We gave our all - Flintoff

Captain Andrew Flintoff on the attack © Getty Images

England stand-in captain Andrew Flintoff claimed his side had thrown everything at Australia after going down by four wickets at the Gabba.

A fighting display in the field gave England a sniff of victory despite posting 155 and, but for an escape for man-of-the-match Michael Hussey, they may have pulled it off.

Hussey had scored only 19 of his unbeaten 46 when England confidently appealed for caught behind, only for home umpire Daryl Harper to turn them down

Australia were still 53 runs from victory at the time and facing some outstanding fast bowling.

“Obviously I am disappointed we have lost but I was pleased with the second half,” said Flintoff.

“When you are defending 150-odd it is going to be tough and you need something special.

“I thought Jimmy Anderson was outstanding, swinging the ball at pace, and Jon Lewis too is reliable in what he does.

“The lads tried all the way through - you can’t ask for anything more.”

Hussey, rated the world’s best one-day batsman, was surrounded by England’s players in that 30th-over incident.

“I am not a walker like Gilly (Adam Gilchrist),” said Hussey, when asked how far he was away from hitting the ball.

“If he nicks the ball, he walks, I take the good decisions with the bad ones.

“I have had some when I thought I wasn’t out and had some when I have been out.

“I leave it up to the umpires to make the decisions and I think, generally, they do a very good job.”

Flintoff was diplomatic in his view of the incident and said: “There’s not a lot you can do about it.

“You hope a few go your way and, if they don’t, you get on with it. You always want to get Hussey out, he’s a good finisher.”

Mal Loye impressed opening the innings © Getty Images

Debutant Mal Loye flourished opening the batting, top-scoring with 36 and improving his World Cup claims while Lewis claimed four wickets and Anderson showed signs of his very best with 2-29.

Flintoff provided the hostility after the new-ball pair reduced Australia to 48 for four, and allayed fears his troublesome left ankle was causing more pain.

The 29-year-old lost the nail on his big left toe earlier this week.

“Everyone assumes it’s my ankle but I can promise my ankle has been fine,” he said. “My big toe looks like a dog’s chewed it but my ankle is fine.”

Opposing captain Gilchrist, meanwhile, blamed poor batting for the close nature of the contest.

“It got tight for a while,” said Gilchrist, playing his 250th one-day international.

“There was indication that movement was on offer from our bowling innings, so we were aware of that.

“Our decision-making at the top of the order opened the door for England and they nearly took it. Fortunately, we had enough experience to close it out.”