England's dramatic defeat in the second Ashes test prompted a chorus of discontent from the British media lamenting a return to the dark old days on Wednesday.

"Chokers", ran the Daily Mail banner headline. "It took England 16 years to regain the Ashes - these men gave them back yesterday in two hours of schoolboy panic."

"England lose the test that no one could lose," said the back page of The Sun while the Daily Express headline read: "England left in state of shock".

The Daily Telegraph chimed in with "England collapse brings point of no return" and The Times added: "England punished after hour of madness."

The Express said: "There have been some depressing days for England since they last won the Ashes in Australia 20 years ago, but few have matched yesterday in Adelaide for the mood of utter despair that settled on Andrew Flintoff's team."

The British media had been confident of an England victory after the first day, writing off experienced bowlers Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath who struggled in England's huge first- innings total of 551 for six declared.

With Australia making a remarkable recovery, however, the papers were forced to make a rapid reassessment as England face up to the challenge of fighting back from 2-0 down starting with the third test in Perth.

"It is a long way to Perth from just about anywhere in Australia, but England face an even greater journey when they get there after losing their second successive Ashes test in crushing circumstances," the Telegraph said.

Former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott said in his Telegraph column: "Make no mistake about it, the Ashes are gone. If you support England, don't kid yourself that they might come back. No England team in history have recovered from 2-0 down against Australia. And let's face it, on current form, this is not a side capable of making history."

Warne's compelling display brought a raft of praise.

"Shane Warne messed with the minds of England's batsmen so completely they were stripped of their sanity, spirit and spine," The Sun said.

"Warne is cricket's Peter Pan, the King of Neverland who reduced England to nothing less than a collective nervous breakdown," the Independent's James Lawton wrote.

The Times said the defeat exposed failings in England's management.

"There are failures of leadership behind England's approach, no matter how difficult it was to get on top of Shane Warne's bowling yesterday and how excellent Australia's cricket was throughout the final day," the paper said.

Greatest win

Down under, Australian media on Wednesday hailed their team's extraordinary victory in the second Ashes test and lambasted England for their shocking last-day collapse.

"Best Ever", screamed the backpage headline in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, describing the six-wicket win by Ricky Ponting's team as the greatest in Australian cricket history.

"In a single afternoon, the mighty Australian cricket machine not only crushed England's hopes of winning the second test yesterday - they buried their dreams of winning the Ashes," Robert Craddock wrote in the paper.

With the match apparently heading for a certain draw after four days, England collapsed to 129 all out and Australia romped to a victory target of 168 to take a 2-0 lead in the series as they bid to win back the Ashes.

"Take That Poms," was the headline on the front page of the same paper, while the Sydney Morning Herald said simply: "How could it be? England falls apart."

Herald columnist Peter Roebuck praised the contribution of the experienced Australian players, particularly bowlers Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, who were described as "Dad's Army" in an English tabloid newspaper before the series.

"Against all the odds, against all prediction, Ricky Ponting's side had secured a great victory," Roebuck wrote.

"So much for Dad's Army. The victory owed most to the sides's supposedly fading champions. Seldom have two ageing masters raged as strongly against the dying of their light as did Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath in England's second innings."

The Australian's Mike Coward pulled no punches in his description of England's collapse on the final day in a column under the headline: "Holders of urn exposed as impostors in ultimate arena".

"England's ineptitude was staggering," Coward wrote. "Its cricket yesterday was as uneducated as it was unedifying and its defeat among the most humiliating in the annals of the game."

(China Daily December 7, 2006)