Cricket: "Australia Targetting flaws of Collingwood : Hughes"

Trott, in fact, acquitted himself rather well. Coming in just after 3pm following the tame dismissal of Paul Collingwood, Trott marched to the middle with intent and, after taking time to compose himself, leapt into a committed forward defensive stroke to his first ball from Peter Siddle.

He was equally alert to the next couple of deliveries which were fast and aimed into his ribs. Jumping back and across he rose athletically onto his toes to play the ball down and to safety, and though he was almost run-out seeking his first run from the second, as the short-leg retrieved and shied, his method in those first three balls was a deal more reassuring than Ian Bell's or Collingwood's.

It was a day of numbing realism for England supporters watching England flailing in the Oval dust bowl as a fish might flounder in a sandpit. Only one wicket, Trott's as it happens, was not presented to the bowlers.

The rest succumbed in a hail of ill-conceived shots. The pitch was clearly not as flat as it looked but the ease with which Trott dealt with an honest but hardly terrifying Australian attack suggests that a first innings score of 400-plus was essential.

Collingwood's dismissal was especially disappointing. After his double failure at Headingley he elected not to play for Durham. That was his prerogative, and it is well known that players in such demand, like Collingwood, feel the need to mentally relax between Tests.

But Collingwood hasn't contributed a three figure innings in any cricket since the West Indies series in March and you can lose the knack and rhythm to make substantial scores.

His batting looked bereft on Thursday of anything but its admirable grit and determination. The backlift is lower than ever, the shot range increasingly limited. It is sad to see a player who was so adaptable and resourceful a few years ago materialise into an awkward scrapper.

The Australians know his bottom hand is so dominant he finds it very difficult to score on the offside. Ricky Ponting was even provocatively mimicking his ugly, drive-choking method from second slip.

It means they can bowl in a channel outside off stump with no fear of being hurt by him. He is obliged to wait for something on the stumps that he can then chisel for runs on the legside. And the Australians weren't in an obliging mood. They strayed only three times from the plan in an hour and a half of Collingwood doggedness.

There were three nurdled boundaries, but otherwise it was an innings of jerky survival, including an apparent edge to the keeper which the umpire didn't pick up, and occasional wafts at thin air.

One of those wafts was at Peter Siddle, to a ball on a good length a little wide of the stumps. Collingwood, on 24, had only managed two scoring shots in half an hour and went after it with an undignified flail. He missed it and we breathed a sigh of relief and convinced ourselves that it was the bit of luck he needed.

But he attempted the same shot to an identical delivery next ball and sliced to gully. It was a tame end. Significantly, it was the sixth time in eight dismissals in the series that he has been caught behind the wicket.

It is a tale of a struggling batsman running out of time. But, knowing Collingwood's appetite for a fight, you'd be a fool to label this the final chapter.