Thetownend.com

I actually cannot wait until Wednesday, I'd proper give up my weekend for it to start tomorrow.

Run-machine Philip Hughes is getting a real good working over by GBH in the warm-up game up at New Road.

One of those stupid commentators was bigging hughes up saying hes one of the best on the county circuit avg-ing 130+.

You expect him to be good, i doubt any of the county bowlers tried him with a short delivery? He's got no chance.

Hussey & Katich are the only two i think will constantly be a threat, Ponting has his off days + we can get him out like taking candy from a baby. That north was absolute codshite.

Hauritz is woefulmwe have 3 spinners in our camp - Rashid & Swann will take wickets. Monty will tie an end up,so will Swann. Hauritz...all im going to say is they should be lucky they hav Lee.

Brett Lee,for me, will be they key to whoever wins. If cook & struass can see the new ball off and get good runs before it starts to reverse we can afford to not be so good when it does go t'other way.

A good series ahead non the less. I recon 2-2.

tickets still going spare for day2 of 1st test at glamorgan....£70 a pop though

Looking forward to it....alot will depend on KP...i must admit playing at Glamorgan first really suprised me.

Got tickets for the Sunday at Edgbaston, should be a good day out.

Got a ticket for Lords on the Sunday (4th day) if it lasts that long ?

Last day at Cardiff for me - next Sunday - if we haven't stuffed em before then....

I fancy us for this series. The difference for me is the bowling attacks. The Convicts don't seem to have an attack that matches ours. Anderson has been in form all summer and is on fire at the moment. He offers swing whilst Broad offers seam and Flintoff pace. We have 3 spinners to pick from and back up pacemen in the form of Onions, Sidebottom and Harmison should we need them. Their attack seems average. With the exception of Lee I'm not really worried about their bowlers. Time will tell if our batting is up to it or not but I think this is going to be another exciting one like 2005.

I think Johnson will rip us apart more than Lee. Australia to win.

No Warne, no McGrath - 2 out of the top 4 wicket takers of all time were in the same team - unstoppable (ish).

I think this will go all the way still though.

Tbh I haven't seen much of Johnson. If Cardiff favours spin (which is rumoured) we could go with 2 spinners. Can see the Aussies struggling as they'll go with just Hauritz and hope that Clarke bowls some decent spin.

First time i'd ever seen johnson bowl was today against the lions. He seems to stop just before letting go of the ball. I'm not a great battter, but that must surely disturbe any internal rhythm you have

i think we will fucking stuff them, they were awful against sussex seconds last week, hauritz is like a shit county bowler.

Just watch the ball from the hand and make sure you either hit it,or know its missing the stumps so leave it - if you can play professionally someone stopping shouldn't be a worry,its what they do with the ball that would be worrying.



I think Johnson will be as good as side bottom is for us. Both similar bowlers,albeit sidebottom will generate swing to start with & Johnson not. OUr top order,i feel, will cope with johnson better than the aussies will cope with a left arm over swinging away from the left handers,which is most of their top order bar clarke & ponting.

No trent bridge test this year so no ashes for me,but i'm looking forward to the ODI's. God knows why glamrgan has a test match, we should be the british cricket team,no england - Morgan now,croft previously. not exactly english.

Tbh I don't see why people are moaning about a test being held in Cardiff? Remember it's the England and Wales cricket board and the test side has always had Welsh players included down the line. Personally it doesn't bother me.Cardiff is a new ground and will probably provide a decent enough venue. I'd imagine the Welsh will probably provide a fairly hostile atmosphere for the Aussies as well.

Yes, but they've jumped the 'queue' fairly significantly, and the ECB dropped Old Trafford, where we have a great win record.

Money over success.

Edit: In mildly related news, if anyone is listening to this 'comedy' Ashes preview on 5Live, Pat Murphy :D

The aussies lost to bangladesh there for christ sake. we will win the first test comfortably

Watching the England Lions game, Bell has 18 off 61 balls :/

Now out for 20.

Cardiff may well have "jumped the queue" but it's been redeveloped and you have to admit that OT is falling behind in the test ranks. You have Headingley and Trent Bridge which have been redeveloped, The Oval has had a new stand, Lords is Lords and then you have Edgbaston. All of those are better than Old Trafford which isn't really a test standard ground anymore. Of course there is also The Rose Bowl and The Riverside as well. I can see a lot of test grounds being used in the future.

The most overrated new boy on the scene ever, like a poor mans Stuart Broad.

weird thing is I dont like or get cricket but I find myself getting a bit into the ashes,im always easy pickings for media hype 8)

The squad has now been picked for the first test.

Harmison, Rashid, and Sidebottom all miss out.

Whilst I am here I think it is time to stop referring to Andrew Flintoff as an all rounder.

England bowlers batting average in test matches:

Stuart Broad (av 31.35, high score of 76)
Graeme Swann (av 35, high score of 63*)
Andrew Flintoff (av 31.69, high score of 167)

Flintoff's is from a lot more tests, but we have three very capable bowling all rounders. I wouldn't desribe any one of them as a true all rounder, but they're all competent enough.

I think Freddie can count himself very lucky to be in the team...discipline problems and his form hasnt been brilliant in recent years...a very good bowler to keep things tight obviously.

We have to remember Flintoff will now be batting at 7 so there is less responsibility on his shoulders to score runs. He's mainly in there for his bowling. With those averages above we have a decent lower order.

More pressure on prior if he's at 6. No runs & nothing special with the gloves = get foster in.
The lowe order is better than it was on 05 by a long.

If we'd picked Rashid over Panesar our lower order batting would be seriously good.

Off 2 the Edge of Baston on the 2nd of Aug.............. cant wait.

looking forward to wednesday. i think we might be able to sneak it. Cannot believe Ian Bell is in the squad and not Steve Harmison. Like 2005 the bowlers will have to lead England to victory.

I'm no expert on cricket, but I never understand the need to have decent batters that far down. If you've got 7 recognised batsmen and they all fuck up, I don't see how half decent batters are going to do any better than they did.

If we are in the position where we need the no 8 to come in and score runs, we're fucked anyway. Better to have some better specialist bowlers to do the damage when the other side bat. Our normal policy just seems to result in us having shit bowlers and shit batters.

Same for the wicket keeper, the bloke we used in the Twenty20 is apparently the best we've got so why not go with him? He picked up a few wickets we wouldn't have got otherwise in the Twenty20, I'd imagine he'd do the same in tests and save a good few runs as well.

I'd fucking love it if Foster played behind the sticks, absolute god with the gloves, but you can't overlook what a good batsman Prior's making himself.

At the moment the sqaud contains what i feel are the best bowlers for the job,it just so happens they can also hold a bat pretty well too. I recon not a lot of people in the cricketing world would disagree with me there. Although the lack of Harmison for this first test scares me. strauss,cooke,bopara,pietersen,shah,prior,freddie,swann,broad,anderson,onions/monty = top bowling and a tail down to number 9. as long as we dont use the stupid nightwatchman technique we should be looking good.

I'm with DMR for foster (or read as im a notts fan) but they seem to be more suited to the shorter forms of the game where batting is involed, & if we are looking at a #6 bat it has to be prior - but he better do well!

I was surprised they went for Monty over Rashid, as in the past they have tended to go for the lesser bowler and better batter. But I'm glad they went with him as even if we lose we'll be guaranteed some entertainment at least.

dont be a cock. priors wicketkeeping has improved immesurably. i would say his keeping is nearly on a par with foster these days, you watch :)

i think that is bollocks, they were pretty average stumpings for a wicket keeper, i couldnt quite understand why everyone was wanking so much about them.

Now i am no expert but if he is nearly on a par does that mean Foster is better then ;)

yes but foster is very very good, however foster bats as well as dmr, whereas prior will no doubt hit 1 century and 2 or 3 50s in the series.

Ah right i didn't know that i am new to this Cricket lark

Go Prior :clap:

drs, just ignore everything dmr says. oh and sussex fucking rock :)

That's the stupidest thing you've ever written.

I see Brett Lee could be out for Wednesday

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/other_international/australia/8135950.stm

Shame - I'd quite like to see him get battered by our bowlers like the last series over here!

Oh its all tremendously exciting at the moment! Shame i won't be able to watch any of it live though,but TMS is great anyway  :)

I think the convicts start as the favourites,but we have got a few decent players in the side and if we can keep injury free [i currently have everything crossed for Freddie] we could run them close.Tbh though after the last series the only way is up.....baby!!!

As for the wickie debate,so long as Geriant Jones isn't playing i'm happy.When i was at the Perth test i would have be quite happy to see someone run on to the pitch and knock the bloke out cold.He was awful,not the only one admittly,but one of the worse.

Brett Lee misses the first two tests.

Good news for us as he was getting old ball swing on it at 90 mph, and bats pretty well n all.

Only one for sure,he has a slight chance of playing the 2nd. Sorry for being perdantic,but as long as we keep thinking he could play,when we find out he can't play we will get a 2nd wind whether we win lose or draw the first.

As mentioned, Johnson is the key Aussie bowler. If we can neutralise him, and keep their batsmen in check, we've got a fair chance. Must win the first Test though, as we'll lose at Lords.

Great news about Lee. He is their dangerman with the ball. I can't see Johnson or Clark causing us as much problems. Now then who do The Aussies replace Lee with? Another spinner for Cardiff perhaps?

As for the selection I thought it was spot on with the exception of Panesar. I'd have gone with Rashid. He's got a better average and has taken more wickets this season in less games as well with a much better strike rate. Didn't get that choice. Onions was spot on though. Saw on SSN last night that his stats are better than Harmison's are so far this season and he bowled well against The Windies back in May. We have a lot of depth in our bowling options and I think that's the difference.

I see Glenda McGrath has predicted his normal 5-0 win for the Aussies, but I cannot see the Aussies bowling us out twice in a test with the current bowling attack now Lee is out injured, and I agree with IOB, that is going to be the difference.

Australia beat S Africa in Feb without Lee.

Let's not get too confident. Lee hasn't really been a prolific wicket taker at Test level has he ?

310 wickets at an average of 30 is pretty good to be honest. Its a plus that he's injuried for sure, but they have potentially more than half decent back up as proved by the South Africa win.

Fair enough, should have checked, but that's only 4 per match in a period of dominance.

But Lee is the man who brings the character to the team and the one that can make things happen.

averages something like 45 in England I believe, the Aussies generally seem not that bothered. However, the spell against the England Lions was beautiful, reverse swing at 90mph, like watching Simon Jones before he died.

I've got a feeling Peter Siddle might suprise a few people, very tidy bowler. I hope he's rubbish though.

The big day is here.I'm not going to know how its going until i get in from work.Please let it all be going well!

im plonking myself in front of tv today and tomorrow, lushness.

Same as that - 11am this morning - "working from home" with laptop in my knees - T.V. on all in Hi Def !

Bloody lovely.........

Almost as good as it being World Cup year for me !

Valid point, but he gives them an added something with his pace.

tits

balls

Anyone know of a dodgy site that's streaming the Ashes? I haven't got Sky Sports.

Sky player on sky sports website i think are playing it,don't know if you need subscription or not.

otherwise try www.myp2p.eu

Bopara is looking very good this morning...not.

and there he went !

Fucking slow ball doing us badly - didn't expect to lose 3 before bloody lunch !

I blame the Welsh.....

Aw nuts, Boppy was just starting to look like he'd got his eye in as well.

KP, Deliver us from evil!

This is not a good start.

I was having a chat with the guy on our front desk this morning.  We agreed that the first test was crucial and would set the tone for the series.  Clever innings now needed from KP.

97-3, lunch.

And my own lunch is nearly over, meaning that I'll have to return to not knowing what the score is.

Bopara was just getting into his stride before Johnson done him with a very clever slower ball. need Collingwood and Kp to steady the ship

194-3 at tea, with Punter already deploying defensive fields.

241-5. Kp out to a awful paddle sweep shot to Hauritz. he had a platform to make a big score.

I hate ponting with a passion.He has such a smackable face.

Just wanted to get that off my chest.

KP has just got out,horlicks.Thrown his wicket away by the sounds of it.

Freddie is in the middle now,could lose another one soon then.Gulp.

TMS on Radio 4 for me. None of this Sky malarkey.

That's the fucking stupidest shot of KP's career, and that's saying something.

Word.

But only because i have no choice   :)

Boycott is very upset with KP.He does seem to have a habit of getting out when he shouldn't  :doh:

He was nearer the boundary rope than the stumps when he played that shot. What a twat.

Still, he can't help it can he. At least he normally waits until he's got a half decent score before going in to spas mode. Unlike the rest of the team who normally do it before they've hit double figures.

When isnt boycott very upset,i can't stand that bloke :D Pietersen's shot was the best joke i've ever seen,he shouldn't be in the team if he's throwing his wicket away.

Nah,Geoffrey is ace! Also Aggers is always winding him up  ;D

KP is one of the best players in the side but he has an unerring habbit of getting out when he is not really under  pressure.So bloody disappointing  :(

I agree with a comment made on the radio earlier.  KP often seems to get bored when asked to play sensibly.  Its a problem that really shouldn't still be in his game, and the whole team suffers for it.  He's the flashy kid at school who would take his ball away if he didn't score the most runs/goals/points.

An improvement to BSkyB's coverage that I would be keen to happen would be an option on the red button to listen to the stump mic.

Why does everyone get on KP's case when he does something like that?

Sure he was a twat, but even with him playing dumb ass shots all the time he is still our #1 batter. I'd save the abuse for the rest of the batsmen, whilst they might not do as much stupid shit as KP, they don't score as many.

I'll bet KP is licking his lips at the prospect of giving it a twirl in the 4th innings of this match.

Prior and Flintoff kicking on 305-5

Priors first 50 of the series, 325-5

Sounding quite good, it can't last.

Impressive team performance so far, everyone chipping in with some runs..

Link here, good quality.

http://desi-tv.net/sports.html

Select channel 5 at the bottom.

bye bye flintoff

Oh well at least it was whilst having a big agricultural swing at it.

I am a big fan of batsmen getting out whilst going for it, rather than just pussying around.

Night watchman my arse, Jimmy A has earnt his place at #8

hhhmmm anderson brought out, not sure of the whole nightwatchmen thing.

Beefy agrees with me.

Bumble doesn't.

does shit all for me, MANC

try channel 10!  Some of the streams get taken down.

oops a daisy.

Pussying around

Bumble now coming round to my way of thinking.

Jimmy A is playing an expansive game out there today.

stumps 336-7

nice little stat about JA innings without a duck.

anyone know when highlights are on?

7.15pm. Channel 5.

Pretty even day over all I'd say.

Spent all day at work waiting from break to break to go check the ball by ball on the beeb. Damn you, not giving me internet access at my desk!

After we lost those first 3 wickets it was looking like it'd be a difficult day. Thankfully Collingwood and KP pulled us out of a sticky situation, although it was disappointing to see KP give his wicket away so cheaply. Freddie and Broad did well and it's a shame they've both gone. Hopefully we'll be able to bat out the morning session and a bit more, and push for a score of around 400. The pitch is cutting up nicely and a bit of spin off the pitch could do wonders for our bowling attack.

Broad is still in!! Guess you mean Prior!

I do indeed.

What an odd nation we are.  A guy plays better cricket than we've witnessed for years in our team, continually outscores the rest, top scores against Australia and gets royally slated.  You have to take the shit shots that get him out because they are the same shots that gets him a 50+ average.  Given we've just had a pretty good start on a wicket that will potentially favour our bowling attack, scored at a decent rate when there is a good chance some time will be lost to rain over Friday/Saturday, I'd have thought we'd all be up for giving the aussies a good bashing.  You know, trying to put some doubt in their minds, ram home their averageness etc.  No no, better to knock our own.

Like the way we score our runs at a good rate now...like Prior,plays without without worry and keeps the runs ticking...another 50 odd will be good...another 100 then we will be in a strong position.

An interesting first day. I'd say we're just about in pole position as 350 plus in the first innings of any test is a decent enough total. Good to see Freddy and Prior in full flow but was a shame they fell to 2 beautys from the new ball. KP and Colly dug us out of a hole but both gave their wickets away cheaply. Cook I felt also gave his wicket away. It looks like the pitch is turning so think we could have an advantage with 2 spinners. Looking fairly healthy i'd say.

Swann's a good lad :)

402-8. Swann with a reverse sweep to hauritz to bring up the 400. pitch is turning Panesar and Swann will be dangerous on this pitch

435 all out

Thats how you play the aussies - no fear. Good lad swanny. Nice to see some turn already,swann & panesar should win us this match.

I think most of us would have settled for 435.  Shame to see Swann stranded on 47, but that's just detail.

Now for the spinners.  Let there be carnage!

I've not seen much of the new Aussie line-up (well, I actually hadn't heard of a couple of them) does anybody know what strength they've got in their batting order?

England look pretty strong all the way down to Swann, but in recent history the Aussie's have struggled past number 7.

Not a huge amount Sam. They've started well though tbh. Great knock from Swann that's put us in the driving seat but we'll need a few wickets after lunch.

mitchell johnson at 8 is an all rounder. so they can bat quite far down, but they have tempremental batsman, i.e ponting,clarke,haddin are three that either get runs or get out quickly,the others will get runs &/or stay for a bit having strike rates of 40-50.

need to get freddie of at hughes,broad just didnt have the bounce that harmison had in the lions game. Katich hasn't really had a lot to do, so as soon as we get hughes out we can get an idea of how its going to pan out.

i fucking love flintoff when he is like this. fucking right on the button mixing it with them, 3 bouncers on the trot straight after lunch. put the fear of god in the fuckers.

Keep these 2 on for a bit then try the spinners. We don't seem to be getting much luck.

Get in. Hughes gone for 36.

Game on.

Game off. Well for us it is at the moment. Aussies 141-1. Not going well.

This is truly ****ing dire.  Katich and Ponting are having a laugh at us.

Really poor isn't it? Just when I thought we were in control after that total as well.

both of them have made batting look really easy

If the ball stops swinging then it's very very difficult for the bowlers, and we're bowling to 2 of the best 3 Aussies batsman. If we'd shown the same application we'd still be batting now.

We're not that bad, guys.

I agree with DMR.

Whoot, Ponting gone!!

This game is actually pretty close. 2 more wickets and we're into their lower order. They are still just under 100 behind. Could be a very interesting last few days if the rain stays away.

Please, never positively again :/

Ummm, IF we have a good session, we be best hoping for rain for a draw!

The Times has a real time predictor that is currently predicting approx
  - England win (1%)
  - Australia win (24%)
  - draw (75%)

I think this implies that the chance of rain tomorrow is quite high.

Rain stopped play. Good news the way we seem to be bowling. Think the pitch is offering little of anything. Deffo a batting pitch.

From the Times again...

Times analysis: Bad news, I'm afraid. The rain is starting to fall again and the outer covers are rolled back out.

Times analysis: We have official word that the restart is scheduled for 17.05.

Times analysis: Umbrellas are downed around the ground, the rain has stopped and, tentatively, the outer covers are removed.

How is this bad news, exactly?

Nobody else watching?

Gutless performance so far today.

Woopee another collapse.

Gave up on Thursday.... :(  think McGrath has it about right.  :(

The rain will save you

Bopara's lbw was a terrible decision from Doctrove who never gives anything but the plumbest of lbws. I wonder what hapenned there.

We're still shite though. Good day to be Steve Harmison, 4 wickets for Durham.

 Our hope at the outset, was that Australia might be as equally poor as us, having lost so many great players. The opportunity to prove this point was thrown away on Wednesday, by batsmen getting in on a decent track and failing to go onto big scores, by poor shot selection rather than decent bowling.

 The Convicts, just ground it out...FFS even Katich got a ton, leaving our pie chuckers with nowhere to go but Lords 1 down.  I'm sure we all know we've won a men's Wimbledon more recently than beating the Convicts here.

 

Just hope it rains all day tomorrow or it's defeat for us. Terrible performance today.

If we can have one session rained off tomorrow, I think we'll be OK.  Alternatively, the remaining 9 batsmen could grow some balls and we might be OK as well.  Bit of a let down so far.

Lordie, the morons on this Cricket 6-0-6 are even worse than on the football versions.

Dizzy Gillespie is a bit of a legend mind.

Its the age old english cricketing problem. Man for man we're technically equivalent to the aussie, perhaps better in some departments. Sadly we don't have a pare of testicals between them, and as such wilt at the first sign of any hostility, like a lettuce leaf in a conservatory

True that. Fucking bottlers under pressure. Can see it being all over if there's more than 1 session of play tomorrow. I mean can we really expect KP to last 90 overs? Honestly?

First three get out to straight balls, then Strauss and Prior cut an off spinner. Fucking mess.

We're still going though believe it or not. Amazing stuff. Maybe the rain will come when we are 9 down?

flintoff out.

Pitch invaders don't fancy leaving the pitch. At least one Englishman is putting up a fight.

I was really looking forward to the ashes.
Now I can't even be bothered to watch this test match.

I will try and be more optimistic for Thursday. :unsure:

Broad gone now. Rain is the only hope.

I think the biggest danger is that England fans switch off.  This is the first Ashes series (I think) that has not been free to view on TV.  This, combined with a whimpering display, might just mean that the potential audience turns away.

And that's dangerous for cricket.  The Ashes series is to cricket what Wimbledon is for tennis and the Six Nations for rubgy.  It's the occasion when the non-core support listens up and pays attention for a while.  Without it, the sport will eventually atrophy...and no satellite/cable channels will be interested then.

I'm hoping that such a miserable post will have a reverse jinxing effect and lead to a spirited England defence - and plenty of pictures of dejected/incredulous Australians in tomorrow's papers.

We've made it tea at least. 27 overs minimum left.....

Pretty certain the last one in Australia was Sky only as well. The viewing figures have been pretty poor, about 500,000 watching on Sky and 1.2m on Five (the highlights) - don't seem that high for the biggest cricket event.

There isn't any live cricket on free to air channels any more is there? Very stupid from the cricket authorities point of view, taking a short term gain and damaging the long term support of the game.

The Times is giving us an approx 30% chance of hanging on.  I think that's a little generous.  Possible...but still fairly unlikely.

No there isn't. It's free-to-air channels not wanting to show live Cricket or pay too much for it. BBC chose to show F1 ahead of The Ashes which baffled me somewhat. 4 didn't want the coverage again and Five couldn't match Sky's bid. So basically it's mostly about the money.

well get fucking sky you fucking pikeys

That's exactly what I said - its all about the money. The cricket authorities sell the rights to the highest bidder and don't give a thought to viewing figures. The more people that watch cricket, the more people that will follow cricket, the more people that will go to cricket matches and so on. By allowing all cricket rights to go to pay channels, its going to reduce the number of people that watch the game and the interest / following.

I'm not a massive cricket fan, I'll follow the England games but that's about it. I used to only follow them via the text on the BBC website, but I got Sky sports to watch the football so I'm able to watch the cricket as well - there is no way I'd pay for it otherwise.

But as I could, I also watched the Twenty20 World Cup and loved every minute of it. As a result there is a good chance I'll go and watch some county Twenty20 matches, but that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't watched the World Cup. If that had been on free to air channels I reckon they'd be seeing far better attendances at the county games.

Cock.

Fuck. For a second there I thought we might actually pull off a miracle.

Don't worry, Monty will bat for a month.

Jimmy A's 50th test innings without a duck. Get him opening!

And then he's just unleashed a gorgeous cover drive :D

how long left?

14 overs.

It will be a draw now

Anderson is my hero.

Shot Jimmy :D

7 behind now.....

OH COLLY NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Shit.

Game over. Colly gone.

I'd love to see us get about 2 runs ahead and watch the Aussies have to bat for it :D

Monty can see it out

5 behind. Come on straws!

Considering how hard we found it to dismiss the Aussies, they've made it look pretty simple in comparison. I've not watched too much, has it been down to our bowlers being not quite up to it, our our batsmen giving it up too cheaply? Or indeed both?

I'd say both although this match would be drawn now if the top 4 had actually stayed in for a little bit longer.

Batsmen giving it away to easily. Really shit flat pitch, nothing in it for the bowlers.

in the lead!!!

Just keep playing straight Monty!

2 over knocked off the count now. This is actually possible.

This is fucking immense.

3 overs of play left

COME ON ENGLAND!!!!!

Just need to hold on until 18:40, that way there won't be enough time for the Aussies to come back out.

13 minutes...

Or 2.1 overs Sam as they need 2 overs for the changeover.

Bringing on North! 2 Overs left

But with the time remaining, they can play more overs than that.

The Aussies are trying to bowl more overs in the final hour.

Waste time Jimmy and Monty.

I'm getting a bit worried now. This aussie commentator keeps going on that theres 4 overs left, hope he's forgot the changeover.



4 more!!!

You need 10 minutes for the changeover dont you? So surely theres now way the aussies can get into bat

Another 4. Every run is crucial now.

Match finishes 6.50. That's ages away!

6.40 Dave. Scheduled finish is 6.50.

Oh i see. Yayyy

But The Aussies have to bat again which means 10 minutes to change over.....

By the way Punter, stop whinging to the umpires. I remeber you doing the same at Old Trafford 4 years ago.

Oh OK. Newbie here! Come on, 8 minutes to go. That's bloody ages away!

That's only 1 over though...

Nice bit of gamesmanship there... good to see.

2 overs get lost in the change over. So in effect there's 1 over left.

4 minutes...

4 balls...

Just see out the bloody over...and waste time,,,

2 minutes left

As they've reached the minimum number of overs, can't England just come out and bowl one really, really slow over.

We should declare

That's it surely?

One more ball.

Jimmy looks completely unfazed... sweet.

C'mon umps...it's 6.41

Yeah!

cool!

Panesar for King!

yeeees. Magnificent draw from the jaws of defeat.

HA HA FUCKING HA

Take that Ponting you absolute cunt :D

Oh yes. Get in there. Fucking brilliant.

Ive been listening on the radio. The thing with sport is you cant fake excitement. The crowd were going fucking mad.

Thats the real deal, English sporting history made again.

Ha ha ha fucking great escape!

Haha.

I'd love to see somone land one on Ponting's smug face just to top the day off.

GET IN THERE !!!

I think we're in for another cracking series. This seems to have set the tone.

How on earth can ponting be given man of the match. Tossing the ball to north when only one wicket was needed with ten minutes left is one of the daftest decisions in ashes history, though not as bad as nasser "we'll have a bowl first" hussein

when are the highlights on Five?

Mark Nicholas talks up the most dire of test matches. The spack head will be having a fit tonight.

He did that to try and get an extra over

Punter's just got booed picking up the MoM !

7.15

That will hurt him. You'd be suprised how much it means to the Aussies to have the respect of the English fans.

The Barmy Army are a bit of a national obsession in Australia.

Brilliant...great to watch and every ball was nerve racking...credit to England as outplayed but batted through o whole day under pressure losing only 7 wickets.

I'd find it suitably hilarious if a bird shit on him instead :D

That was the best bit - I loathe Ricky Ponting - arrogant twat

This is what pisses me off most about Ponting. He's more than happy pulling every stunt in the book himself, but as soon as the other team starts doing it he's throwing his toys out of the pram. His rant after the 2005 Ashes still makes me laugh, he's just a bad loser who needs a good and regular slapping.

I hope he gets run out by a sub again at Lords just to piss him off even more.

 Dunkirk spirit...let's hope the players can take a bit of inspiration from this, because we were utter shite through most of the game.

Hope Harmison if playing smashes Punter in the helmet again at lords.

Hope that happens on day four cos I'll be able to see it in the flesh !

Just saw Punter's after match press conference when he went on for five minutes about England's time wasting tactics, and saying the match referee should look into it. What a cock. I personally think we should get Gary Pratt out of retirement, and bring him on as 12th man every time Punter is batting !!!!

I loved Australia's time wasting tactic of agreeing to play under floodlights and then deciding to go off 10 minutes later though. Thought that was great. Cost them the game did that. Ha ha.

Trent Bridge '05,that run out was crucial. Broughta fantastic atmosphere to the game, theres just something about ricky ponting that makes fans get behind england when he goes. I havn't seen any of the last two days due to my own matches,but if he's moaning about england wasting time he can go and get himself a chewing gum sponsor before anybody cares :nod:.

I hope harmy is in for panesar & not swann (cause swann can bat) and ponting enjoys a bit of chin music.

Fuck off, Mark Nicholas is an absolute king. "Sixer!"

What a result. Can't believe some of you are clammering for Harmy at Lords, the guy is a total waste of space. Completely lost it. Gotta be Sidey.

Also Ponting's one of the fairest captains out there. And the best batsamn in the world. Some of you lot need to wake up.

Mitchell Johnson going to lead the Aussie attack yeah right, he bowling today was awful scattered all over the place. Ponting is a world class batsman but his captaincy is a bit baffling with Hauritz and North bowling the last couple of overs of the game. would of had Peter Siddle bowling at the end. I remember Ponting while batting at the Old trafford test match in 05 on the last day using time wasting tatics near the end. so what goes around comes around Punter

That's a quote from Strauss after the game. Which means that they either accidentally wasted a huge amount of time, or they deliberately wasted a small amount of time. Should have kept his mouth shut I reckon.

And sure, Ponting is one of the fairest captain's out there. Until he's not on the winning side and then he turns to shit.

Haven't been able to follow this one too closely this afternoon but my understanding is that it was genius captaincy by Strauss to drop Jimmy A back down to 10 to bat out the last few overs and snatch the draw for team England. What a hero.

Also I am following Bradley Wiggins on Twitter. Nice geezer. I think he is running 5th in TDF.

Massive battle between LA and AC brewing that is set to engulf this event.

2nd Test Lords

Steve Harmison added to the squad as cover for Freddie,who's an injury doubt with a sore knee.

And Ponting is still whinging...

Good,that shows the state of mind that Ponting and the Aussies are in.We'll put Cardiff behind
us and the lucky escape and concentrate on the thursday's Test.Another draw will do for me,
as we've got games at Headingley and The Oval later on,where we traditionally do well.
Everthing to play for.

If I've ever had a better day than yesterday at cricket - being sober, actually feeling my skin frazzle, listening to the dull monotony of the Aussie 'fanatics', in Wales - then I really can't remember it.

Absolutely.  The delaying tactics were underhand, but we should take no lectures from Australia about that.  They're no strangers to a bit of gamesmanship themselves (and, yes, there is a difference between gamesmanship and outright cheating).  Seems they can dish it out, but not so good at taking it themselves.

Agree also with your point about Ponting's state of mind.  The failure to finish England off has got right up his nose, and that can only be good for us.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090325054146AADfZKJ


If you cant take it dont dish it out...............must say the most unhealthy looking physio running on was embarassing though....The link above must have been sparky.

Monty will be dropped for Onions or Harmison it would seem. Flintoff will play I reckon.

Id like to smack him in the face with a shovel.

The bloke is brilliant for people who know nothing about cricket.

Onions for Monty is the only change on either side for Lords.

We're batting first, 5-0 so far.

Going good so far. *Touches wood*.

OMG Im ticket hunting for a client - OUCH HOW expensive is test cricket??

At Lords, very.

Hah, Mitchell Johnson is getting absolutely farmed here.

Expensive, especially for an Ashes ticket that were sold out soon after they went on sale.

For the West Indies a few months ago, you could get one no problem.

50 up for Cook.

Johnson's stats make for good reading :D

8 overs, no maidens, no wickets, 53 runs.

Some of the worst bowling of the summer. Ever since he came to England he hasn't impressed me. He got tanked in th T20, smacked by the Lions in the warm up game, and he was not very good in the 1st Test also.

Everything here is going for four, even Siddle's going for a few now. Bowling stats are pretty amusing, Hilfenhaus has six maidens and something like 1.83 per over, Johnson no maidens and seven an over.

Even Ally Cook is looking dominant here.

126-0 at lunch.

Lunch at 126-0

Lovely.

Wait for our bowlers figures... i imagine they will be no better!

I've only just switched on the TV to watch the cricket.

What the fuck is happening?

Who is this ENG team that batted first?

Hilfenhaus has shown that tidy bowling will do fine, it's the wayward crap that Johnson has been dealing out that's dissapearing to all areas.

That's exactly what Broad and Jimmy are capable if they have even a slightly off day...

Lunch now, so safe to post.  What the **** was that all about?

I'm off for a lie down.

50 up for Strauss now as well.

Nathan Hauritz looks like he's dislocated his finger as well, he won't bowl again which leaves the Aussies with a three man attack including Johnson. North, Clarke and Katich are going to get a few overs i'd think.

154-0, and Hauritz has had to go off with a possible disclocated finger.

Aussies now down to three front line bowlers.

attempted a caught a bowled from strauss looks like he dislocated his finger

Superb start.  (As an aside, sorry for Hauritz on a personal level - I have personal experience of seeing one of my own fingers in completely the wrong shape...not pleasant - but it could swing things hugely in our favour for the rest of the series if he is out.)

There are just two things still concerning me though:

1.  The rain that's forecast for tomorrow and Sunday; and
2.  You still need to take 20 wickets to win a test and, on last week's showing, I'm not sure our bowling attack is up to it.

Michael Holding said at lunch that based on what he's seen from the two bowling attacks so far he wouldn't be suprised by a 0-0 with 5 draws. I'd be inclined to agree with him, although for the sake of the series I hope some of the bowlers on both sides step up.

167-0 now.

196-1. Johnson getting cook LBW for 95

Cook so shocked to see Johnson managing a straight ball he gets out LBW for 95 :/

196-1

This is almost surreal to watch... Ordinary bowling being punished by fluent strokeplay.

Except the usual roles are reversed. Even the wicketkeeper is leaking runs...

That must be gutting for Cook... Oh well, still going well.

I hope Ravi gets some runs.

Here comes the collapse....

Cursed him.

255-2 at Tea.

Strauss on 100 n.o. and KP on 22 n.o.

So far, so good.

KayPee gone.

Remarkable start, still waiting for the inevitable collapse.

Hauritz back on the field with no strapping. That's pretty impressive, it was only about three hours ago that one of his fingers was facing a rather unnatural direction, I think I'd have given him the rest of the day off.

Edit: Nuts, Colllingwood gone 302/4. Just after the commentators were telling us he didn't do giving his wicket away easily to poor shots.

I'm wondering if we were allowing ourselves to get a little complacent.  Bopara, Pietersen and now Collingwood have all gone relatively cheaply.  (No surprise for Pietersen, mind.)  Only Strauss and Cook have posted decent scores today.

From here, we could easily finish on 400-450, which would be a let down after the first few sessions.  We really need to carry on & post a threatening 'big score' (500+) to pile on the pressure.

Don't worry, Jimmy A will hit his maiden test hundred and eventually top the batting averages for the series.

Prior gone to Johnson, who truly doesn't deserve these wickets. How he has more than Hilfenhaus is criminal.

England doing their best to throw this away

It's cheap dismissals like the last couple that will cost us. Someone (well, Fred) needs to join Strauss on a big total.

Shit.  Anyone else seen this pattern?

Strauss not out                  134
Cook lbw b Johnson              95
Bopara lbw b Hilfenhaus         18
Pietersen c Haddin b Siddle    32
Collingwood c Siddle b Clarke  16
Prior  b Johnson                     8
Flintoff not out                      4

Flintoff will go next ball.  Then Broad goes for 2, Swann for 1, Anderson for ½ and Onions for ¼.  We're doomed.

Lummy, Johnson's bowled a maiden!

You massive tosser, Flintoff has indeed gone for four.

Oh for fucks sake... bollockless cunts.

Graham Swann has a test match average of 45.75 afer that first test- I hope he keeps that up!

Broad wandering out now.

Bit early for a nightwatchman isn't it?

Jimmy A would want to get out there as early as possible.

I can only guess that the decision was taken out of his hands.

That was prescient as well, Broad's just been smacked in the veg!

'Nelson' claims its second victim. Where's David Shepherd when you need him?

Think we'll struggle to get to quad nelson now.

My money is on 435 with Jimmy A unbeaten in the 40s.

you're on to something

Cook just having a good old pick of his nose there on camera.

Then flicked it over the balcony onto the ECB members.

Good lad.

Shame we fell away a bit towards the end but The Aussies bowled well to be fair to them. Seems there is more in the pitch than Cardiff. Think anything over 400 is very good total.

 Whilst we're on the subject of pointless statistical coincidences, did you notice that England's finishing total of 364, is the same as Len Hutton's score in the Ashes Oval test of 38...when England racked up 903-7 dec ?

Yes, yes I did.

Not all of us were around then reg :)

A golden age of English cricket...before the flower of the British Empire had to go off and defend pitch, pavilion, luncheon and tea against the loathsome Hun, Nip and Eytie.

Good start. Two overs played, Strauss and Swann gone.

Time for Jimmy A to show them how it's done.

add Broad to that. Bowled by Hilfenhaus

12-3... is there something in this wicket/the air we can take advantage of? Or will our bowlers be shit again?

Hilfenhaus seems to be getting plenty of swing, hopefully it'll be the same for Jimmy A and Onions.

Peter Siddle looks like he has been sick at lords. Nice

onions is the new luke wright :)

Are Freddie and Andrew Flintoff related?

They are one and the same. Fred is his nickname.

And it looks like some of the Aussies have got the shits this morning :)

Haha, cheers, I did know that, was just being a twat, sorry :D

Is Jimmy Anderson the best number 10 in world cricket?

He's definately my favourite, 51 innings without a duck now and his average more recently must be fairly handy, although his career is still pretty low. Some of the shots he played wouldn't have looked out of place in the middle order (well, it would in England's middle order, as they all got out)

Hughes gone :) 4-1.

PONTING GONE

GET THE FUCK IN

Edit: Looks pretty dodgy as well, he's going to be spitting blood!

The look on his face was magnificent...That should be put on every site screen on the ashes tour.  He looked so pissed off...awesome!

My opinion on that decision is that he was definately out, but probably not in the way it was given- given caught, I don't think he touched it but if he didn't he was probably leg before.

Such a nice man for it to happen to as well  :D

Justice for all the whinging for the last week.

Harmison Watch:

S Harmison     11.0     3     20     5

i really really fucking hate ponting.

the only people i've heard/seen calling for harmison's inclusion are the aussies and i can't help but think it's because of that ball in the last series...

what a catch by Broad. Katich out 48. 103-3. Sonic i also hate Ponting with a passion

Ponting is a truly easy to hate man. Peter Siddle also has potential in that area, although I think that's just his face.

One the other hand, I can't help but like Hussey and Lee.

I think brett lee has partly taken over from shane warne as the englishmens favourite aussie

111-4 bowling freddie

Tee hee,another one gone


Shame the game is probably going to be rained off.

rank up the pressure boys!! this is fucking great :)

We could have them for 200 here, whats the follow on score?

220-odd

225

We made 425, so 225 I would guess.  Possible.

Well done Jimmy A.

Single-handedly putting the Aussies to the sword here both with bat and ball.

Also, SK Warne has very white teeth doesn't he.

I think play might get halted for bad light if the rain doesn't arrive first.  Looking very gloomy here.

Anyway, off home.  Happy weekend, everyone.

This is why TV replays ruin sport.

The look on the face of your opponents captain when he is given out undeservedly. PRICELESS!

8 down, this is bloody terrific.

We're dicking them. Have to laugh at Ponting really.

 :)

 still a lot to do...the Lords pitch tends to get better as the game goes on, we had the Saffas by the balls and couldn't finish it last year.

True. I wonder if we'll enforce the follow on?

If the weather is like this, even Conserva-Strauss will.

Looking like they're going to avoid follow on by the skin of their Aussie teeth.  Broad not bowling well.

Chose not to follow on.

Do you see what I did there?  It's called reverse jinxing.  Tried & testing.

Are we going to enforce the follow on though?

No.

Make them bat again I say.

Wonder why.  (Serious question, that.)

Loads of time left, weather permitting, and bowlers are probably knackered, plus with better conditions today the batting will be easier.

I agree with Beef.

I bet Warner agrees too.

In case you don't have Sky, Beef is saying we should make them follow on.

Well seems like he decided to bat.  Not sure y!!

Interesting. We'll be aiming for 200 plus and then we're in a great position. If we'd have let them follow on I reckon they may have got 400 + and then we'd have struggled to get the target so I think it makes sense.

KPs ripping off-breaks on a day 5 pitch should see for this lot of Aussies.

One of the Times correspondents is thinking we need to get 350 over 3 sessions and then bowl them out in 5.  Sounds plausible, as long as the rain is not too prolonged tomorrow.

Agree there. And we're flying already. 43-0 after nearly 9.

think i could bat against Mitchell Johnson. bit erratic

I reckon that must be the reason they're batting again, can't think of any other reason. Kind of makes sense I guess if the conditions are a lot worse tomorrow, just hope it doesn't come back to haunt them again.

And Freddie's a bit fucked.

Hah, Ponting's dropped a dolly.

and he missed a run out as well.

And what really topped it off was the crowd giving him the bird every time it was replayed on the big screen.

Seems to be swinging apparently. We've slowed up a little bit. Maybe batting again was the wrong choice? Who knows?

Johnson back on now, so the runs will start flowing again shortly :)

And sure enough, the last ball of his over goes for four.

England on Nelson again. *Holds breath*.

Feet off the ground is the supposed antidote, no?

Phew. Passed it without trouble :)

Johnson's just bowled a Harmison ball.

Johnson really has been woeful.

Talking of woeful, Pietersen and Bopara seem to be having a competition to look as out-of-sorts as possible.

Yeah I wish they'd either hit out or get out now. We're losing our momentum.

Moaners :)

Well we are. We were looking at a lead of 500 at stumps before lunch now we'll be lucky if we get a lead of 450.

Fuck off Ponting.

Should be written on the sight screens that.

I think the umpires should be allowed to say it to him as well.

I'd like to see us 450+ ahead by the end of today, add another 50 or so in the morning and then we've got a day and a half to try and bowl the Aussies out (rain permitting).

We could declare now and they wouldnt get them

I would bat until about 40 mins before lunch tomorrow, by which time we should be 550 ahead.

Saying that I think Swann will be taking notes...big turn !!!

i thought hauritz was shit?

pietersen gone

Good little knock from Prior. Shame about the run out. Hopefully Freddie will smash them for a few in his last ever test match innings at the home of cricket.

Great innings from Prior. He's turned it all back into our favour. We're looking at being at least 500 ahead by the close. I can't see the Aussies chasing down that many tbh.

Fred's having a good go. He'll be out soon, but it's nice to see him playing his own game.

311-6 RSP, a lead of 521.

I would bat on for 30 mins tomorrow to rub their noses in it.

Nah not now the rain has come. If it's going to be like this for tomorrow and Monday we may as well declare now and give ourselves as much time as possible.

Declare overnight or 20-30 mins tomorrow isn't going to make much difference, the key thing is we need it to not rain too much but be nice and cloudy so Jimmy can take them apart.

I think it's forecast light showers and overcast so we could be lucky. Of all the things to fuck us up though it will be the bloody weather and knowing our luck it will.

Hahhahahah, there's some chap on the Radio saying we should have opened the batting with Anderson and Swann.

Where do they get these people from?

I think some people have had too much to drink...

The Radio 5 phone in this evening was an embarrassment.  There are far too many England supportersn with very short memories who seem to be writing the Aussies off.  Far too early for that.  They could easily put up a defensive display like we did in the last test.

The Aussies sure as hell weren't going all out to make sure all the days overs got bowled were they. It would be interesting to compare their over rate during the last hour today to the last hour of the last test, I'm guessing there was a sizeable difference. Of course, to Ponting its totally different as he wasn't on the receiving end of it.

Still, who cares - him missing a run out from two yards and missing a catch that was easier to hold on to than drop has made my day.

Cricket usually evens itself up, if the rain saves them it evens up Cardiff where the rain saved england

We've declared overnight, two rain affected days for Oz to get the highest score ever chased at Lords or 190 odd overs for England to bowl them out and win and Lords for the first time since WW2.

well im off to arundel to watch the pro 40 match between sussex and hampshire a preview of next saturdays final at lords, hopefully by the time i get home at 8 we will have bowled the fuckers all out.

Looks cloudy there.

3 down by lunch :)

theres 1

That's dodgy.

Awesome.

Hahahahahaha. poor Aussies

120 for 4!!

All over by tonight? By virtue of a couple of questionable decisions...

128-5!

And for all you Punter fans, ESPN Classics are showing highlights tonight at 6.35, of day 3, of the 4th Test from 2005 where a certain Gary Pratt makes an appearance...

We're going to fuck this up aren't we?

What is the weather forecast for tomorrow at lords?

Don't know but hope it rains because at this rate Australia will win.

A draw is the best Australia can hope for and that would depend on if it rains for over a session tomorrow - if no more wickets go tonight

No, we will win this test.

Well it's in the balance. I'm inclined to believe we won't.

Surely if it's in the balance it could go either way?

You're a big ol' cricket pessimist :)

fixed.

we'll still win this. we just need to break this partnership.

Nah I've seen England fuck up test matches so often I almost expect it to happen all the time.

Sadly, I have to disagree with you there.  All three results (win, lose, draw) are possible.  The Aussies have batted their way back in to contention this afternoon.  Unless we take at least 2 wickets before lunch tomorrow, I'm going to be very nervous indeed.

For a neutral (which I'm not) - what a brilliant game of cricket.  Twenty20 can whistle.

As a neutral 20/20 is more appealing to me.

Each to their own.  But to my mind, that's a bit like saying you prefer penalty shoot outs to 90 mins of football.

Twenty20 is a slogfest.  Strategy, tactics, ebb & flow all take a back seat.

Thing is cricket has never been a sport i have enjoyed. 20/20 changed that and now i am even watching the ashes something many on here probably thought i would never do.

A very fair point.  Can't argue with that.

20/20 is the glamour side of the game. But the real proper stuff is the test cricket which is exactly that. A 5 day test of all players both physically and mentally. Not to mention the strategy and the excitement that you can get at a business end of one. We've already seen 1 thrilling finish in Cardiff and I think (weather permitting) we'll get another one tomorrow.

I think the benefit of 20/20 is that it can pull in the interest of kids with its excitement - ergo getting young people in to Cricket.  Once this interest is established some will then develop an interest in the more serious test side of the game. 

You calling me a kid. Cunt

Come on.  Who's nervous this morning?  This is one of the biggest days in Test cricket for a long time.  Really could go either way.  The knives are going to be out for Strauss if the Aussies pull this off...which would not be good for the rest of the series.

Quick wicket to break the partnership and I think we'll do it by tea, if these two last until lunch, or if there's rain I think we're in for trouble.

Fingers crossed, but looks as if the rain may hold off.

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/today.asp?zipcode=nw8

If the Aussies make 522 to win it'll be a magnificent achievement. I don't think England have bowled badly.

As the runs required reduces, the batsmen will get more nervous. Don't rate the rest of the batsmen so this is the key partnership

We've got a nearly new ball as well so hopefully an early breakthrough and a relaxing morning.

It's no good bowling line and length to Clarke and Haddin. They're both very good drivers of the ball and they'll just keep putting it away.

Depending on the conditions, if there's no swing I'd like to see either some quick bursts of short stuff, or pitch it right up in the block hole. Might leak the occasional 4, but it should keep the runs down from what they were getting yesterday.

313-6 fuck off haddin

Excellent 8)

:p

i still think we'll do this but it'll be squeaky bum time all day!

Haha, I saw a similar comment on TMS. I obviously meant it as reverse psychology ;)

2 more before lunch please.

and another one bites the dust  8)

Up the Swanny !!!

One more before lunch and I think we'll be OK.  Still doable from their point of view though...just.

it'll be all over by lunch.

freddie strikes again

advantage england, cue the rain

I'm about 3 miles away in central London - and blue skies and sunshine here.  A few clouds, but they're of the wispy white variety.

Might as well finish it now..

From the Guardian:

WICKET! Hauritz 1 b Flintoff (100th over: Australia 367-8) need 522
Ricky Ponting is now biting his nail furiously. That was one of the great Ashes innings by Clarke, the memory of which shouldn't be eclipsed by the fact it looks as though it will have come in a losing cause. And there goes Hauritz! That's four for Flintoff, courtesy of a serious misjudgement from the batsman, who shouldered arms to a ball that slanted back in at his wicket and knocked over his off stump. Siddle is in, and England are now just two wickets away from the win. These are now Flintoff's best-ever figures (24-4-69-4) at Lord's, in his final Test innings at the ground. He almost completes his five-for with a yorker, but Siddle just squeezes it away square for four.

The red highlighting is mine.  How are you feeling, Ricky?  I bet he's deciding on his post-match whinges as we speak.

Siddle's gone.  One to go.

Woop!

Easy

Get in!

And Freddie gets a deserved five-fer.

Job done.  As some wag pointed out, looks like McGrath will now need to revise his prediction to a 3-1 series win for Australia.

Well done lads.  A great start.  Can't wait for Ponting's interviews.

fuck me this was a satisfying test.

sweepstake on ponting's complaints?

- questionable decisions for his and hussey's wickets
- wrong type of chewing gum

To be fair we had quite a lot of good fortune this match.

For good fortune read shit umpiring.

England slip fielders breaking wind disturbing his concentration
Not enough rain around

Doctrove is the worst umpire in test cricket...end of.

Fair play to Ponting never moaned just recognised the fact they were beaten by the better side which was true.

Punter has just completed at historic double.

Not only was he the first Aussie captain to lose a test series to England for 18 years, but he's just because the first Aussie captain to lose a Lord's test for 75 years !!

Nice one, Punter.

I thought the fortune was shared really. Went yesterday, the Aussies including Clarke were beaten by the bowling on many occasions and rode their luck whilst not offering any chances. Fair play to them for the effort (particularly Clarke and Haddin) they made and it was closer than expected at the end. Still great win and Freddie (who looked like he'd just run a marathon when fielding) is an absolute cricket monster !

Great win. Glad we didn't blow it. The Aussies have it all to do now. Great turnaround from Cardiff.

I was right.  Oh yes.

What are you talking about, should we feed them half volleys and long hops in the next test instead?

By the way, I'd say the major plus from this test that's gone unmentioned is Prior. Never doubted his batting, but that's developing into that of a very good international player - and his keeping was his best display of his England career so far.

Agree DMR. Prior had a really good game actually.

Agreed...i also think that last record partnership between Anderson and Onions(50 odd?) was really important...it just gave us the edge after the Aussies had bowled well untill that last partnership....Anderson is a top bowler..a top fielder and is a competant batsmen these days,nearly in the all rounder category.

No. I was just talking in the context of that innings. The line and length bowling on Saturday was bread and butter stuff for Clarke & Haddin.

tbf anderson never really gets more than 30 does he? More of a capable tailender than an allrounder

Between Broad, Swann, Anderson and Flintoff, our tail enders are more than capable of contributing 100 or so runs.

Thats because hes been stranded at times not out..to me if he batted abit higher he may have more time and partners to get higher scores.

That is a very fair point. Swann and broad are both better with the bat though. It just goes to show how strong our tail is

Yep, if Rashid had played instead of Panesar in Cardiff, we may well have had the best tail in history.

Anderson is the nightwatchman of choice, he sometimes shows ability above 10th man level.

KP out for the rest of the series.

Oh fuck. Bopara and Bell.

On the bright side, he's been well below par during the first two tests...and we've still yet to be beaten by the Aussies.  He's been a bit of a passenger so far, and not the reason we took the last match, for example.  Of course I'd like him fit, but I think we'll manage.

KP out for the rest of the series

KP should've had this operation in April...but then he would've missed out on the IPL millions.

Oh dear, our weak suite just got massively weaker.

Yet more pressure on the bowlers, and on Ravi Bopara also to not give away double-figures worth of over-throws.

Well KP has been pretty shit anyway. Bring in someone like Denly or Morgan I reckon. No doubt it'll be Bell or Key in the usual list of culprits though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Bell

Thaught Bell has been unlucky to miss out...number 3 is tough and he averages 40 in test matches...also a very good fielder,had his kick up the ass now get him back in the fold.

No SK Warne to torment him with his straight ball either leefer.

Bell is the best choice I feel.

It's a big loss to lose KP even though he hasn't been in the best of form.
Form is temporary,class is permanant.

With the next test at Edgbaston, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Ian Bell return,
but he hasn't done a great deal for Warwicks recently.

I'm sure it will be Bell.

Bell is averaging 80 this season, so he's in form. I've seen him be rubbish for England far to often to be confident though

There is a compelling argument for moving Jimmy A up to #4 and bringing in an extra bowler.

Doubt that'll happen though.

Please not Bell. He's fucking useless at test level.

Early season big scores,Trott has been outscoring him in the last few weeks,especially today  ;)

Bell didn't do very well in the England Lions game at Worcester either.

Wouldn't mind seeing Jonathan Trott getting the nod in a straight Saffer swap, but it will be Bell, the only question is whether he goes in at 4 or they jiggle the batting lineup around.

Trott is a reasonable shout but I think I'd rather see Bell in now, just to wind people up.

Bell at 5 will be fine... he's been class this season. Bet Vaughan wishes he hadn't retired now though.

Collingwood to 4 then?

Or Prior. Come on Matty, you can bat 3.

I'm sure it will be Bell,think Ravi has to knuckle down at bit at No.3.

Bopara should be moved to 5 with KP's replacement at 3 and Colly at 4.

Bell is little more than a flat track bully. Once the pressures on he flat out bottles it

He'll enjoy Mitchell Johnson on current form then.

All it will take is a little word in his ear from ponting and he'll go to shit

If you were the Aussies, you'd see how much it would cost to get S K Warne to come on as a sub fielder. One "Hello again Shermanator" and he'd be a wreck.

The whole thing about Bell not being able to pick the straight ball out of Warne's hand was a load of bollocks anyway, Warne admitted last week on the commentary that the ball he actually got him with was a leg break that just didn't turn.

No one is mentioning ed joyce? in the form of his life at the moment. Dont put prior any higher up the order, his style is perfect for 6.

that particular dismissal, yes... But he'd missed the straight one numerous times before... That was the point.

Snigger, Simon Hughes (TMS Commentator) just said shit on 5Live at 20 to 2. I shouldn't find swearing as funny as I do, I think it's the degree to which you can somehow hear the presenter's heart stopping.

Got to say I like this T-shirt :

http://www.play.com/Clothing/T-Shirts/4-/11082147/The-Ashes-H-M-Prison-Australia/Product.html#

I want this one:

[url width=300 height=300]http://www.bodylinetshirts.com/images/designs/stars-off-our-flag-tshirt_bottlegreentshirt.jpg[/url]

Hughes dropped for Watson accordinng to Sky and Hughes' twitter.

Watson to open is a strange one.

  Be a surprise if there's much play today...remember the brumbrella..ace, apart from it kept breaking down.

well it's currently raining here on Colmore Row, Birmingham so i imagine it'll be raining up at Edgbaston.

Aussies have dropped opener Phil Hughes,replacing him with Shane Watson.

Hahah, Fire Alarm live on air for Sky :D

ECB already picking the venues for the Ashes in 2013.Durham this time!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8176118.stm

Rain is predicted for 4 out of the 5 days.

Going in to the 4th Test with a 1-0 lead (and a rested Freddie)...think I would take that.

Unless you had a ticket for Edgbaston that is

I'm going tomorrow. Looks like the best forecast of the lot so can't complain. Well not too much.

I'm there for the 4th Day, which seems like an ok day weather wise, and given today it might be a good watch (unless so much gets washed out it's a pointless game by then).

That's better. Onion's 2 wickets in an over  126-3

Hope you got there for the start of play!!

Doing very well now!

And another. Anderson on a hattrick.

The Aussies are folding.  203-8 now.  This is beautiful.

203-8 at lunch...77-7 in the session

Hauritz and Siddle are looking quite stubborn.  Come on lads.  Kill this innings off.

We're two down now and here comes Bell.

Soon to be three then.

Boparda is in the Ramps/Bell mode clearly a talent, but just loses concentration at key moments...very frustrating.

Not much better with his fielding either! Catching practice Ravi?

Might have to turn TMS off.Matt Hayden is coming across very well and also has quite a nice voice  :eek:
I want to continue disliking him!!!

Why have we taken the light? We are going well on 116-2. Great day though. We just ripped through their batting.

so we dont lose a wicket, why risk a wicket for 20 or so runs?

Bopara is looking to be Bell without the fielding, but I hope things come good for both of them.

How rediculously plumb was Bell to Johnson right near the end? Arise Sir Rudi Koerzen!

Very true Nemo...though Watson was equally plumb yesterday so it evens up.

Clarke was plumb to Onions, not given, then given out to Jimmy, when missing leg.

A classic case of evening it up.

Umpires haven't been great so far tbh.

I'm now following Jimmy A on Twitter. He was pleased with his haul today.

Hope nobody on here had tickets today. Looks like a full refund.

No play today. Pretty much means it'll be a draw. So 1-0 to England going into the last 2 tests.

Not a betting man anymore onion but evens the draw on monday was money for old rope with the forecast.

"Bumble stop stirring" ~ SK Warne

Good value chatter between these two pundits today here at Edgbaston.

Bumble getting right into Warner's ear now.

There is a good battle taking place in the commentary box today.

The football style chanting is really getting on my tits now.

England fans.....can we play you every week......Flintoft making hay.

Going well now thanks to a good little innings from Freddy. If we can bat most of tonight's session and chuck them in for a few overs later on that would be great.

113 lead. Knock over a few Aussies tonight, and we've got a good chance tomorrow.

They've started well. 44-0.

52-2  :D

Punter gone for 5  :D

Ball of the series for me that one.

Great afternoon's play.

Walked into a pub and it was absolutely packed with blokes mesmerised by it, every ball.

I think the Aussies were struggling to cope with it. Struggling to cope with the prospect of going 2-0 down. Struggling with the crowd ripping the piss out of them. And struggling with the realisation that they are the inferior side, bat and ball.

I agree Spencer. This time The Aussies are scared of us. They feel intimidated by the likes of Flintoff and the crowds etc. They don't have the great players anymore. We show no fear of them anymore either. I think it's great to watch because we seem to have a new edge over them psychologically and they aren't used to being in that situation.

After Ponting was out and he got the normal abuse walking off, the commentators were saying the crowds treatment of him was disgraceful and totally disrespectful to a player of his calibre.

Not sure about everyone else but my personal view is that Ponting is a cunt and deserves all the abuse he gets. On the other hand he's also one of the greatest players of all time, if I was there I'd have stood up and applauded him when he broke the Aussie runs record.

To be honest though they did the same with Flintoff down under. It's all part of the rivalry. People are bound to boo him.

Yeah, Ponting does speak well most of the time. English fans arent used to an Australian side without any easy targets, so Ponting gets it in the neck. But I think he is an easy wind up. He does lose it a bit when things arent going the Aussies way, English fans smell the weakness.

The TMS commentators were saying exactly the same about Ponting's treatment, especially the Aussie one (Jim Maxwell, who is very good by the way, much better than that tosser CMJ).

The thing is, Australian crowds give England players 10x worse down under. But its all individuals, they cant master the collective, witty chanting, and it cuts the Aussies to the bone. They cant believe it when the Edgbaston crowd gets going.

This Australian side's experience is really starting to tell at places like Edgbaston. Most of them will have never played cricket in an atmosphere like that before.

What about all the stick the England player's get, especially at the Boxing Day test in Melbourne?

Yes, Ponting might be a great player, but he had one advantage like all the Aussie batsmen over the last 15 years...they didn't have to face Warne & McGrath like the rest of us, and therefore is average is better because of it !!

The Aussies always say they target the opposition captain, because if he's not doing well it put's pressure on the opposition. The crowd,and the England players, are targeting Punter,for the same reason, as proved by Trent Bridge, 2005 when Punter was run out by Gary Pratt.

A good day today and to get two wickets is a great start. I still think it's highly unlikely that we'll win it but a good morning session and you never know

Ponting knows the score.........he realises its more of a football type thing like when Ronaldo gets it.......people boo but realise the bloke is class.....loved watching Broad bat again.

Fourth Aussie wicket just fallen.In with a chance,just need to keep going.Come on lads!!!

We need to get them out by 3.30pm at the latest if we're going to win this. Still possible.

I've heard that there are a few tickets available for the final test at the Oval (all days), but you've got to phone them up.

i know nothing about cricket but if we don't get them out by today we wont get chance for our second innings and they win?

also saw Freddie Flintoff get himself a takeaway Nando's on friday evening whilst i was in the pub opposite

Correct, this is the last day result or not.

Sod all hapenning with the pitch, get Swann Lake on.

Give Jimmy the fucking ball Straussy!

Ravi bowls mid 80s, bit harsh to label that medium pace really Sky.

God, Rudi's sent one upstairs after turning it down.

If this is given out Punter will explode.

Not out, but Rudi basically just referred that, which he's not allowed to do.

No, it's a draw

Oh blimey I misread that, didn't notice the bit about them winning :D

Didn't see the whole of what happened but i thought rudi sent it upstairs,not the batsman. The umpire is allowed to do this is he not (just like a run out or checking on a boundary)? Its just the players that can't argue against the umpires decision until referals come into use.

That shouldn't have been 3rd umpired though,blatantly not out,Rudi's on his last legs if you ask me.

My understanding was that he could go upstairs to check if the ball carried to the fielder but not whether it had been hit or not to start with. However, Atherton then said on Sky that they've just changed it so that the 3rd Umpire can tell him that he didn't hit it even though that wasn't the question asked.

Logical change in my opinion, just didn't realise it had been made. My apologies Rudi, you're still an awful umpire though. Get Taufel in, hardly matters that he's an Aussie.

ah so not all is lost then really.

If it is a draw nothing is lost is it magic

Fuck me what a catch.

what a catch by Jimmy A. Unlucky for Marcus north he deserved a hundred

Bloody hell, Broad just hit Clarke's stumps at 80 some mph and the bails didn't move :o

Ha ha sums up our day really doesn't it?

And then caught off a no ball from a medium pacer. Hopefully they're using up their luck now before Headlingley.

Nuts. Thought we might sneak a result today.

Now that sounds downright painfull.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8182609.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8182609.stm)

Oh, well done me. One test too early though. Been called up along with Sidebottom, while Monty drops out. Will be interesting to see if they decide to pick him over R-Bop.

i hope Jonathan Trott gets a the nod over bopara because he has played well for Warwickshire this season

Trott over Denly? Oh dear.

Trott is averaging 92 in the County Championship at the moment, you can see why he's next in line, but it's a shame we didn't give people like him, Denly and my man James Hildreth a game against the Windies back in May.

Yeah i'm not denying Trott is good. He clearly is. Would just like to see some younger English talent come through. Denly was one of the highest run scorers last summer and he scored a century for The Lions against the Aussies before the 1st Test.

Denly is a young talented batsman,but it would be very unfair to throw him in at the deep end
in the middle of an Ashes series.Remember what happened to the young Somerset batsman
Mark Lathwell? Probably be better to try Denly in the 1 day series.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/8185339.stm

I shudder to think what the Western terrace is going to be like with the convicts in town  :D

Concerns were raised during the third Test at Edgbaston when Australia captain Ricky Ponting was booed.

^^ Poor Old Ricky getting booed!

Interestingly Trott's former coach at Warwickshire is now one of the main selectors for England: Ashley Giles.

He does seem to be in some form though so you can't argue against it too much.

Also, Sidebottom used to play for Yorkshire so I would say he is nailed on to play the 4th test, in place of SCJ Broad.

just re-listened on iplayer to boycott's strop on day one.

i wish that curmogdeonly fool would give up, i have now resorted to turning off TMS whenever he's on

Ive just read that Lily Allen is a TMS fan.  She is slowly becoming the perfect woman!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/adammountford/2009/08/lily_for_leeds.html

Would be great to hear her on TMS with aggers!

I saw that yesterday.Made me smile.TMS is ace  :)
Would be even better if they got rid of cmj though.

Russell Crowe was interviewed during the Lords test.

England team were woken by a fire alarm at their hotel just after 5am this morning. Great.

and Flintoff's out as well. Off to a flier here then.

And possibly Prior.

Prior passed fit. Phew !!!

And hopefully he'll have the best part of 2 days before he has to do anything as well!  Won the toss and batting, Harmy in for Flintoff.

Christ, lucky.

Jim maxwell on TMS will drone on about that for the rest of the match.  I thought we were supposed to be whinging poms but the aussies dont half moan.

Strauss gone - awesome catch by Marcus North.

11/1

Awful Bopara, awful.

16/2

Bopara is a twat, Shit fielder, shit technique, shit shit shit

Bopara...you bopard !!!

Bell gone. 39/3.

Lordy.

This is NOT looking good. >:(

Collingwood gone :(

Oh FFS.

This is a joke.....

Certainly is.  The England we all know & love is back.

....and there goes Cook.

63/5.

another one bites the dust!

I was just about to post Cook has to be in for the long run now  :doh:

I assume Clark has been injured?Surely he would have been playing otherwise.

63 - We aren't even going to make the top 10 lowest England test totals. Every cloud....

and another...

Bites the dust..

FFS I was looking forward to watching some cricket, at my local, this afternoon with a couple of beers. - I can't believe it, Broad in before lunch on the first day. Fuck off Cunts

Broad in - and out before lunch!

Don't worry, Jimmy A will get his maiden "Dizzy Gillespie" 200.

98 for 8.

lost this test then

102/9.

All out 102

5 wickets for Siddle.

33.5 overs.

Dreadful.

Pathetic.  Even with Pietersen and Flintoff out, pathetic.  We'll need to win the final test now to win back the Ashes.

Its more fun when we bowl anyway.

Headingly shouldn't get test matches with it's stupid policy on crowd controls.

Lets see what our bowlers can do before everyone turns into DV

Agreed.

It's not over yet...Don't forget in the last test we got 7 wickets for 77, and we need that now.

Although 8 runs from the first two balls won't help the mood change :)

Whats the problem with the crowd controls at Headingley?

Its not the grounds fault anyway.Besides we almost always beat the convicts at the Oval  :)

[Of course that is usually due to the fact that the series is all over in favour of the convicts by the time it gets to the oval].

They were bigging up Harmy on radio five last night,he's going to have to deliver now,poor bloke,it ain't going to happen  :(

I think your secretly enjoying our crapulence Rich  ;)

Not at all. Hooray a wicket for Harmison!

Will there have to be a pitch inspection if this keeps up ?

I think anyone who's got a ticket for days 3,4 and 5 might not be seeing much play, if any !!

Fuck me Ponting's making a statment. Rinsed Onions for about 20 off his first over, haha.

They're making us look like amateurs at the moment.

If plan A doesn't work....revert to plan A !!

They are taking the p...

Watson gone... Need to get rid of that Ponting fellow.

Ponting gone. Good.

Good innings though.

Good work Rich, who do you fancy next?

Huzzah 4th wicket.

pitch it up and u get wickets. no short stuff.

Why oh why do we keep resorting to Harmlessone? He simply can't hack it playing test cricket.

Even if KP and Freddy were in the team we'd have still been bowled out for 102. However I think we'd have a few more wickets if Freddy was playing as he doesn't slap it in short like Harmison does. Broad has been our best bowler in this match so far yet people slate him all the time?

Think the real problem came when Struass decided to bat first. In my opinion that was a crazy choice. On a first morning at Headingly where there has been overnight rain and there's a bit of dampness around you'd be crazy not to bowl. The swing they got was more than enough. They must be laughing tonight in that Aussie hotel. It was almost as bad a decision as Nasser's in Brisbane.

Utterly bemused that Sidebottom wasn't picked over Harmison. The conditions called for line and length bowling, as Clark and Siddle proved.

Ponting was going to bat first as well.

Harmison is now a walking advert for the poor standards in the County game, where he has been made to look ok.

Some quality bowling again this morning... parp. Are they stupid and bowling wrong lines/lengths, or just bowling crap?

Oh dear. We needed early wickets this morning but this games not totally gone. We'll have to bat for 3 days to save it. No chance.

Fucking hell, Strauss gets out and Super-Rav gets a first baller. Bad decision but still, 35 run highest score from 8 innings.

Jeez, on the replay that was a massive edge. Can't get a break for love nor money Ravi.

78-5

If any of the players come out after the match (or this evening) and say anything about "learning lessons" I motion that they should be shot immediately.

get some more bat on it, and you won't leave any doubt in the umpires mind. He's playing like a retard.

LEAVE THE FUCKING THING ALONE! Sweet baby Moses...

Prior gone.

Broad has just left after an entertaining knock. 228/8.

We're gonna win this

at least we won't go into the final test match utterly devoid of confidence...

So do you reckon there will be wholesale changes for the final game?

There's talk of Rob Key being brought in.

You can't make loads of changes. That would unsettle the side and make defeat certain. I do think Bopara's position needs to be looked at and i'd bring in Key for the number 3 slot. Bell is useless but i'd keep him for this match just based on the fact he's played enough tests and has the experience so is a better option than chucking Trott in at the deep end. As for the bowlers well i'd like to think Freddy will come back and if he does i'd get rid of Harmison becuse he's useless. If Freddy isn't fit then i'd go with 2 spinners and drop Harmison.

Mark Ramprakash.

If freddi aint fit then get sidebottom in. At least he has some idea over where the ball will land half the time.

Players I've heard suggested on the Radio tonight:

Batsmen: Ramprakash, Trott, Key, Trescothick, Solanki, Denly, Moore, Shah, Hildreth, Carberry, Gerraint Jones

Bowlers: Mahmood, Tom Smith, Cork (!) Sidebottom, Rashid, Plunkett, Panesar, Bresnan

Also Botham, but I think that one was tongue in cheek. Interesting week to be a selector I think.

Imagine a return to Test cricket for Mark Ramprakash! He surely hasn't played for well over 5 years now (for England that is).

Surprised no-one has mention Michael Vaughan yet.

Only recently retired.

If he came back and scored the runs to win the Ashes back for England it would up there with George Foreman smoking Michael Moorer to win the Heavyweight championship in 1994 at the ripe old age of 45.

Ramprakash is a joke surely? He's fucking useless at Test level. Tresco to return for 1 test would be ace. If only someone could twist his arm...I think he's said he may consider playing home tests again but not tours. The lure could be hard to resist.

This panic is madness?

Maybe 1 change from the group of players that have played in the series so far? Surely no more than that?

Its sad that England seem so dependent on one player. The team is going to have to learn to be without Flintoff.

A true England Legend.

obvious choice at 3 is ed joyce, he is in the form of his life.

Sir Geoffrey said it like it is yesterday.

What is the point of batting in a test match like you need to score off every ball? That's where we went tits up in this test. Leave the ball alone unless it is either a loose delivery or you need to defend. Strauss and Cook briefly seemed to understand that yesterday and only played when they needed to.

Perhaps it is too much one day cricket that taints the test match batsman's mind. Play to stay in you fuckers.

On the subject of changes I would give Bopara a long hard look but who the hell else do you bring in instead? I think the team is actually the best we have. Flintoff is sorely missed - but we need an all rounder like him (or Botham in previous Ashes) to inspire, perform and deliver against the Aussies. Perhaps Stuart Broad will be that man in two year's time...

I thought Boycs summed it up perfectly on the Channel5 Highlights programme,when discussing team changes
for The Oval.Robert Key to come in at No.3 with Bopara making way.They should have picked Sidebottom at
Headingley for his control,rather than Harmison.With the bowling attack for the final test,it's a case of seeing
who's fit (especially Freddie) and taking things from there.We need a lot more discipline with the bowling and
to bowl as a unit.

Key reminds me of Brearley. A good captain but not quite good enough with the bat. But who else do you go for? How about Mark Ramprakash? I know he's had a million chances and ideally you wouldnt call upon a 39 year old, but....

Not with Hilfy getting lefties out for fun.

Think some of you are getting a bit caught up in this leaving the ball hype, you have to hit the thing to score runs see. Maybe swap Bell and Ravi, or drop Ravi for Key if you really have to. Harmy out for Fred/Sidey.

I think the point is that there is noone in the England side who can drop anchor for a day or two if necessary. For every other test playing nation they have at least one or two batsmen who can do this.

With you on that, he has already notched up his 5th century this season...

Langer's Ashes Dossier makes for some interesting observations.Written before the Cardiff Test.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/theashes/5996840/In-full-Justin-Langers-Ashes-dossier.html

Scroll through the rest of the pages,top right.

agree with mex - ed joyce for me

Hmm I wonder how we got to know of the dossier - who leaked it and why? - I'm not sure who would benefit from the leak, though apparently Michael Vaughan agrees with many of Langer’s assertions, according to the Telegraph

Indeed. That was what I was aiming at.

DMR - yes you have to score runs to win, but you can approach it with a mindset that doesn't mean you have to attack every ball. Staying in is important!

Granted, Boycott was one extreme of this and wouldn't change his tactics when the match or series demanded it and it drove his contemporaries bonkers. At the other end of the spectrum I give you the current England Ashes side.

I think the problem is that we get carried away in the spur of the moment. We took the game to them in 2005 and scored runs fast but the difference was we did it sensibly and in most cases we did it well. Here in this series we seem to be doing the same but rather than trying to play our natural game we end up trying to force the issue and fail. There needs to be a sense of perspective at The Oval. We need to try and bat for 2 days if batting first and bat them out of the game. That way it makes an Aussie win unlikely and gives the bowlers the ultimatum of taking 20 wickets or watching the Aussies get their dirty hands on that urn yet again.

 Apparently this is the first time in an England test team that nos 3,4,and 5 have failed to get at least double figures in both completed innings.

 It was pretty obvious when KP dropped out that bringing in Bell after Boparda was an accident waiting to happen if Strauss failed...and so it proved.

Agreed Reg. The middle order have to be resilient and without Flintoff we don't seem to have any other answers. Apart from Broad in two year's time that is  ;D

A worrying stat- runs scored by Englands Batsman/Bowlers

In the series to date:

England’s top 5 wickets – 937 runs (Strauss, Cook, Bopara, Bell/Pietersen, Collingwood)
England’s bottom 5 wickets – 910 runs (Flintoff, Broad, Swann, Anderson, Monty/Onions/Harmison)

I think the bottom stand might be missing Broad and Swann's little dash on the final day as well so they could even be ahead.

Edit: Re-looking at this, I think it's the last 5 wickets to go down, so a lot of Priors runs are probably included in the bottom figure.

I see Freddie's going to be ready for the Oval test.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8192589.stm

The stage is set.

there's only been one century scored by an english batsman in this series as well, that worries me a little.

http://www.skysports.com/cricket/ashes/story/0,26376,12340_5484239,00.html (http://www.skysports.com/cricket/ashes/story/0,26376,12340_5484239,00.html)

Yes please.

Why not, after all it's not like it's a high pressure game coming up is it ? Can you imagine how the Aussies would treat him at the crease ? Just the ticket for a man with a stress related illness.

A ludicrous suggestion.They'll be suggesting Ramprakash comes back in next, oh, hang on a minute....

Trescothick has issues with touring abroad and leaving his family, not stage fright.

Haha its like 05, when they people wanted caddick or cork to replace jones

Feeling that Rob Key will get the nod at 3.

Poor Caddick,he was always waiting for the selectors to call  :D

Resuming again today,if anyone needed to be told  ;) I've got knots in my stomach thinking about it.

Come on lads!!!

I share your anxiety.

Good morning Larwood, good morning everyone and welcome to the 5th and final test from the Brit Oval. 

I'm relaxed we've got no chance....

That's the thing, Reg.  On this pitch, we have.  That's why it's going to be so forking infuriating when we chuck it all away.

Best batting pitch in England...we ent going to get 20 wickets.

Ent is not a word Reg.

They said the same about Lords, prior to the second test ...

Reg will probably find some ancient meaning of the word Ent.

Everybody knows Ents are tree-folk from Middle Earth.

If there were a Swindon English Dictionary (instead of the poxy Oxford version), I am quite sure that 'ent' would be listed.

I see Cook's off to a flyer.

Exactly...Swindon people say ent, so it'll do for me.

How long till Bell gets out?

He'll probably get to 30 odd..

Bell is shitting himself

Run rate starting to pick up quite nicely.  Bell needs to keep himself there!

The real time Who Will Win-ometer on the Times website has just seen the probability of an England win rise above the probability of an Aussie win for the first time.  According to their experts, now looking like approx:

England win (30%)
Australia win (25%)
Draw (45%)

Better win i got 4/1

Strauss out. fucking no ball aswell

Strauss has been out for some time now!

Yes but no one put it on here did they

Collingwood has gone for those inept to look on another website for the info

Fussy twat

fudge packer

I cannot argue with your logic

Every now and then people say they can't get on certain sites at work so thought i would be nice and help.

Magic could you keep homophobic insults to yourself please.No room for filth like that in todays society thanks.

How times change.  Now reading approx...

England win (20%)
Australia win (40%)
Draw (40%)

I'm not sure getting bowled out for between 300-400 is the end of the world, if anything if gives us time to force a result as if we'd batted for 2 days and got 600, we're typically too negative in our tactics and slow scoring to really force a result. If we're all out for 350 and the Aussies get 500 at a reasonable lick, we could still win. If we get 600 and the Aussies avoided the follow on, it's a draw.

The Aussies will get 600. No chance the Ashes are coming back to England.

300+ is not the end of the world.  Not great...but not a disaster either.  I really think it's all down to the big man now.  If he's on fire tomorrow, it could be interesting.

pitch is getting worse and worse. spin will play a part in this test match.

When I came in from work, and saw the score of 274-6, I thought we'd blown it.

Five minutes later when I saw the Aussie part-time spinner turning the ball at right angles, I'm now thinking...game on !!!

350 will be a good score on this pitch. Swann could have a field day.

Having seen some of the highlights it looks like it's bouncing and spinning. If only Harmison could bowl straight....

Stop being such a doomer! There are 4 days to go and anything can happen.

Swann will clean up. I think the Aussies will regret not playing Hauritz.

Every single batsman struggled on the first day on a pitch that both teams wanted to bat on. Noone really looked confident, but I'm not sure whether that was the pitch, calibre of bowling or because the batsmen were trying too hard not to make a mistake? I guess we will see the answer sometime later this morning or this afternoon when quality batsmen like Pontin and Clarke have a go.

Cook, Strauss Prior and Flintoff gave their wickets away. (didn't see Collingwood or Bell)

The first few overs from Harmison are key - If the Aussies get away to a flier I can't see 4 of them throwing it away, which will mean that Swann has to bowl out of his skin to keep us in it - and he's pretty low on wickets and confidence lately. Sky are overhyping (now there's a surprise) our chances if you ask me.

i found a swindon dictionary somewhere, think it was in lechlade garden centre. it certainly had the word 'ent' in it :-)

i'm still optimistic. if north can get turn like that, swann should be able to capitalise on it... if he doesn't, we're fucked.

332 all out.

not too bad but we need early wickets if we want to win this

that was plum :[

Oh no.Matthew Hayden on TMS,i hate him,but he sounds like such a nice bloke.Listening to him talking about Burnley beating the kings of football,has just made my day  :)

I expect him to sledge and say something horrid,but he's so nice!

At least Warne is no longer playing,we'd lose for sure if he was.Still got a chance.

harmy's on, first ball wide down the leg side and slapped away for four. oops.


re hayden, i couldn't believe it was him. he's such a nice, calmly spoken and friendly man.

Boycott's commentary on Five's highlights last night really got on my tits. He really doesn't like Ian Bell.

boycott is a cunt with nothing of any worth of interest to say

Boycott's usually right.

Australia will score 450+

Combined...fuck it I can dream can't I?

This test has got draw written all over it. Unless our shite attack can make them play then they'll just stay there and bat it out. Add to that a day of rain and you've got a draw. Ashes retained, fucking Aussie cunts.

Dunno what it is but I find these test matches infinitely more stressful than football.

I presume at football, if there is danger, there is a flurry of activity,  then the danger goes away and you can relax. Plus you can holler, shout, fidget etc and just generally let off some steam......however, with these tests, it just seems to be a inexorably long drawn out torture when the aussies are batting, like Chinese water torture.

I have to turn it off after a while.

Only against Australia mind, anyone else, couldn't give a flying.

ponting out

Game is starting to look interesting now.  If only we can inflict a little more damage before tea...give them something to think about.

hussey out for a duck

it's onnnnnn

Gentlemen, we have a game.

And the pundits agree.  Following Hussey's wicket, they think it's almost even again.  Interestingly, it's the chances of a draw are declining rapidly.

England win (40%)
Australia win (45%)
Draw (15%)

I really bloody wish I had sky, or a mate who does.  Watching this on the BBC website 2 min update.  Not the same somehow.

i feel that in times like these, people should be legally obliged to open their house to strangers if they have sky.

I think that would somewhat #### up Sky's business model, but I do agree.

Broad again!

what a spell of bowling

Get in!!  Barbeque tomorrow.  I think the music is about to be ditched for cricket commentary.

I'm off to the in-laws tomorrow.  Think they have sky.  They might not see much of me this weekend.

Loving this... Broady sticking 2 fingers up to those who reckoned he was shit when he had 2 bad tests, he's gonna be absolute class (well, he is already)

Again, from the Times feed...

Sam Northeast, the 19-year-old who plays for Kent, has come on to the field as England's 12th man and substitute fielder. "A very fine cricketer," noted Mike Atherton. "Went to Harrow." Ian Botham replied: "Should fit in in your pompous dining club, then." Atherton didn't even chuckle.

North has gone.  109-5.  Aussie run rate drops below 3 runs/over.

109-6...still 24 away from the follow on !!!

would be surprised in England forced the follow on assuming they could....not sure they would fancy batting last on that pitch.

7 down, incredible session....ignore my post above about stress, this is quality.

111-7. Broad's 5 wicket and still 22 away from the follow-on.

Going to miss the follow on, sadly...but what session!!

Extraordinary turnaround.  (Hope it's the last turnaround of the game.)

England win (70%)
Australia win (20%)
Draw (10%)

Gladly, I stand corrected. Fucking get in, game on.

I think the ones who still say Aussie win or draw are probably all Aussie 'experts'.

131-8....

Missing the follow on is quite frustrating, actually.  Still...can't have everything.

Don't write them off though.  If there's any side capable of having a pig of a second innings and getting all out for 65, it's us.

I wouldn't have enforced the follow on anyway.

Why?  They're on the ropes and batting like a class of 9 year old girls.

Vaid point, but they've got no spinner in their side. Could be a very big mistake.

I hate it when we bat last.  It's normally then we collapse.

http://cricket-and-wrestling.blogspot.com/

Fully working live stream there if anyone fancies it.

I would have. Whilst it would have been risky it would have been worth it for the chance of rubbing their noses in it with an innings defeat - that would really piss Ponting off, which is the main reason for playing isn't it?

clark given out caught despite bat and ball being about six inches away from each other

Big stroke of luck there.

A bit like Strauss being caught off a no ball.

The follow on would have been good, certain victory had we got it, if we have a lead of over a hudred going into the second innings i believe we will win, anything less and i think they won't bat this bad twice to gove us the time to win.

I hope these last two don't hang around like flies round shit

Amen to that!

Asad rauf is awesomely awful,great choice of umpire for a decisive match in an ashes series!! Broad's spell of bowling was the best i've seen in a long time.

Gone!

If we do not win this (depending on the weather being good) it would have to be the biggest balls up in an ashes decider ever!!!

Well I wouldn't have enforced the follow on anyway. If we get over 300 ahead on this pitch that's a huge lead.

bat until mid morning sunday, that would be my dream. then that gives us 5 and a half sessions to skittle them.

There goes Cook. Good delivery it must be said.

No essex players should be allowed anywhere near the england team, fucking useless.

Bell gone too. 34-2.

No it's 209-2.

Whateverrrrrrrrrrrr

Fuck me, we're doing our best to make a game of it aren't we.

Oh deary me...Collingwood's gone too and we've not even reached 40

Well Collingwood has been pants all series apart from the first game. No shock there.

Given the nature of the pitch, both teams batting looking dodgy (except Clarke) throughout the series, 2 bowling attacks finding form and 10 wickets already down when you posted this... take a bow, this is easily the most stupid prediction ever and there's been a few.

I thought it looked dodgy and they just confirmed it on Sky - Collingwood was out to a no ball.

How many no ball wickets have we had this series? Crazy.

Haha, I was thinking something similar

No excuses for England now...great position should win.

It's a wonderful chance,let's hope we can push on tomorrow and to also let the possibility of an
Ashes win,resonate with the public.

Just got back into the country in time to watch the Afternoon session.

My god I was having fun.

A great day for test cricket... Even if we lose or draw, we gave it a go.

Anything less than victory now is failure. One good session will not let them off the hook.

In all honesty we only need 150, then provided we don't bowl like absolute mongtards we should have it wrapped up.

I'd fancy my chances with my leg spin on that wicket, despite not playing for 8 years or so.

The wicket is just getting worse for batting. Anything over 300 should be a decent enough lead. If you want to be ultra safe then say 350. I'm sure we could achieve that though tbh. Bet the Aussies are gutted they left out a proper spinner though I'd have gone with 2 spinners if I was an England selector.

I agree. Seeing as there are 3 days left we should just aim to rack up as many runs as possible tomorrow, being careful not to throw wickets away. Then there'll be plenty of time to bowl them out, and it'll simply be a case of not giving away cheap runs.

It all sounds so simple, so it won't work out like that.

One other thing that is worth noting is the Aussies body language dropped a hell of a lot when they came out to bowl. Normally at 58-3 they'd be chomping at the bit but half of them still looked as if they'd actually already lost the game. That seems to be as if they are very worried they won't make the runs.

My only concern is the 2 guys who have it in them to produce an absolute masterclass from nowhere and win a test are Messrs Ponting and Clark....

The forcast for tomorrow isn't that good, i think some quick runs are order of the day incase it does rain tomorrow. Hopefully we can get at least 150 today aswell as having them in to bat at around 5:30pm. A lead of near to 400 and them in bat by the end of the day, they couldn't possibly win in that situation could they? Why wasn't Key selected either, showing good form isn't he?

Probably because he is english, the selectors prefer to pick south africans/those from other colonies  ;)

fuck off kraut

Bloody hell that first ball was a bit close, brilliant decision from Rauf, I was amazed to see that given not out- and so was Siddle, he looked like he'd been told his dog had died.

Strauss past 50 now. 270 ahead.

Sounds a bit like the German national football team

Have you seen your athletics teams recently, not to mention your football team?

:D

Coming along nicely now, approaching the 300 run lead.

Strauss gone for 70 some.

don't you get bored of repeating yourself?

Fuck me, Ponting just got smacked in the face from about three feet will the ball and is now spitting blood in a more literal fashion.

England Saffers XI

Andrew Strauss (born Jo'burg)
Stephen Moore (born Jo'burg)
Kevin Pietersen (born Natal)
Jonathan Trott (born Cape Town)
Matt Prior (born Jo'burg)
Craig Kieswetter (wk, born Jo'burg)

Erm...anyone got any bowlers?

Shame to see Strauss go before he made his 100 as he's been the star man, but a great knock none the less and that partnership has put us in a great positoin now.

As for Ponting, I couldn't help but laugh

How exactly was that funny?

I know the bloke is a cunt but there is a line and laughing at that is crossing it.

i thought it was hilarious

Inventive shots these Seth Ethrikans, Pietersen starts switch hitting and Trott's just headbutted one for four.

Broad's teeing off against North's part time spin, lovely.

Great knock from Trott and good little innings by Broad. We're way out in front now.

anyone got a link?

Swanny's on the charge...

trott's edging towards a debut century, well played to the selectors

The Aussies bowling wides and no balls to slow the game up.

Try crictime.com, working for me

Lead now 450...

290-7 at Tea. Few overs after Tea for Trott to get his 100 and the lead to 500 then declare, thanks.

They must be shitting a brick tbh.

Hold the front page, Swann fancies beating Trott to the 100 mark I think.

Lead is 501

Swann gone for a hugely entertaining 63.

Swann for a hundred. He's flying. 63 already.

EDIT: he's out  :D

Well posted after he got out there :D

Trott gets a hundred and kisses the badge on his helmet.

Graeme Smith's going to be a lovely shade of crimson in the winter tour :D

Hurrah for Crickets!

I think we might declare hortly, giving them 30-45 mins for the Aussies to bat out tonight.

Trott out, declared 542 runs ahead.

Ashes coming home.

Aussies need just 546 to win !!!

Hmmm, this pitch is taking a lot of spin. Obviously Swann's going to be twirling away for a while, but with Vaughan retired and Pietersen injured, do we have anyone who bowls part time filth? What does Trott bowl?

They're all medium pace Nemo. As i said earlier in the thread we should have played 2 spinners. Still we just need to be patient and the wickets will eventually come.

Exactly - nobody has ever chased more than 418 to win a test in the history of cricket, and there's no way the Aussies should be able bat out two days on this pitch no matter who is in our attack. If we are to lose this test now, it will simply be through bad bowling.

They just interviewed an English fella on Sky Sports wearing a Pox shirt. Enough to put anyone off their breakfast!!

what a lovely start to the morning

2 wickets down!!

bye bye watson.