England bowlers hit new low as Love conquers all

Trescothick's men fail miserably to capitalise on advantageous conditions against Australia A as young batsman powers to double century

There is a purpose to these games other than to gain valuable practice before a Test match. It is to give those players on the fringe of international recognition a stage to show they have what it takes. However, after another one-sided day's cricket, Australia's list of potential Test stars has grown in indirect proportion to England's, which is now in danger of disintegrating.

There is a purpose to these games other than to gain valuable practice before a Test match. It is to give those players on the fringe of international recognition a stage to show they have what it takes. However, after another one-sided day's cricket, Australia's list of potential Test stars has grown in indirect proportion to England's, which is now in danger of disintegrating.

For this was another awful day for England in the field. Having won the toss and invited Australia A to bat, one could be forgiven for thinking that the acting captain, Marcus Trescothick, had got it wrong just as Nasser Hussain (who yesterday flew to Perth to be present at the birth of his second child) had done in Brisbane.

However, he had not. This was a pitch with plenty of encouragement in it for the quicker bowlers, but once again they failed to bowl with anything like the discipline, skill or patience required of international bowlers. For batsmen of this calibre, scoring runs against such an inefficient attack was easy pickings and once again they filled their boots.

An exasperated looking bowling coach, Graham Dilley, said as much at the close of play. "The guys have got to learn that when playing on flat tracks where you have little margin for error you have got to be disciplined, patient and lucky," he said. "At the moment we are nowhere near on any of these three. We talk about getting a series of six balls together and it is not happening out in the middle. It is the big problem area for us. We have to get it right and we have to get it right soon. We have two choices. We either give up, which is not something I want to do, or you try and get better."

The first ball of the day from Alex Tudor highlighted just how much assistance their was in this dampish-looking surface. It reared sharply off a good length and struck Matthew Elliott painfully on the elbow. With a cut that required stitches he was sent for an X-ray which showed bruising but no break. At this stage it appeared England were in business.

With the ball jumping and seaming around, Jimmy Maher looked unconvincing during his short stay before edging one through to James Foster, deputising for Alec Stewart behind the stumps . From then on it was a tale of woe as England's quartet of seamers, all of whom are hoping to gain selection for Thursday's second Test in Adelaide, became fodder for this second-string Australian batting line-up.

Elliott's injury brought a player to the crease who England's bowlers will now be sick of the sight of – Martin Love. After scoring 250 against England during the earlier game against Queensland, Love scored his third double century of the year, (his other was for Durham against Middlesex at Lord's in June) and the fifth of his career.

Initially swaying either side of the short wayward stuff that England were bowling at him, he bided his time and waited for one to cut or drive. He did not have to wait long but still put these bad balls away with surgical precision. No matter how fast the bowling is, and Stephen Harmison bowled with genuine hostility at times, this elegant right-hander seems to have the time to play two or three shots before the ball arrives.

There is nothing flashy about his batting, he just gets on with it and in this sort of form Darren Lehmann, Australia's current No 6, must be under severe pressure should he fail to score runs next week.

When Mark Waugh was dropped, Lehmann stepped in, but he was pushed hard by the young New South Wales batsman Michael Clarke. Yesterday he, too, showed why he is rated so highly by scoring an impressive 50. With a confident push through extra cover he got off the mark. His first boundary was via a dismissive pull shot off Tudor and throughout his innings his technique and manner suggested he has a bright future.

For England there can be very few positives taken out of the day. Tudor started well but faded, Harmison was the best, bowled a couple of menacing overs but overall was far too wayward and White caused the batsmen very little alarm.

With the ball pinging around the Bellerive Oval after its A$18.6m (£7.15m) redevelopment, Richard Dawson had very little chance to settle when he was eventually brought on. Bowling his first proper overs of the tour the off-spinner looked a bit rusty, although he did have the satisfaction of dismissing Clarke, before Australia A on 353 for 3 took the positive step of declaring.

With 13 overs still to be bowled England had an awkward 50 minutes to bat against a disciplined new-ball attack in which Trescothick and Michael Vaughan had to work far harder for their runs than their Australian counterparts. Vaughan fell before the close on 11, when he chopped a cut shot on to his stumps.

The saddest sight however was Andrew Flintoff struggling along when blatantly unfit. Still sore and stiff he appears weeks away from full fitness. His 10 overs yesterday cost 62 runs. It was not just his bowling or the time he spent off the field having the pelvic area strapped that highlighted his discomfort. Watching him in the field, he looked 42 rather than 24.