Blewett found their touch.

The breakthrough came with the introduction of Ali, as Blewett's savage slash was brilliantly caught by Knight at point (59 for 2). But that was Ali's only success: Michael Clarke took him on from the off, cracking the first three balls he received for fours through the covers. Ali limped out of the attack with 1 for 25 off his two overs and never returned. With Langer playing the anchor role and Clarke cutting loose, a large score seemed likely when Irani jagged one back between Clarke's bat and pad and bowled him for 25 (103 for 3).

Symonds came and went, caught by Knight at first slip off Irani for 3 as he tried to run the ball down to third man (111 for 4), and Australia A lost their impetus. The frustration eventually got to Langer and in an attempt to kick-start the innings he holed out to Kirtley at deep midwicket off Irani for 62 (124 for 5).

Thereafter the bowlers kept a tight grip, with Blackwell (10-0-24-1) particularly impressive. Michael Hussey (44*) and Ryan Campbell (21) did ensure that England were set a target of over 200. It didn't seem enough at the time, but it was.

Where do England go from here? Click here to send us your feedback.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd