Monday December 20

THE ASHES: The Daily Mirror’s Ian Botham believes England showed themselves to be one-trick ponies in Perth and they need to learn fast. In The Daily Telegraph Shane Warne hopes the performance will have hopefully killed off talk of his return to Test cricket. With these two sides you never know what’s going to happen. Michael Vaughan says he had a sense that England were a bit cocky. The defeat will inject a bit of realism. In The Times Mike Atherton reminds us that Perth was always going to represent Australia's best chance of success. In The Guardian Duncan Fletcher thinks England lost because they were not able to repeat the ruthlessness they showed in the first two tests. Vic Marks believes Ricky Ponting will play in Melbourne despite his injury.The Daily Mail’s Paul Newman still thinks England will take the series 3-1. Martin Samuel says that winning in Australia is not a step on the road but a destination in itself. Nasser Hussain believes it is time that England learned how to win ugly. The Independent’s James Lawton says England now have to do rather more than merely hang on to the Ashes in Melbourne and Sydney. Peter Roebuck says the Australians regained their confidence by daring to play trademark confrontational cricket. Will Hawkes thinks the Test was an orgy of bitching and abuse. In The Daily Express Jim Holden thinks Andrew Strauss should change the batting order with Ian Bell moving up and Kevin Pietersen down.

FOOTBALL: In The Daily Telegraph Alan Hansen says he salutes Sir Alex Ferguson’s new record as Manchester United’s longest-serving manager but he rates Bob Paisley above the Scot. In The Times Patrick Barclay argues that a mid-season World Cup in Qatar could be beneficial to England. Gabrielle Marcotti thinks Rafa Benitez's power play with Massimo Moratti, the Inter Milan owner, was unnecessary and counter-productive. Simon Barnes thinks that the more money handed to Carlos Tevez, the more he has revealed inner tosser. The Independent’s Sam Wallace explains why Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan chose to revive the fortunes of Manchester City rather than Everton. The Sun’s Steven Howard believes the demand for a winter break has now become deafening. In The Daily Express John Dillon thinks Sam Allardyce has become victim to one of the English game’s new developments – the involvement of a foreign agency in running top clubs. The Daily Mail’s Martin Samuel says West Ham manager Avram Grant should be sacked.

RUGBY UNION: In The Daily Telegraph Brian Moore thinks the Heineken Cup games delivered good rugby, despite difficult conditions.

RACING: The Sun’s Trevor Clements says BBC Sport Personality of the Year Tony McCoy may not think he’s a legend but anybody who’s ever placed a bet does. In The Daily Telegraph JA McGrath believes that for many in racing there was no surprise in Nic Coward resigning as chief executive of the British Horseracing Board last week.

QUOTE: ‘Now is not a time to panic’ – England cricket captain Andrew Strauss