England flattened, McGrath flattered

We have been here before. For England fans, there is a sinking sense that is 1994-95 all over again, or 1998-99, or 2002-03. But there are other, more recent parallels. England being shot out for 150-odd and Flintoff making nought? It happened in their first innings of the 2005 Ashes. Conceding a huge total and failing to reach 200 themselves? It happened at the start of the series against South Africa in 2003. Twice.

That series ended in a draw, 2-2. The result in 2005 you may conceivably remember. Which isn’t to say that England will recover in this series – just that it’s not over yet.

For the first two days here, Australia were immense. Today they were merely efficient. Glenn McGrath was greatly flattered by his figures: a gift from Strauss, a joint gift from Pietersen and Billy Bowden, a push down the wrong line by Jones, a couple of tail-enders … the only major wicket conjured by McGrath himself was that of Cook.

England made just the mistake they went out of their way to avoid last time – playing the man, not the ball. The openers managed to attack McGrath, but when they perished, nobody else could summon the bravado to stick to the plan. His last 17 overs went for 25 runs, the same as his first six. Pietersen, for once, erred on the side of caution.

The worry for England – well, another one of many – is that Stuart Clark got wickets too. Between them McGrath and his mini-me took nine for 71. If England can’t cope with tidy, accurate, bouncy medium-pace, they are sunk.

Ricky Ponting’s decision not to enforce the follow-on was a weird one. It took the heat out of the match, just when England were going up in flames. I can see why some of the punters walked out. The game had switched from annihilation to an academic exercise. But Flintoff may have mishandled it too. He should have grabbed the opportunity for rehab and thrown Steve Harmison the new ball. There wasn’t much point in giving it to Anderson: he was already, surely, heading for a week off. Ponting the batsman has done so well, with strong support, that Ponting the captain can make as many mistakes as he likes.