Sport 25-11-2002 Ashes: Axe Hussain Before It`s Too Late who: England cricket team what: Lose second Ashes Test on fourth day where: Adelaide, Australia when: Yesterday snippet: "The knives were out for Nasser Hussain," reports The Mirror today, "as he conducted his post-mortem on another shattering England defeat - even if it was only the catering staff rounding up cutlery in the VIP tent. But if there is more Ashes carnage in Perth, where the third Test begins on Friday, next time it could be the real thing." After crumbling in Brisbane, England`s Ashes campaign failed yet again in Adelaide, where Australia "only needed to bat once before blowing them away by an innings and 51 runs," says The Independent, whose commentator Angus Fraser predicts that unless the skipper "can motivate his squad to produce one of the most remarkable turnaround`s in the history of the game, the Ashes are gone." "Nasser Hussain must be axed as England captain BEFORE the Third Ashes Test starting on Friday," says The Sun. "That was the brutal verdict of former Australian pace star Merv Hughes after he watched England crash to a humiliating innings defeat yesterday in the Second Test." "England`s selectors would do well to think about another captain at Perth," says Hughes. "Nasser Hussain has fired all his shots and is firing blanks. He virtually gave up." "As England travel wearily to Perth, they may take some comfort from the fact they are being outplayed by a team that is one of the greatest the game has seen," writes Paul Kelso in The Guardian, "ranked by some alongside Bradman`s 1948 `Invincibles` and the West Indian sides that dominated the 1980s." [... more]

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