The post-mortem into England's second Test defeat to South Africa begins.
Although the fourth day will chiefly be remembered for Andrew Flintoff's brilliant 142, most of the papers are in agreement that England must make some tough decisions.
"The first thing Michael Vaughan must do when he sits down with England's selectors to discuss the direction in which his side are going...is demand that the captain regains his place on the selectors committee," is The Independent's verdict.
"The time is right to bring an end to a couple of careers."
"Vaughan needs to be ruthless and bring down the curtain on the failing old guard," writes the Daily Mail.
 | THE HEADLINES Daily Telegraph: England broken, Flintoff unbowed The Times: Flintoff heroics fail to paper over cracks for England The Sun: Fergie lands Defoe The Guardian: Why England must not panic Daily Express: My �24m Van Daily Star: We'll sign Ruud for life! Daily Mirror: Turkey Feud Daily Mail: Vaughan backlash The Independent: Vaughan must pass judgement on old England |
"The places of Anthony McGrath, Steve Harmison, Nasser Hussain, Darren Gough and Ale Stewart are all under pressure."
The Guardian, however, opts for a more cautious approach.
"England must take heart from yesterday's final flourish and resist the temptation to make knee-jerk changes."
Predictably, the tabloids relegate cricket to the inside pages and focus their attentions on footballing matters.
The Daily Express and Daily Star both lead on the news that Sir Alex Ferguson wants striker Ruud van Nistelrooy to commit the rest of his career to Man Utd.
Van Nistelrooy has scored 80 goals in two seasons since his �19.1m move from PSV Eindhoven in 2001 and has been the star of United's pre-season tour of America with four goals in as many games.
The United boss is said to be ready to offer the Dutch striker a new six-year deal that would make him one of the club's best paid players on �80,000-a-week.
The Sun, meanwhile, reports that Ferguson is ready to pay relegated West Ham �10m for striker Jermain Defoe.
The paper claims Defoe,20, has bought a house in Manchester in preparation for the move.
The Daily Mirror and Daily Mail report on Steven Gerrard's sending off against Galatasaray in Amsterdam.
The papers claim that the England and Liverpool midfielder's dismissal is sure to fuel the powder keg atmosphere for England's final European Championship qualifier in Istanbul in October.
MMIX
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