Can England avoid a whitewash?

If you'd said to me two months ago that England will be going into the final test at Sydney, starting in a few hours' time, on the verge of a series whitewash, I would have said "get real"!

But it will take either a very brave or stupid man to bet against it being the outcome in 5 days' time or perhaps even a lot sooner. England seems to be in disarray at the moment. It often ends up being the visiting team though. Trott went home soon after arriving on the Australian shores, Swann quit halfway through, Prior, the vice-captain, got dropped, Cook, the captain, is in desperate need of runs, although he's not the only one and the list of problems just goes on and on.

We might well see a few changes in the lineup today. There are talks of Monty struggling with an injury which may well make room for Scott Borthwick. That won't harm the batting lineup and might be a welcoming addition for a team struggling to score 400.

Will we see Boyd Rankin make his debut and wouldn't it be rather ironic if he ends up doing well on a wicket probably least suited to him on this tour? There might even be room for Gary Ballance which could mean 3 debutants for England! Who would have thought! Australia on the other hand might actually go in to the test with the same 11 that started every single test this series, for the first time in their history.

Whatever the outcome of this 5th and final test, England need to regroup. One often forgets the credit due to a team responsible for another's failures, in this case Australia. It wasn't all that long ago when they, themselves, were in a mess and every non Australian thoroughly enjoyed every defeat they suffered. But they stuck with their players and today they're reeping the rewards. 

It will be interesting to see whether England do the same or whether a lot of changes get made. One thing is sure, Swann and Trott's absence, should he not return, will leave a big hole in a team who wasn't all that long ago No.1 in the world.