England collapse sparks uproar

What a difference a day makes. With their side seemingly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory on day three at the MCG, the English press have gone from cheerleaders to executioners in the space of 24 hours.

Spared from the guillotine – for one of the few times in recent memory – has been Kevin Pietersen, whose second-innings 49 was made as wickets tumbled recklessly around him.

“Kevin Pietersen tried his best but England produced another pathetic, brainless batting performance to all but hand Australia the Fourth Test on a plate,” wrote John Etheridge in The Sun.

“Why on earth couldn’t any other batsman stay with Pietersen for a prolonged period of time?”

In the Mirror, Dean Wilson followed a similar theme.

“England's Ashes humiliation was aided and abetted by their own abject ability with the bat on a horror day at the MCG,” Wilson wrote.

“If day two was their best of the series then day three had to be a good contender for the worst.

“It is as if England's batsmen have challenged themselves to produce the worst batting display of all time on this tour and with each match look to go one better.”

Former Test captain Mike Atherton, writing for The Times, described the English capitulation as “Some of the worst batting on a tour that has plumbed the depths of bad batting”.

“To be bowled out by Mitchell Johnson at Perth is one thing, but to be undone by Nathan Lyon on a pitch where the ball did not spin an inch reflects an entirely different level of incompetence.”

Another from the ex-captains club, Michael Vaughan, was equally scathing in his assessment of the implosion.

"It's just not good enough,” Vaughan told BBC Sport. “Some of those decisions they made today are just not to a high enough standard.

"That was the worst display of the series. The real disappointment is that, for the first time in the series, England were well on top … some of the shot selection was terrible.

"There are many people having a go at the batting coach Graham Gooch, but don't give the players an excuse. It's the players that go out there and make the decisions.

"You can't make those mistakes and continue to make those mistakes. You do it once or twice fair enough, but to do it four or five times within a five-match series … they are just not thinking correctly."

Last word goes to Peter Hayter of the Daily Mail, who joined the chorus of disapproval as England plummeted towards a 4-0 Ashes scoreline.

“England had produced some beauties before they arrived in Melbourne: six for nine runs and seven for 49 in the first Test in Brisbane and four for six in Adelaide the best of them,” Hayter wrote.

“But losing three wickets for one run in six balls, then squandering their last five for six runs in a sorry, overall surrender of eight wickets for seven runs, when attempting to convert a first innings lead of 51 into a match-winning position was something else.

“And no matter how the rest of the series pans out here and in Sydney next week, the manner of so many of the dismissals, ranging from the brainless to the brain-dead, not only indicates just how mentally shot Alastair Cook’s men are but how much work is required to fashion a side capable of winning back the urn in 18 months’ time.”