On Remembrance Sunday, the sun went down on England's slim hopes in the first Test. But in truth, this was just the end of the end. The beginning of the end came on Thursday morning, when England compounded their captain's unfathomable error by bowling and fielding like novices. This Australian side does not do draws, and Queensland currently does not do rain - from that first day on, the end of the beginning of the series was a formality.

Even after a glorious fightback on the second day, England were still comfortably off the pace. Their performance on this fourth day has, therefore, to be taken in context. A batting effort of Johannesburgean proportions was required to haul England to safety - unfortunately, rather than Mike Atherton's Chateau Lafite 1995-96, the only vintage on offer was the 2-for-4-and-all-that Retsina of 1999-2000.

Then, as now, the key opener was dismissed second ball. Then, as now, four of the top six contributed one run between them. Then, as now, Alec Stewart received a first-ball duck. And then, as must be the case now, England put the experience behind them and moved on to the second Test with purpose and discipline. It is not out of the question - under Nasser Hussain, England have lost by an innings in the first Tests against West Indies in 2000 and Sri Lanka in 2000-01, and still recovered to take the series. To do so against Australia would be an extraordinary achievement, but then, nobody has ever pretended otherwise ...

England have been passing 500 for fun in the past year, so to be skittled for their lowest score in Australia for 99 years is more than a little embarrassing and, on the same day that Darren Gough was ruled out of the entire series, a potentially devastating blow to morale. But the top six still pick themselves - to dwell on the final denouement would detract from the areas where England have real problems.

They may have been a major cog short of a fully-operational unit, but England put in another defunct bowling performance in the morning session. Matthew Hoggard was as short and wide as David Boon, Craig White once again demonstrated that he cannot justify his place as a batsman or a bowler alone, while Andrew Caddick went missing again after a fiery effort on Saturday evening. Only Ashley Giles fully justified his selection - a worry in itself - as Australia cavorted towards a mid-afternoon declaration.

England haven't a prayer in this series unless they can get stuck into the Australian middle order - which, even in a defeat of this magnitude, has displayed an element of fallibility. Steve Waugh in particular is batting from memory - and a scarred one at that - but unless England find the right combination, the likes of Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting will keep the inner sanctum out of reach.

The first imperative is to throw Alex Tudor straight into the fray, preferably with the new ball. Hussain has admitted he was wrong once this series - he must now do so again, and overlook the worthy but unproven Steve Harmison. Tudor has a wicket-taking ability that the Australians know and fear - and as an bonus, he can bat.

Hoggard has been England's best bowler of the last 12 months, and though he was found out in this game much as Angus Fraser was in 1998-99, he must be persisted with. England are going to need his never-say-die attitude in the coming months, and he has bounced back from ignominy before - most notably against Sri Lanka last summer. As for Caddick, his infuriatingly hot-and-cold performance has shown once again that he cannot lead the line. Maybe if he is relegated to third seamer, he will be stung into a performance of pride.

Andrew Miller is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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