IT was billed as an unforgettable two days for British sport - but by last night, it had turned into one of the blackest weekends in our sporting history.

In a depressing hat-trick of failure, our players were beaten on the tennis court, the cricket pitch and the rugby field.

The biggest blow came yesterday afternoon as Tim Henman, watched by millions on television, went down in the fifth set of a rain-delayed Wimbledon semi-final.

An hour later, England's cricketers collapsed in the face of hostile Australian bowling and lost the First Test in the Ashes series by an innings and 118 runs.

That compounded the humiliation suffered by the British and Irish Lions rugby team on Saturday when they lost the Second Test to the Aussies by 35-14, a record winning margin for Australia.

Henman trudged tearfully off Centre Court vowing that he would one day become the first Englishman since 1936 to win the Wimbledon title.

The 26-year-old said afterwards: "I certainly did my best, unfortunately it wasn't good enough this year. But I certainly know that I'll be back for more tries."

Henman had been beaten as much by the English weather, which caused the match to be spread over three days, as by Croatian Goran Ivanisevic.

He resumed yesterday 3-2 down in the deciding fifth set and, once Ivanisevic had broken his serve, was unable to do anything about the Croatian's 120mph rockets.

England's cricketers trooped sadly off the pitch at Edgbaston with captain Nasser Hussain vowing that they would mount a comeback in the Second Test in ten days time.

He said: "Australia will be looking at us now to see how we react, to see whether it's the same old England - the raggy-arsed rangers - who turn up at Lord's, or whether we are going to show some character.

"I'm not so worried about this psychologically, because I've seen my team and I know there are characters in there who'll fight."

To make matters worse, Hussain fractured his left little finger when a 90mph rocket from bowler Jason Gillespie reared up at him. Hussain, who has just recovered from a broken thumb, sees a specialist today to decide whether he will be ready for the Lord's Test.

Meanwhile Down Under, the Lions limped out of Melbourne last night vowing that they would somehow roar back in time for next weekend's third and deciding match. Four key players, including Newcastle's Jonny Wilkinson, were sent to hospital after the game.

To complete the country's woeful weekend, England's women cricketers lost their Second Test by nine wickets at Headingley. And yes, their vanquishers were Australians.