'Like a mobile phone going off during Hamlet's dying speech'

With the Australian team facing a barrage of criticism from fans, pundits and former players for their dismal performances in the Ashes, James Lawton, of the Independent, looks back at the 2001 Ashes that Australia won 4-1 and says the team can draw inspiration from Steve Waugh's indomitable leadership.

Waugh, in any reasonable assessment, became a non-combatant after sustaining a serious calf injury in the third Test that settled the series. Yet while Australia suffered their one defeat, at Headingley, Waugh could be found running alone across the rugby league ground behind the cricket stand. It was painful rehabilitation beyond the call of any sportsman's duty, you had to suggest, but Waugh would have none of it. "Listen mate," he said, "If you are captain of the team you have to put a little bit extra in because how can you ask any of your players to do the same when it is needed? We've won the series but that's not the point. Every Test match is important."

Much of the criticism against Australia has been aimed at the temperament and shot-selection of the batsmen. Andrew Flintoff, writing for The Sun, highlights the major difference between the two teams over the course of the series so far.

I am all for talk of playing positive cricket - but as a batsman, that means being positive in attack AND in defence. While I used to love batting with the tail and taking it to bowlers, sometimes a pitch or a situation forces you to just hang in there. Ian Bell got this spot on at Lord's. He came in at 28-3 on the first morning of the Test and rebuilt through a solid, positive defence. Australia don't seem to have sussed this basic tactic out and England's bowlers are loving it.

Along with Australia's poor performance, talk about DRS and the role of the umpires has also dominated Ashes headlines. Alan Tyers of the Telegraph, bemoans the use of technology that robs cricket of some poignant moments.

Slaves now to the technology that was supposed to improve the game, we debate the use and misuse of the DRS where once we talked of cricket. It is not worth a five per cent increase in decision-making accuracy. Sport is not about justice, it is about skill, heart, fallibility and drama. Constant reviewing of so many wickets is robbing Test cricket of its most painful, poignant act: the guillotining of a player's participation in the piece. They say, "We have the technology so we should use it". No. It is like a mobile phone going off during Hamlet's dying speech. Again and again and again.