England coach Duncan Fletcher, a hero last year when his team regained the Ashes, was blamed on Saturday for their miserable performances on the current tour of Australia.

England, 2-0 down after as many games in the five-test series, now face defeat in the third test in Perth after they were set 557 to win and keep the series alive on the third day.

"Everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong for Fletcher on this most momentous of Ashes tours, to the point where the same people who wanted him knighted 15 months ago are calling for his head," wrote Pat Gibson in The Times.

Gibson said England were wrong to burden all rounder Andrew Flintoff with the captaincy when Andrew Strauss could have done the job just as well.

He criticised the decision to leave left-arm spinner Monty Panesar out of the first two tests in favour of Ashley Giles and described as "extraordinary" the decision to reinstate Geraint Jones ahead of Chris Read as England wicketkeeper.

"There is still time to rectify the omission because there are two tests to go, but by then it will probably be too late," Gibson said.

"And what have England got to look forward to after that? The World Cup. Perhaps it is better not to mention England's record under Fletcher in one-day cricket."

Writing in The Independent, James Lawton said the selection of Giles had been an "atrocious decision" while Jones was a "mediocre gloveman of catastrophically dwindling batting standards".

"Fletcher...has been out-thought, outplanned, outmotivated," Lawton said.

Lawton said England needed to emulate Australia's professionalism and determination.

"What will it take?," he said. "A new coach, surely, and a firmer understanding that true champions take nothing for granted, least of all their own publicity."