LEEDS // The post-mortem had started long before Mitchell Johnson claimed the final England wicket to condemn the hosts to a humiliating defeat.
The inexplicable weak capitulation of England's batting line up in the first session at Headingley left captain Andrew Strauss in a near impossible situation.
Now, with just one opportunity left to repeat the triumph of 2005 and snatch the Ashes away from Australia, Strauss faces more questions than answers.
While the tourists now head to Canterbury for a two-day practice game against the England Lions next weekend, Strauss may look to the same part of the country for inspiration.
That inspiration will be at Edgbaston, leading Kent out in their third successive Twenty20 Cup Finals day and Strauss is now hoping some of that magic can rub off on his England side.
When Robert Key starred in the all-conquering England Under-19 team in 1998, the Kent batsman was marked down for greatness.
Despite his indulging in one or too many cakes during afternoon tea, he was seen as a future England star and leader in the making. His 221 against the West Indies at Lord's in July 2004 proved to be his moment of fame but his inability to shine on the 2005 tour to South Africa ultimately cost him his opportunity.
Marcus Trescothick and Graham Thorpe returned to the team following their respective lay-offs and Key bowed out after making 153 runs in six innings four years ago.
Much has changed since then and Key - slimmer, hungrier and fitter than ever before - is set to be called upon to solve England's chronic batting problems.
His captaincy is admired by many of those in the game and he was close to being named as England's captain for the recent Twenty20 World Cup until Paul Collingwood was eventually appointed.
Key, a natural No 3 in comparison to the out-of-form Ravi Bopara, will provide more balance and experience and crucially more runs as England go in search of victory at the Oval.
Quite simply, England cannot afford to shirk the judgement calls any longer and the ruthlessness which Australia showed in dropping Phillip Hughes must now be replicated.
Bell portrayed a meek presence at the crease and was easy prey for an Australian bowling attack which feeds off fear. Key, who is likely to be joined by Warwickshire's Jonathan Trott, will at least add some much-needed presence to a middle-order whose soft centre was blatantly exposed.
Trott was unfortunate to miss out at Headingley and his county form surely merits the opportunity to take a step up to Test match level.
With Kevin Pietersen ruled out of the series with an Achilles injury and Andrew Flintoff still fighting to be fit for the Oval, England need to bolster their batting options and regain their balance.
The suggestions that there could be a shock return for Mark Ramprakash only serve to illustrate the growing panic within the England camp.
A move to persuade Marcus Trescothick out of international retirement has already been discarded with the former opener still suffering with a stress-related illness.
The problem for Strauss is that he is trying to heal a gaping wound when all he has at his disposal is a small and seemingly insufficient plaster.
Options are limited and his decision not to make any "wholesale changes" could be out of compulsion and not entirely on merit.
Therefore, he will, with the exception of dropping Bell and Bopara, will largely be forced to rely on the team who performed so abjectly at Headingley. One slot is reserved for Flintoff if he is fit enough to play.
This game must be treated like a cup final, one where anything can happen and players who previously may not have featured can arrive and write their names into Ashes history.
While the stage is set for Flintoff to bow out of international cricket in the greatest possible way, Strauss must also look towards the likes of Key and Trott to revitalise his ailing side.
Only Strauss can make those changes but, for England's sake, he must hurry.
sports@thenational.ae
When is VAR used?
• Goals
• Penalty decisions
• Direct red-card incidents
• Mistaken identity
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, Group B
Barcelona v Inter Milan
Camp Nou, Barcelona
Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
In the Restaurant: Society in Four Courses
Christoph Ribbat
Translated by Jamie Searle Romanelli
Pushkin Press
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
SPECS
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
