England lose one-day series against Australia

ENGLAND produced a pathetic batting performance as they surrendered the one-day series with two matches still to play.

For Andrew Strauss and his team, it is clear three months of travelling, living out of suitcases and relentless cricket have taken a heavy toll.As they succumbed to a string of inexplicable shots, it looked like somebody had sucked every drop of energy and spirit from their bodies.Chris Woakes had the thrill of a record-breaking performance as his 6-45 became the best ODI figures by an England bowler on foreign soil.But it was scant consolation for a side crushed by 51 runs to trail the series against Australia 4-1 with matches in Sydney and Perth to come.England would love to fly home right now - after all, they did not ask Andy Murray to play the final two sets after he lost 3-0. But they must soldier on for another week.They suffered two more injuries with Ajmal Shahzad (hamstring) and Chris Tremlett (side) doubtful for the final matches. England might have to call up another quick bowler.Kevin Pietersen, who is more keen than most to jet home, was sucked into a nasty verbal exchange with Aussie wicketkeeper Brad Haddin.Pietersen spooned an attempted pull shot to mid-on and Haddin, brave man, felt the need to make a comment as he departed.KP's response lasted two words - the second of which was "off".He might have expected a warmer reception after his online auction of Ashes goodies and tickets raised around 30,000 for the Queensland Flood Relief fund - even though the top bid turned out to be a fake.This match was a giant fundraiser for the victims of the flood which engulfed the state earlier this month.Several million pounds were raised, mainly from corporate donations although the players did their bit. Captain Strauss dare not admit his team are fatigued because it will give his players a ready-made excuse for their recent failings. But he knows it is the case.He said: "I accept it is the end of a long tour but, when you go over that white line, it is about winning."! You can be as tired as you like sitting in your hotel room but during the game there's no place for it."We have a lot of cricket ahead of us and if guys are starting to think about being tired, it would be dangerous. I will certainly be warning players off that."We must take our medicine and try to remedy it for the final two games and, hopefully, get some momentum for the World Cup."It's a massive event and we're excited. It should give us a big lift."

Advertisement England's batting has been poor throughout this series. Jonathan Trott made a century in Adelaide but was out first ball yesterday.Pietersen has been inconsistent while Ian Bell, Strauss and Paul Collingwood have all struggled to varying degrees. England restricted the Aussies to 249 and should have been able to chase down their target - or at least make a decent fist of it.The batsmen needed only to stay calm enough to work the ball around and keep wickets intact.Instead, they tried to blast their way to victory.By the time they thought about taking their batting power play, the score was 145-9!Woakes could not claim to have bowled brilliantly, although he produced a peach to have Cameron White caught behind.No, Australia helpfully kept hitting the ball straight to the fielders and the catches were gobbled.Right-armer Woakes said: "The ball seemed to go in their direction more times than not. Fortunately for me I picked up six - on another day you get none."Only Collingwood, who took 6-31 against Bangladesh at Trent Bridge in 2005, has better figures for England in a one-day international.Woakes, in case you had forgotten, is not in the 15-man World Cup squad.