England will stick to four-man attack

At Adelaide a fortnight ago, Australia were left to rue their lack of application on the final day of the third Test, when one of the heaviest deluges ever to hit South Australia swept across the city some three hours after the final wicket had fallen. England's cricketers might have felt similar pangs of regret when they opened their curtains in Perth on Monday morning, where a steady drizzle greeted the dawning of the scheduled fifth day of the Test.

All such musings were academic, however. England didn't come close to taking this match the distance. They were routed by 267 runs with more than five-and-a-half sessions to spare, thanks to a brilliant spell of swing bowling from Mitchell Johnson, a devastatingly commanding 116 from Mike Hussey, and a series of English performances that appeared laced with fatigue after an intense campaign that is set to reach a crescendo in front of a near-capacity 90,000 MCG crowd on Boxing Day.

It's a scenario that Andy Flower, England's coach, set out to treat with his customary phlegmatic attitude, even though he himself admitted his surprise at the size and the nature of England's trouncing at the WACA. But the issue of battle-weariness is clearly one that needs to be carefully handled in the coming days, as England's cricketers try to rouse themselves for the biggest challenge of their careers to date, at precisely the moment that - subconsciously at least - one or two might have envisaged an easing-off of the pressure with the Ashes already in the bag.

"That's just reality. We lost in three-and-a-half days; we can't get away from it," said Flower. "So we move on to use our time as wisely as possible. Today is an off-day for the players - they've been working hard throughout this tour - and we will use it as a rest day. It is a tough schedule, but international schedules around the world are tough these days. Everyone will get weary at some stage, but you've just got to deal with it."

With a travel day in prospect on Tuesday, and two further days of relative down-time anticipated in Melbourne before training resumes in earnest on Christmas Eve, England's management clearly feel that a chance for some rest and reflection is the best way to rally the team ahead of the final two Tests. James Anderson has reported stiffness in his side since his exertions at Perth, which followed his 48 hours in the air for the birth of his daughter, while the series leading wicket-taker, Steven Finn, looked especially fatigued while going at five an over in the match.

"A five-Test series is hard on everyone, both physically and emotionally, and for the fast bowlers more so," said Flower. "I think Steven Finn has done really well. For a 21-year-old to come into an Ashes series in Australia, he's handled himself superbly, and he's taken a lot of wickets in three Test matches. I think we expect a lot of these young men, to come in and shoulder quite a lot of responsibility - and I think he's done that really well."

Nevertheless, with Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad both demonstrating good rhythm in their two warm-up appearances at Hobart and Melbourne, the prospect of fresh legs in the seam attack is a distinct possibility for the fourth Test. Flower refused to get drawn on the specifics of selection so far out from the start of the match, but ruled out any prospect of Bresnan being chosen as a fifth bowler in place of the out-of-form Paul Collingwood, who has made 99 runs in his last nine Test innings.

"We've got a few days now to reassess before Melbourne, and we'll pick the 11 we think have the best chance of winning," he said. "The workload on the bowlers is heavy, and in the absence of a quality allrounder, we are sticking with a four-bowler attack. We've shown over the last 18 months it's served us well, so that's what we'll be doing. But of course, tactically, we will adjust for Melbourne. It's a different set of circumstances."

An added burden for England's pacemen at the WACA was the lack of control that Graeme Swann was able to exert. On a wicket that did not suit his style whatsoever, he bowled just nine overs for 51 in England's second innings, as Hussey set out to dominate him from the word go. Flower, however, disagreed with the notion that Swann had been intimidated by a player who has now amassed 517 runs in five innings this series, and backed him to bounce back on friendlier surfaces at Melbourne and Sydney.

"Without a doubt he can come back," said Flower. "We'd have expected a guy of his quality to affect the momentum a little more, but once we got on that pitch we all noticed it was tricky facing the quicks. The bounce was aiding them, and there wasn't much turn there for him, so it was a difficult task. That certainly affected the whole momentum of the game, but I don't blame him for that at all, it was a tough ask. Melbourne is a different set of conditions, we don't know exactly what they will be yet, we'll find out when we arrive there in the next couple of days."

"He got [Hussey] in the first innings of this Test, so I'd be surprised if Swann got intimidated by him," added Flower. "He played him well, and he's a good player of spin, but I wouldn't agree with that statement. He's used all of his experience in this Test series so far, and has played superbly - and we give him a lot of credit for that, of course. We have to look at the way we're going to attack him, and will do that prior to this Test match.

"We all know how quickly things can turn around," added Flower. "We've just seen a very good example of it in a team sense between Adelaide and here. The same thing can happen with individuals. He'll be trying his darnedest to keep that form going; we want to try to burst it."

Flower did concede that the prospect of a promotion in the batting order for Ian Bell, England's classiest strokemaker in the series to date, is very much on the cards for Melbourne "We're always looking at ways to improve our side," he said. "Ian Bell looks in very good form, very confident - and has played beautifully throughout this tour. Jiggling with batting orders and personnel is always an option. You also have to be careful about altering a side that has been very successful over the last 18 months, but those options are always open."

The simple truth is that England will need to raise their game ten-fold if they are to re-establish their mastery on a series that all going totally to plan at the end of the Adelaide Test. "This was always going to be a fight, and it would have been naive to think otherwise," said Flower. "Coming to Australia to win is a huge challenge - we knew that at the start. We played some very good cricket in the first two Tests, but didn't here - and were outplayed. We're back to evens."

Amid all the excitement about Australia's revival came the suggestion that they had ramped up their aggression levels, both physically and verbally since the start of the series, particularly in the case of the previously off-colour Johnson. Flower, however, dismissed that suggestion. "I would expect any side to be aggressive in any Test match," he said. "The bottom line is delivering skills, and we didn't do that well enough in this Test. The way we will prepare for Melbourne is we expect the ball to swing - and we also expect us to play it better."