Englandhave Ashes heroes, watchedsofar BOTHAM

ENGLAND’S efforts so far on this Ashes tour have left me bitterly disappointed and deflated.

I thought they had a great chance of taking it to an Australian team that isn’t a vintage one by any means, but they haven’t competed well enough for long enough.

It is no good being in the game for a day or two or even three. Test match cricket demands you stay in it for five days and we just haven’t seen that yet.

It is all well and good Joe Root and Dawid Malan batting beautifully on the fourth evening under lights, but they both had to be there in the morning and back it up.

Somehow they have to draw a line under another defeat and decide how they want this tour to be remembered, how they want to be remembered, because they have one last chance to be heroes.

Not many people get the opportunity to play Ashes cricket for their country out here, and even fewer get to enjoy that feeling of winning.

I promise you it is the greatest feeling you can have in the game. It stays with you for the rest of your life and it is what people remember.

So this team have to realise their window is closing, they are in the last-chance saloon. Lose in Perth and the Ashes are gone and the possibility of another whitewash just doesn’t bear thinking about.

Now is the time to deliver. There is no choice. There are no more games to claw it back. There are no more second chances.

And they have to do it on one of the toughest stages around at the WACA, but that must not put them off.

The pressure is on Australia to deliver a fitting farewell to that ground and they will be feeling it.

England need to find a big first-innings score and go from there. It doesn’t matter who stands up to make that score, but someone has to. There have been glimpses from all the batsmen, but no one has really clicked.

Maybe they need to tinker with the batting order to make it more robust.

Jonny Bairstow (left) looks to be finding his feet and maybe he could break up the left-handers to make life harder for Nathan Lyon (inset, top), who is bowling well but has life too easy right now.

I also think Alastair Cook (above, centre) is due a big one. We’re back to proper Test cricket with a red ball and that should suit him.

Don’t forget he scored his first Ashes ton in Perth back in 2006 – now would be a great time to get another.

Perth has seen some fine individual performances over the years such as a first ton by Ben Stokes (inset) four years ago, which only serves to remind us what a shame it is he isn’t here.

I can’t understand why the ECB have kept him in limbo for so long. He is innocent until proven otherwise and should be playing for England.

If he can play for Canterbury, he can play for England. I just don’t see what good it does having him elsewhere.