England veterans consider futures

England 185 and 162 Australia 190 and 158-3 Australia win by 7 wickets and lead series 3-0

For England players, defeat to Australia, whether ranked one or 10, is the nadir of humiliation. Losing to them has always caused players to consider their futures, which is why Michael Atherton and Alec Stewart, losers in every Ashes series they have played, will be contemplating theirs this morning.

Good servants both, they cannot be allowed to go together, at least not until after the forthcoming tour of India, an undertaking tough enough to see off Australia earlier in the year. But English cricket needs to know their plans, if only so they can make some of their own.

True to form, Atherton was tight-lipped about his future, except to reveal that he would fulfil his contract and see the season out with Lancashire. Of England, he added: "I will play in the rest of the current series, if selected." Atherton is playing well at the moment, something England could do with spilling over into their tour of India this November. But with his autobiography commissioned for early next year (one he intends to write himself) and a substantial Channel 4 contract reputedly in the offing, he may feel it is time to move off the field and into the commentary box.

For Stewart, schooled in the old-pro philosophy of "play-until-you-drop", cricket has become much tougher over the past year. He still has no close rivals for keeping wicket and batting, but the sheer demands of the job are beginning to show, though nothing has dulled the spark as much as the match-fixing allegations of Mukesh Gupta.

In his column for a Sunday newspaper, Stewart's only concession to the future was that "maybe" this was his last Ashes series. India, with spinners, dusty pitches and a voracious taste for scandal, will test him to the hilt, and, like anyone who abhors curries, he may not have the stomach to cope with it.

But if England really do need to know of his and Atherton's positions, it was not broadcast through David Graveney, the chairman of selectors. Speaking on radio yesterday, Graveney revealed that he and his panel would continue to pick their best team for the remaining two Tests.

"You can bet Australia will want to win the series 5-0, so we will carry on picking the best players available," he said yesterday. Unless the improvements of the last 18 months are to be frittered away, it is unquestionably the right policy, though one that needs to be extended to India.

Playing Australia has brought home some unpleasant truths – such as a paucity of playing depth and a tendency to freeze under pressure – but even the Aussies tend to phase in new players with experienced ones, a point Duncan Fletcher also made following Saturday's defeat.

Yet even the most experienced need to maintain an edge, which, in the aftermath of Australia's retention of the Ashes for a record seventh successive time, might have been dulled. Before the awful truth of Trent Bridge set in, that neither would know Ashes success, both Atherton and Stewart were still fulfilling Graveney's criteria for selection.

Australia come at you hard with ball, bat and barbs, but it still needed two erroneous decisions to get rid of Atherton, whose fifty was shaping to match his match-winning 98 against South Africa on the same ground two years previously. Ironically, for those who felt he was hard done by this time, Atherton benefitted from an umpiring error, having clearly gloved a ball from Allan Donald to the wicketkeeper.

Stewart, if found wanting with a poorly selected shot in the second innings at Nottingham, played well in the first. He kept wicket efficiently too, something he did for most of the previous two Tests. Essex's Jamie Foster is a possible replacement in the mid-term, but needs to polish his wicketkeeping, which is some way short of the standard required for Test cricket.

With a top three that regularly outscored Australia's, where England really struggled, with their first-choice personnel injured, was in the middle-order. Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain and Graham Thorpe could all be back for the next Test, but their absence as a unit caused negative knock-on effects for those batting either side, especially Craig White, who spent his formative years in Australia.

Since coming up against some familiar faces, the Yorkshireman's form has declined to the point where he must be replaced before he is humiliated beyond repair. Yet, he must not be forgotten. As he proved in Pakistan, he could be a major force in India providing his niggling back is sorted out.

Providing he can get through his share of overs, England might like to consider Andy Flintoff for the rest of this series. A close-up view of the Aussies may show England's foremost frustrated talent just exactly what a world-class performer does out on the field.

With Robert Croft almost certain to be surplus to requirements at Headingley, England will probably resort to seven batsmen again. If they do, none of the places should go to Mark Ramprakash or Ian Ward.

Pressure, mainly constant but with occasional nerve-shredding peaks, is the one thing that separates Test cricket from its cousins. It brings out the best in some players and the worst in others, though England had a shortfall in the first camp. Ramprakash's demons, seemingly in remission since his move to Surrey, re-emerged during one such peak at Trent Bridge. Having showed that he has the technical practicality to cope with Australia's bowlers, Ramprakash once again failed his mental. His lurching attempt to hack Shane Warne into the Trent, just when England needed him to stabilise the innings, ended in total humiliation.

When Damien Martyn did something similar for Australia against South Africa in 1994, he was immediately dropped. That one error, rather than the litany that Ramprakash has committed, cost him his place until this tour, when, after waiting six years in the wings, he replaced Justin Langer. Ramprakash too needs to serve some time, at least until India, where his soft hands and watchfulness could play a part in coping with the spinners.

Ward has worked hard to get himself into contention for Test cricket. But like so many who make up for shortfalls in talent with sweat, some things cannot be conquered by endeavour alone and Australia's pacemen have exposed him time and again. In some ways it is not Ward's fault he was ill-equipped to cope. These days most county cricket does not prepare you for a day out against Zimbabwe, let alone a clinical and motivated unit like Australia. As Atherton pointed out on Saturday: "Australia are institutionally good at producing Test cricketers." Of course cricket chiefs are hoping that, in time, the newly minted Academy will do the same for England. If it does, their beloved county cricket will become even less relevant at producing Test players to challenge Australia, than it is now.

As a longer standing measure of English well-being than avoirdupois, the Ashes is inextricably entwined with big emotions. Win and everything in the world takes on new lustres and hues. Lose, and walls, both inside and out, come tumbling down. At the moment, the urge for demolition will be strong, but, unless the Ashes are to remain uncontested for another generation, that should be ignored in favour of prudent construction, ideally with Atherton and Stewart as the temporary cornerstones.

England's seven-wicket defeat in the third Test at Trent Bridge on Saturday extended their long losing sequence against Australia since last winning the Ashes under Mike Gatting in 1986-87. Since then they have have six captains while playing Australia 35 times – winning five, drawing eight and losing 22

June 89 (Headingley): Aus won by 210 runs (Capt: D I Gower)

June 89 (Lord's): Aus won by 6 wkts (Gower)

July 89: (Edgbaston) Drawn (Gower)

July 89 (Old Trafford) Aus won by 9 wkts (Gower)

Aug 89: (Trent Bridge): Aus won by inns and 180 runs (Gower)

Aug 89 (The Oval): Drawn (Gower)

Nov 90 (Brisbane): Aus won by 10 wkts (A J Lamb)

Dec 90 (Melbourne): Aus won by 8 wkts (G A Gooch)

Jan 91 (Sydney): Drawn (Gooch)

Jan 91 (Adelaide): Drawn (Gooch)

Feb 91 (Perth): Aus won by 9 wkts (Gooch)

June 93 (Old Trafford): Aus won by 179 runs (Gooch)

June 93 (Lord's): Aus won by inns and 62 runs (Gooch)

July 93 (Trent Bridge): Drawn (Gooch)

July 93 (Headingley): Aus won by inns and 148 runs (Gooch)

Aug 93 (Edgbaston): Aus won by 8 wkts (M A Atherton)

Aug 93 (The Oval): Eng won by 161 runs (Atherton)

Nov 94 (Brisbane): Aus won by 184 runs (Atherton)

Dec 94 (Melbourne): Aus won by 295 runs (Atherton)

Jan 95 (Sydney): Drawn (Atherton)

Jan 95 (Adelaide): Eng won by 106 runs (Atherton)

Feb 95 (Perth): Aus won by 329 runs (Atherton)

June 97 (Edgbaston): Eng won by 9 wkts (Atherton)

June 97 (Lord's): Drawn (Atherton)

July 97 (Old Trafford): Aus won by 268 runs (Atherton)

July 97 (Headingley): Aus won by inns and 61 runs (Atherton)

Aug 97 (Trent Bridge): Aus won by 264 runs (Atherton)

Aug 97 (The Oval): Eng won by 19 runs (Atherton)

Nov 98 (Brisbane): Drawn (A J Stewart)

Nov 98 (Perth): Aus won by 7 wkts (Stewart)

Dec 98 (Adelaide): Aus won by 205 runs (Stewart)

Dec 98 (Melbourne): Eng won by 12 runs (Stewart)

Jan 99 (Sydney): Aus won by 98 runs (Stewart)

July 01 (Edgbaston): Aus won by inns and 118 runs (N Hussain)

July 01 (Lord's): Aus won by 8 wkts (Atherton)

Aug 01 (Trent Bridge): Aus won by 7 wkts (Atherton)