No light at end of Ashes tunnel

Australia's annihilation at Lord's was slammed by the country's cricket writers on Monday, and its chances of winning a solitary Test on its tour of England all but written off.

With eight more Ashes Tests looming over the next six months, three more in England and five back Down Under, the influential Malcolm Conn was again driven to ponder whether this was the worst Australian team to ever travel to England.

"On the back of a depressing 347-run, four-day defeat in the second Test at Lord's, this side may well lose all five. It is already 2-0 down," Conn wrote in his column in News Ltd newspapers.