LEEDS, July 29: The ENGLAND cricket team is facing a major shake-up ahead of next week's series-deciding fifth Test at Trent Bridge in the wake of their much-criticised capitulation to Australia in the fourth at Headingley.

England, who started the summer so brightly with a 3-0 whitewash in the one-day series and victory in the first Test, have slumped alarmingly and now find themselves 2-1 down with two to play.

Everyone's heroes a few weeks ago, they are now everyone's villains. ``England slide back to the dark age'' was today's headline in The Independent following England's crushing defeat by an innings and 61 runs.

Nor was there much sympathy for Mike Atherton's side in the times which called for radical changes after what it termed as England's ``surrender''.

``This time there can be no vote of confidence in a crumbling team, no psychological safety net for players who can no longer perform. England must be reshuffled and refocussed,'' said the paper.

England, of course, have heard all this before but this time the shake-up could be for real following the recent arrival of the progressive David Graveney as chairman of selectors. ``We must not be panicked into wholesale changes, but at the same time we have to give ourselves the best possible chance,'' said Graveney. ``We need an injection.''

Translated from the diplomatic language peculiar to English cricket authorities, Graveney's statement appears to promise as major an overhaul as possible without sending out a whole new team.

Now Graveney and his fellow selectors Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting are faced with the task of assembling a new outfit which would give England every chance of winning the final two Tests, or at least salvage some pride with a win at either Trent Bridge or The Oval.

In the second Test at Lord's, England were bowled out for 77 before rain saved the day. England's last four innings have been 172, 268, 162 and 200 and have led to two consecutive defeats.

England's top order must be tampered with, and there is a strong case for calling up the brothers Adam and Ben Hollioake, or even Glamorgan opener Stephen James, who last week became the first player to reach 1,000 runs this county season.

Adam Hollioake, 25, starred in all three one-dayers for England while 19-year-old Ben has played two match-winning knocks at Lord's this year.Playing England's best batsman further up the order may also contribute to the ``injection'' Graveney is craving for.

Nasser Hussain and John Crawley are clearly the form players of the series so far.

Hussain, the present No 4, scored a double century in the first Test and a gutsy 105 at Headlingley. He is England's leading run getter with 307 runs, and could be more useful at No 3, allowing wicketkeeper-batsman Alec Stewart to drop down to No 6.

Crawley, presently batting at No 6, has scored 83 and 72 in his last three innings and could also bat higher, perhaps in place of left-hander Graham Thorpe who has failed to make an impact since scoring a century at Edgbaston.

Thorpe and Hussain are the only England batsmen to reach three figures this series, with Crawley, captain Mike Atherton and opener Mark Butcher scoring two half centuries each. Stewart and all-rounder Mark Ealham have reached 50 once each in four Tests.

But as Australian skipper Mark Taylor pointed out, there is nothing wrong with the cricketers representing England, it's just that they're not playing their best.

``They are the best in the country. It is time they turned corners like we did after Edgbaston,'' said Taylor, referring to Australia's progressive improvement after its nine-wicket first-Test defeat.

Taylor defended his counterpart Atherton, who is under pressure to step down following his team's dissappointing performances in the last three Tests.``I think Mike's a solid cricketer and he is doing a good job,'' said Taylor.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.