CRICKET/Ashes Series analysis:As the inquests begin David Hopps looks back on England's perceived lack of togetherness as they face an Ashes whitewash

From the day that he became England coach more than seven years ago, Duncan Fletcher has emphasised the importance of "the bubble" - the imaginary protective shell behind which his side could unite and grow. The Ashes series of 2006-07, in more ways than one, will go down as the time that the bubble burst.

To blame England's thrashing at the MCG on the failings of the Christmas dinner might be stretching a point. But the inquest on a dismal tour has begun in earnest and the fact that five players chose to shun the Christmas Day party in favour of their own arrangements smacks of a weakened sense of togetherness.

John Buchanan, Australia's coach, accepted the invitation to expose any rift with an opportunistic attack on Kevin Pietersen, one of the absentees, implying that his individuality might have put him at odds with his England team-mates.

"Pietersen talks about how much of a team man he is, but I can't see that," he said. "In the field he seems distanced from the group, he spends a lot of time on the boundary, but he is good in the ring. I wonder whether the criticism of him is because he's different from the group?

"Difference is important in a team dynamic, we have some different players in our team, but it's how the difference is managed."

But Pietersen was just one of five. It would have been equally pertinent to ask why the likes of Andrew Strauss, captain only last summer, also thought it acceptable to eat elsewhere. And why the team management allowed it to happen.

Australia's approach, predictably, was different. Every squad member, some with families, attended a lunch at a Melbourne casino - because they wanted to. There were photo opportunities, with Michael Hussey opening presents, as they again underlined with actions their constant refrain that they take pride in each other's company.

Until England's demoralised Ashes challenge limps to its conclusion, Fletcher, like his captain Andrew Flintoff, insists spirits are high.

Perhaps they are, perhaps England have simply been outplayed, but Christmas Day might be regarded as an occasion to reassert it, preferably with the coach cast - perhaps a trifle miscast - in the role of a jolly Father Christmas.

"It's not a major issue with us," he said. "We've had wives and girlfriends on tour before and it's made no difference. It might be repeated again. It will be looked at when we get back. We have it in England, we see it as no different. We play seven Tests and the wives will be there for all of them. We just believe with the amount of cricket played, people have to be as comfortable off the field as they are on the field.

"A lot of players have family out here, so it's just important for some not to go."

The Fletcher bubble can oxygenate a side and help it to grow stronger together, but it can also be restrictive, especially for an England side that after their Ashes win 15 months ago achieved instant celebrity.

Fletcher's challenge, as he seeks to avoid a series whitewash in the New Year Test in Sydney, has been to implant a broader philosophy and with a captain with whom - however much he admires his colossal commitment - he does not have a natural rapport.

Cricket Australia has provided support for England's extended Christmas family, even giving the wives a modest daily allowance. The size of England's travelling circus has revived memories of the criticism of the England football team at the World Cup, except that the football Wags had a tendency to get drunk and dance on tables.

It would be dubious for England to be savaged too fiercely by an English media which had its own share of families in tow in Melbourne, but there are times to restate unity, and Christmas Day was one of them.

Cricketers from previous generations tend to be suspicious of families on tour. Raymond Illingworth, when he was Lord High Everything of English cricket, on seeing pushchairs pouring out of a coach in South Africa said of his team: "I'll never get their commitment back now."

Having family on tour is now accepted practice. Players spending more than half the year in hotels can become lonely and distracted. Families can be controlling influences on 4am drinking sessions. Generally, partners at home are no longer as stoical, and accept less easily the selfishness and self-analysis that may be required for a sportsman to be successful.

There are now suspicions that all is not well in the camp. But Fletcher says: "I'm very happy with the team. They put up a fight. They are trying their hardest and you can't feel that people have let you down if they are trying."

In Melbourne, however, the buzz had gone. There is an old Christmas card line that says: "One of the lovely things about Christmas is that it is compulsory." You can't plan Ashes victories from Christmas cards, but for England, compulsory is what it should have been.

Guardian Service