England will face Australia in the sixth game of the seven ODI series with a hope of winning at least one game quickly diminishing. With the score line reading 5-0 in the favour of the Aussies, and the revenge on their minds - for that Ashes loss - it seems highly unlikely that the hosts possess any character to bounce back from this series of losses.

For England to hold even an outside chance, many, if not all the following things will need to go right.

For starters, their batsmen will need to score runs and continue doing that. In short, they not only need a good start, but also will require to carry on batting in a manner akin to the Aussie counterparts - without getting out before converting it into a big one. Far too many English batsmen have already been getting out to scores of around 30s and 40s and that is being the cause for concern for the English side.

The hosts will also need to field a little better. In fact, make it a lot better, given that a team full of under-13s would probably have done a better job with their ground fielding than this side. Far too many balls were allowed to pass by and the captain Andrew Strauss could only gape in shock - the expressions said it all. Luckily no catch was put down, but that could happen as well, as contagious is this disease.

The bowling was inconsistent. Agreed that Ricky Ponting played a gem and Clarke supported him to the tee, but that does not exonerate the bowlers from bowling the leg-side deliveries to the batsmen. Even if an over would not go for runs in the first four or five balls, the last delivery would invariably be sent to its rightful place. And that will need to change quickly for the hosts.

The Aussies have done almost everything right so far. In fact, despite the absence of Brett Lee in the side, they managed to restrict the English side to 299, where a total of 325 looked par for the course. Lee could return in the next game, and this should go well for the Aussies - especially during the middle overs, when the English batsmen were able to move the ball around very easily for runs. Lee's rest was a surprising given that he had only just taken a five-wicket haul, and would have looked like being in a good form.

The batsmen have looked good with the exception of Michael Hussey, who could be replaced by James Hopes if Lee is given a prolonged rest - in order to stuff their bowling line-up. To me 6-0 looks on cards unless England can pull out a rabbit.

Tag :- Andrew Strauss   Ashes   Australia   Brett Lee   England   James Hopes   Michael Hussey   Ricky Ponting