ENGLAND NEED NEW PLANS

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Hayden and Symonds - defied England.

By Andrew Ramsey

Nowhere on the England bowling plan which has been nefariously leaked to an Australian broadcaster is there a reference to 'must take opportunities when they arise'.

The ability to convert the smallest advantage when it appears has been the single most telling difference between the teams in this Ashes series.

The pressure Australia has been able to apply with bat and ball has seen England crumble unfailingly, and it happened again on day two at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

For the first time in the series the England bowlers had combined impressive form with favourable conditions, and had the Australian batsmen at their mercy shortly before lunch.

Even with an inadequate first innings tally of 159 at their disposal, the sight of Australia reeling at 5-84 and with just under-performing all-rounder Andrew Symonds barricading the tourists' attack from the non-specialist batsmen, hope was finally glimmering.

But once again, Andrew Flintoff's men were unable to land the knockout punch.

Admittedly, some events did conspire against the English bowlers who can justifiably feel hard done by in this game.

A couple of tight lbw shouts had been turned down, the ball was 45 overs old and therefore beginning to soften, and the blanket cloud that had aided seam movement since the match began had started to break up.

Add to that the fact that Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds played with a remarkable amount of concentration and application, enhanced by regular dashes of audacity.

However, what can't be ignored is the total inability of England's five-man bowling attack to create anything other than a single half-chance in the almost five hours that the Australian pair were at the crease.

The one opportunity to go to hand was a brilliant one-handed attempt by Paul Collingwood at gully to intercept a flayed drive from Symonds when the all-rounder was on 46.

By the time Symonds was closing in on his maiden century (and the Australian lead was close to 150) Flintoff had clearly run out of ideas and turned to the sixth and seventh members of his five-pronged bowling attack.

And so it was the Symonds cruised to his milestone and pushed well beyond while the non-frightening duo of Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen were operating from the members' end.

It is difficult to believe that - in reversed circumstances with a notoriously skittish English batsman closing in on a Test hundred for the first time in a stunted career - Ricky Ponting would employ the bowling talents of Michael Hussey or Michael Clarke.

Certainly not on a pitch that Hayden described as slow, two-paced and not at all easy to bat on.

Once again, England missed a trick and another Test match has all but slipped from its grasp. Perhaps the best news to emerge from today is that its bowling plans have been released publicly.

What better reason to rip them up and start afresh?