England's cricketers are 'lazy' frontrunners who lack unity and retreat when under pressure, according to a scathing dossier written by former Australia Test opener Justin Langer.
In a report prepared by Langer for Ricky Ponting's team which was leaked to an English newspaper, the Western Australian accused England of lacking belief.
He also gave a detailed analysis of the weaknesses of several England players, including strike bowler James Anderson, whom he said was hugely improved but can be a 'bit of a pussy if he is worn down'.
Langer, who later expressed disappointment at how the report was leaked, received support from an unlikely ally in former England skipper Michael Vaughan.
As captain of county side Somerset, Langer has an intimate knowledge of England cricket.
The document's release came as England was facing a humiliating innings defeat in the fourth Test at Headingley, leaving this year's Ashes series level at 1-1 with one game left to play.
Langer said England was a great frontrunner but 'because of the way they are programmed they will be up when things are going well but they will taper off very quickly if you wear them down in all apartments [sic]'.
"Because they play so much cricket, as soon as it gets a bit hard you just have to watch their body language and see how flat and lazy they get," he said.
"This is also a time when most of them make all sorts of excuses and start looking around to point the finger at everyone else - it is a classic English trait from my experience."
Langer was also critical of England's lack of belief, describing their attempts at showing aggression as 'shallow'.
"Aggressive batting, running and body language will soon have them staring at their bootlaces rather (than) in the eyes of their opponent - it is just how they are built," he said.
Langer said Australia made the mistake of being overly friendly and 'matey' with England in 2005, allowing the home side to feel comfortable.
"Take them out of their comfort zone and they don't like it for a second," he said.
Langer said England captain Andrew Strauss, a former team-mate from his days at Middlesex, was a 'very solid character' and an 'excellent bloke' but prone to taking the conservative option when under pressure.
He said Ravi Bopara, who was strongly criticised by Shane Warne prior to the series, was a strutter who loved to chat on the field so therefore was best left alone on the field 'rather than letting our egos take away our focus'.
Wicketkeeper Matt Prior, however, had a 'massive ego', Langer said, and was a player he would 'chip away' at about his form with the gloves.
"I am not sure he actually likes keeping that much and from all accounts he has a massive ego so I could be reminding him about how his keeping could see him out of the team," he said.
Off-spinner Graeme Swann's bowling was 'on a par' with Australian counterpart Nathan Hauritz, he said.
Vaughan said he agreed with many of Langer's views, saying the dossier should serve as a 'reality check' for English cricket.
"The damaging aspect is that if Justin Langer is thinking in these terms then you can bet all former Australian cricketers agree," Vaughan wrote in The Sunday Telegraph.
"We have the talent but it only goes so far. Attitude takes you a lot further and that is what we need to improve."
Langer denied his comments were scathing.
"Besides in 2005 when England were superb, ironically under Michael Vaughan's captaincy, besides that series when England played well Australia had the upper hand on England," he said on BBC Radio 5 program Test Match Special.
"Without being rude or over confident that's just a statistical fact."
"If anyone reads the full dossier … my observations are personal observations having had played against England and playing in England for a long time."