By . Ricky Ponting . PUBLISHED: . 17:30 EST, 31 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:30 EST, 31 December 2013 . Deep down, England will know it’s going to be hard to avoid the whitewash now. They had a great chance to make it 3-1 in Melbourne, but it was almost as if they had forgotten how to win. When you’re more than 100 ahead with all 10 wickets in hand, you have to think you’re not going to lose from there. Their confidence just seemed shot to pieces. It’s amazing, really, when you think where they were a few months ago. Michael Carberry played an innings that was totally out of character, and Joe Root was just too tentative. You could see them waiting for something to change, but you have to make things changes yourself. People have been getting stuck into Alastair Cook’s captaincy, and I agree that he has to think a bit more outside the box. But he’s had a good bowling attack at his disposal for a while, and generally speaking that means you don’t have to do anything fancy. Despair: Alastair Cook's England team has forgotten how to win and missed a gold chance in Melbourne . Out of character: Michael Carberry wasn't himself and Joe Root was too tentative in the Melbourne Test . What he’s discovering now is that victorious captains rarely get as much credit as they should, while defeated captains get all the flak. I don’t buy into the argument that he’s too nice to be a Test captain - there’s nothing wrong with being nice. But you’ve just got to make sure you stay ahead of the game, and he’s not been able to do that with this team. He’s still young, this is his first series defeat out of six, and there aren’t too many others queuing up to replace him. Let’s give the guy a chance to turn things round. That said, a couple of things have surprised me. It was strange to see Graeme Swann retire in the middle of the series. I don’t know how much his body is hurting him, but I thought he took a potshot or two at his team-mates, especially when he made the point that he couldn’t be expected to bowl so many overs in the second innings with his elbow. To me, that sounded like he felt his batters weren’t giving him enough runs to defend or enough time to recover from the first innings. Who knows, perhaps he was told that he wouldn’t be playing at the MCG and decided to get in there first. I felt that if England were going to . get anything out of the series, their senior players had to stand up as a . unit. That hasn’t happened. I . was also surprised by the decision to drop Matt Prior, especially . because Jonny Bairstow doesn’t look like a long-term choice as . wicketkeeper. Why not allow Prior to play until the end of the series, . because I can’t see Bairstow keeping the gloves for England’s first Test . next summer. Strange call: Graeme Swann's retirement came at a curious time and he may have had a dig at his batsmen . Long-term: Matt Prior should have seen out the series, as Jonny Bairstow doesn't look permanent replacement . The question Cook and the selectors will have to ask themselves now is whether they can get another couple of years out of the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Jimmy Anderson, because they’ll want them for the 2015 Ashes. The nucleus is certainly there. As for Australia, it’s been a case of some outstanding individual performances from Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin, with good back-up from David Warner, Michael Clarke and Ryan Harris. Their senior players have seized the moments, and they’ve played good team cricket. It’s going to be fascinating to see . how they fare in South Africa, who have just lost Jacques Kallis and . will start to find soon that life is less straightforward when some of . your best players begin to call it a day. Lethal: Mitchell Johnson has been a stand-out for Australia with 31 wickets in the series so far . Outstanding: Australia's pace spearhead Ryan Harris and keeper-batsman Brad Haddin have been stand-outs . England have experienced that first hand on this tour, whereas Australia feel like a team on the way up (as do India, who have some great young batters). If Harris stays fit in South Africa, where Johnson has had some success in the past, it could be a great shootout between the two sets of fast bowlers. Australia have spoken about regaining the top of the Test rankings, but they have to be realistic about where they’re at. There’s a long way to go, and their first goal has to be to wrap it up 5-0 in Sydney this week. I thought they would be at their most vulnerable at Melbourne, after the euphoria of regaining the Ashes at Perth. But they came through a scare at the MCG, and now they have a great chance to inflict some scars on the England team before the sides next meet in 18 months’ time. Sorry, England, but it’s hard to see it being anything other than 5-0.
The tourists have forgotten how to win in a short few months .
England blew their best chance for a victory in Melbourne .
Alastair Cook should stay captain, no one else is knocking the door down .
Graeme Swann's retirement was strange... he took a potshot at his batsmen .
Matt Prior being dropped for Jonny Bairstow was a surprise .
Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin have been outstanding .
By . Ricky Ponting . PUBLISHED: . 17:30 EST, 31 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:30 EST, 31 December 2013 . Deep down, England will know it’s going to be hard to avoid the whitewash now. They had a great chance to make it 3-1 in Melbourne, but it was almost as if they had forgotten how to win. When you’re more than 100 ahead with all 10 wickets in hand, you have to think you’re not going to lose from there. Their confidence just seemed shot to pieces. It’s amazing, really, when you think where they were a few months ago. Michael Carberry played an innings that was totally out of character, and Joe Root was just too tentative. You could see them waiting for something to change, but you have to make things changes yourself. People have been getting stuck into Alastair Cook’s captaincy, and I agree that he has to think a bit more outside the box. But he’s had a good bowling attack at his disposal for a while, and generally speaking that means you don’t have to do anything fancy. Despair: Alastair Cook's England team has forgotten how to win and missed a gold chance in Melbourne . Out of character: Michael Carberry wasn't himself and Joe Root was too tentative in the Melbourne Test . What he’s discovering now is that victorious captains rarely get as much credit as they should, while defeated captains get all the flak. I don’t buy into the argument that he’s too nice to be a Test captain - there’s nothing wrong with being nice. But you’ve just got to make sure you stay ahead of the game, and he’s not been able to do that with this team. He’s still young, this is his first series defeat out of six, and there aren’t too many others queuing up to replace him. Let’s give the guy a chance to turn things round. That said, a couple of things have surprised me. It was strange to see Graeme Swann retire in the middle of the series. I don’t know how much his body is hurting him, but I thought he took a potshot or two at his team-mates, especially when he made the point that he couldn’t be expected to bowl so many overs in the second innings with his elbow. To me, that sounded like he felt his batters weren’t giving him enough runs to defend or enough time to recover from the first innings. Who knows, perhaps he was told that he wouldn’t be playing at the MCG and decided to get in there first. I felt that if England were going to . get anything out of the series, their senior players had to stand up as a . unit. That hasn’t happened. I . was also surprised by the decision to drop Matt Prior, especially . because Jonny Bairstow doesn’t look like a long-term choice as . wicketkeeper. Why not allow Prior to play until the end of the series, . because I can’t see Bairstow keeping the gloves for England’s first Test . next summer. Strange call: Graeme Swann's retirement came at a curious time and he may have had a dig at his batsmen . Long-term: Matt Prior should have seen out the series, as Jonny Bairstow doesn't look permanent replacement . The question Cook and the selectors will have to ask themselves now is whether they can get another couple of years out of the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Jimmy Anderson, because they’ll want them for the 2015 Ashes. The nucleus is certainly there. As for Australia, it’s been a case of some outstanding individual performances from Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin, with good back-up from David Warner, Michael Clarke and Ryan Harris. Their senior players have seized the moments, and they’ve played good team cricket. It’s going to be fascinating to see . how they fare in South Africa, who have just lost Jacques Kallis and . will start to find soon that life is less straightforward when some of . your best players begin to call it a day. Lethal: Mitchell Johnson has been a stand-out for Australia with 31 wickets in the series so far . Outstanding: Australia's pace spearhead Ryan Harris and keeper-batsman Brad Haddin have been stand-outs . England have experienced that first hand on this tour, whereas Australia feel like a team on the way up (as do India, who have some great young batters). If Harris stays fit in South Africa, where Johnson has had some success in the past, it could be a great shootout between the two sets of fast bowlers. Australia have spoken about regaining the top of the Test rankings, but they have to be realistic about where they’re at. There’s a long way to go, and their first goal has to be to wrap it up 5-0 in Sydney this week. I thought they would be at their most vulnerable at Melbourne, after the euphoria of regaining the Ashes at Perth. But they came through a scare at the MCG, and now they have a great chance to inflict some scars on the England team before the sides next meet in 18 months’ time. Sorry, England, but it’s hard to see it being anything other than 5-0.
Alastair Cook's England team has forgotten how to win and missed a gold chance in Melbourne . Out It was strange to see Graeme Swann retire in the body is hurting him, but I thought he took a had a dig at his batsmen . Long-term: Matt Prior from Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin, with good keeper-batsman Brad Haddin have been stand-outs .