Richard Dawson, the former England and Yorkshire off-spinner writes exclusively for The Northern Echo.

There's no hiding the fact that this Ashes series has gone badly wrong, but think long and hard before you point the finger at Duncan Fletcher.

The coach has done a magnificent job with the national team. He inherited a side with massive problems but turned them into one that beat one of the best sides in the world two years ago.

Fletcher has copped a lot of flak from the British press and it must have been difficult for him, but he just takes it all on the chin.

It's almost like he's a Yorkshireman - he's so stubborn and he expects his players to work hard and do as they are told.

He was great to work with on the last Ashes tour and he taught me a hell of a lot.

The consensus is that he might go after the World Cup but he might already have decided that.

We have proven at times we can live with the Aussies but the reason we are struggling so badly is we are yet to truly perform as a unit.

Brisbane was a massive disappointment to our bowlers and our batsmen alike.

In Adelaide the batsmen gave the bowlers a great platform but it didn't happen for them and then it was the opposite in Perth when the bowlers dismissed the Aussies for 240 on the first day.

If they can put it all together then I still think we can win in Sydney.

Most of the English batsmen have got runs at some stage.

Andrew Strauss was the one specialist batsman who was due some runs coming into Melbourne and he's been one of the few success stories in this Test after top-scoring in both innings.

He looked in good nick even before this Test but it just hadn't happened for him. He played two poor shots in Brisbane but since then he's had three dreadful decisions.

He was due a load of luck and if the batsmen can put it all together at the same time then England could still win in Sydney. We are good enough if we play to our potential.

It's now up to the England boys to make sure they don't end up with an Ashes whitewash on their CVs.

The Australians will be desperate to write their names into the record books but we've got to pull out all the stops to prevent that from happening.

There is less pressure on the England players now the series is gone and that could be for the best. It won't be easy picking ourselves up but the lads can do it.