England's misery prolonged after T20 loss.

Bopara's efforts were in vain as England suffered another defeat at the hands of Australia. 

If this were a boxing match, the referee would have called time a while ago now, but when you commit yourself to a tour, no such luxury exists.

England's woes down-under seem to have lasted a lifetime, with Australia emerging comprehensive victors in whichever format of the game is put in front of them.

Yesterday's T20 match, whilst somewhat trivial, served only to increase this misery with England suffering a 13-run defeat, a margin which would have been much larger were it not for Ravi Bopara's efforts, who recorded the fastest half-century by and England player in an International T20.

Selection has been a major talking point over the past few weeks. In hindsight, it is fair to say that a number of players in the England squad have failed to deliver and that major changes need to be made, assuming the players are available to do so.

Using the shortest form of the game as an example, England do not seem to have acknowledged the players who are waiting in the wings. Of course, the recent emergence of Chris Jordan would suggest otherwise, but even he is a player who might benefit from more time in county cricket.

In order to get my point across I will throw Ben Stokes' name in to the frame. One of the rare highlights of this tour, Stokes has exceeded expectations and almost certainly secured a future with the England set-up due to his all-round potential.

However, in Durham's title-winning season, the 22-year-old averaged just 27.95 with the bat, an average which was beaten in both limited overs campaigns.

I am therefore confused as to why Stokes was not in yesterday's squad, along with a number of players better suited to the game than Joe Root, including Michael Carberry, James Vince, or Scott Borthwick.

If Stokes is being rested then I am worried for the rest of our squad who are, in the majority, much older than him.

T20 captain Stuart Broad defended this omission stating that: "Ben has been a form player, but in T20 over the last 18 months we've done some wonderful things."

Consistency is an important thing in sport but we'll reassess; when you lose games you've got to find a way to win." 

The latter half of his statement suggests that Stokes may be included in the second T20 match but the expression 'too little too late' comes to mind. 

In many ways, watching Aaron Finch bat yesterday reminded me of a boxing match. But at least boxing has a weight system to match opponents of a similar calibre.

England's slow start with the bat proved costly, but with three Big Bash batsmen at the top of the order, a fast start ought to have been on the cards.

As a result, the efforts of Bopara were in vain, with the Essex all-rounder striking boundaries and simultaneously increasing the required run rate.

Having said all of that, T20 is trivial, in the wider context of this tour and the England camp know that losing the Ashes in the manner they did effectively ended the tour before a box of white balls could be opened.