Sport 24-06-2005 who: England cricket team what: Lose to Australia by 57 runs in NatWest International Triangular Series where: CHESTER LE STREET when: Thursday snippet: "This was Australia, if not in excelsis, then far better than they have been since arriving here 18 days ago," says The Telegraph`s Derek Pringle. "The batting, with the return of Andrew Symonds, clicked enough to score 266". The Times says England "collapsed to six for three and the first, long-awaited partnership in an international match between Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen lasted only 14 balls". Up until then, England couldn`t stop winning. Last Sunday in Bristol they beat Australia by three wickets thanks in no small part to Kevin Pietersen`s 91 not out off 65 balls. On Tuesday at Trent Bridge, they beat Bangladesh by 168 runs in a record-breaking game in which Durham`s Paul Collingwood scored the second-fastest century by an Englishman (from just 77 balls) and then recorded England`s best bowling figures ever, says the BBC. He also became the first man to score a century and take six wickets in a one-day international. "Collingwood hit 112 not out, sharing a stand of 210 with Andrew Strauss as England tallied a national record 391-4 in the day-night match." England will hope to return to their winning streak when they play Bangladesh again at Headingley on Sunday. Incidentally, for the benefit anyone wondering why the headlines about the Aussie victory all contain the word "ghost", it all stems from a story in The Sun which reckons the team`s accommodation - Lumley Castle Hotel in Chester-le-Street - is haunted by the ghost of a 14th Century aristocrat. [... more]

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