England suffers comprehensive defeat in warm-up schedule

Myles Hodgson

With only two months until the start of the World Cup in South Africa and three days until the opening match of the triangular tournament, England slipped to their fifth successive defeat in all forms of cricket and are still searching for their first victory in Australia after 11 matches.

Completely outclassed in the Ashes series, even an influx of new players has failed to change their fortunes, and after heavy defeats against New South Wales and Australia A under the lights of the Sydney Cricket Ground last weekend, they experienced perhaps their most humiliating loss of all at the Manuka Oval.