Andrew Strauss has vowed to fight on as England's one-day captain despite a sixth straight loss to Australia which has left his side facing a record series defeat
If England are beaten in the final NatWest Series game at Chester-le-Street on Sunday, it would seal a7-0 whitewash for the Aussies — a scoreline which England have never suffered in a one day-series.
Yesterday's 111-run defeat at Trent Bridge was probably the worst of the lot, with England displaying such ineptitude with bat and ball that Sri Lanka, South Africa and New Zealand — their opponents in the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy — must have been rubbing their hands with glee.
In contrast to the Test arena, Strauss has been unable to find a winning formula in 50-over cricket, but he insisted: "If anything, this makes me more determined to make a very strong effort to turn things around. I am more motivated than ever by that.
"What will solve this is a couple of guys standing up and showing the necessary character to turn things around. With each game that passes, the pressure grows for someone to do that.
"The simple fact is that we need to improve, and we need to improve very quickly."
The England skipper can at least point to poor umpiring for his duck yesterday, with Asid Rauf giving the England skipper out, caught behind, despite the ball clearly coming off his shoulder.
