Melbourne: Morale put to the sword by Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden, England suffered further embarrassment when it emerged secret plans purporting to detail Australia’s weaknesses found their way into opposition hands.

After centuries from Hayden and Symonds put Australia in full command on Day II of the fourth Test, England’s team management was busy trying to get to the bottom of how a secret battle plan was leaked to local media.

The document, which listed alleged frailties of each member of Australia’s batting line-up, was emailed to a radio station and aired much to the amusement of home fans.

“We’re talking to the International Cricket Council and Cricket Australia, they are very disappointed about it,” England team spokesman Andrew Walpole said.

“We’re trying to establish whether it was taken from the dressing room or another area of the ground. We are continuing with our investigations.”

Stolen or not, the document did England precious little good as Symonds and Hayden put on an imperious sixth-wicket stand of 279 to effectively put the match out of the tourists’ reach.

England’s bowlers were advised to work on Hayden’s ‘ego’ by bowling dot balls and having an extra fielder close to the bat, but the burly opener still managed to resist for almost seven hours in hitting 153.

One area where England’s plans were successful was with Ricky Ponting. He was supposed to be susceptible to pulls in front of square early in his innings, and the tactic paid off.

(Reuters)