"You can have your rugby tests, you can have international soccer, but this is what matters and there has been a frittering away of the spirit and he [Mr Beazley] holds that weasel [Mr Howard] responsible for it. He's [Howard] lost it for us, we will never forget. it's a crime"

A spokesman for Kim Beazley, Australia's leader of the opposition, makes it clear where his boss thinks the blame for the Ashes defeat lies