Slitherine

I was most pleasantly surprised to find Australia reeling when I woke up this morning. just over 100 for 5 was a very nice start to the day.

Sadly either England have slightly relaged the pressure of their foot on the Aussie neck as we have let them pull their score back to an almost respectable 268 all out. I suspect that Strausy would have accepted that when he put them in but it could so easily have been sub 200

Uncharcteristicly boycott thinks thats a competitive total! All depends how they bowl. Lets hope Johnston bats better than he bowls.

Err, this is a TEST match isn't it?

Over 3, ball 2:- Harris to Cook, SIX, 81.8 mph, Cook throws everything at this, what a shot! Six over backward point! Harris goes short and wide, Cook cuts hard and deliberately lifts it, that's a great shot

OK, things calmed down but 29-0 is not a bad start to the innings.

Let's hope for a repeat of the last two innings in the next couple of days.

I wish I was in Australia now. i was there in 98 just hopping up the coast between Sydney and Brisbane while we were being tonked. I spent the whole four weeks pretending to be German.

Greenness seems to have gone from the pitch now and it has dried out, so sensible batting first thing tomorrow could well set us up for another big total all being well - if so Cook could end up with some staggering stats by the end of the series (and they ain't shabby now).

Aussie attack still looks anaemic - I suspect unless MJ can rediscover his mojo they'll only get batsmen out if the batsmen are playing bad shots.

Sat up all night to watch this and have to say I am mightily impressed. England will wrap up the series in this match - the aussies look clueless, a bit like we did a few years ago.

I only hope we can be as ruthless as they were with us and aim for a 4-0 win rather than an unbeaten tour.

I dragged myuself up at 5am to watch the afternoon session, and while I was very impressed with our progress at that point, I rather think we let them get away a bit between lunch and tea.

The Aussie performance actullay reminded me of how England have performed on a number of occasions ...

Still an excellent day, and it bodes well for the rest of the match.

I'm off work tomorrow so I might get up a bit earlier still ...

Had two meetings today with Aussie's in my office. Normally they are happy to spend the first few minutes chatting about sport and such like. While both meetings did run their full time both started and ended with a full agenda of business and nothing else. 69-5 is a nice score, allowing them to get nearly 200 more was a poor show. However as long as Aussies wish to donate wickets, English bowlers will gladly accept.

Well we seem to be getting into the spirit of things now ...

Aussie score looks good now - 3 day test match?

I feel truly nostalgic; a good old fashioned English batting collapse: 78-0 to 98-5. Once of the Aussie's at work called it Wednesday - 'see you Monday when we can discuss how the series goes from 1-1'. I thought he was mad.

Nosher, Test cricket is rarely stettled in a day. As Nik wrote on another occassion, until you see both first innings it is not possible to judge exactly the pitch and batting conditions.

Matthew, well you were almost 100% wrong and once again Mr Boycott called it right :). If M Johnson does not get MotM now I will be stunned.

Nik, sadly you called it just right; MJ does seem to have found what he was missing. At least the day is unlikely to get much worse - there is not enough time for MJ to bat again...

timmy1 wrote: Nik, sadly you called it just right; MJ does seem to have found what he was missing. At least the day is unlikely to get much worse - there is not enough time for MJ to bat again...

Actually, if he was batting again (and at his normal 8 slot) it'd be a damned good thing for us as we'd have taken 6 after tea

Matthew, well you were almost 100% wrong

Not for the first time Tim. Well we dont want the ashes to be too boring. Better start practicing my German accent again.

What's this we cr*p? I want the Ashes to be a very boring 4-0 thank you very much...

Just make sure you don't take your German lessions from Phil... :)

So looks like we need a record 2nd innings to win this one Again I think it may well come down to how well Johnson bowls, if we can blunt him the rest of the Aussie attack isn't too threatening and it may well be on - if he is on fire I think we're looking at 1-1 with 2 to play.

I expect Hussey to be given the freedom of all Australia as a Christmas pressie.

Pietersen. Big game player? My arse

How many more times will he get away with doing that before we drop the muppet for good?

nosher wrote:Pietersen. Big game player? My arse

How many more times will he get away with doing that before we drop the muppet for good?

I presume you mean scoring a double hundred and winning the test match?

Having said that, from a general England perspective: i'ts all gone wrong

dave_r wrote: Having said that, from a general England perspective: i'ts all gone wrong

Yup, I think, to quote, "We're boned" - to all intents 1-1 with 2 to play.

I presume you mean scoring a double hundred and winning the test match?

One player NEVER wins a cricket match - the team does. And that I am afraid is Pietersens problem. He plays for no-one else except himself. Not for the first time he has thrown his wicket away based on an egotistical attempt to score runs quickly.

nosher wrote:I presume you mean scoring a double hundred and winning the test match?

One player NEVER wins a cricket match - the team does. And that I am afraid is Pietersens problem. He plays for no-one else except himself. Not for the first time he has thrown his wicket away based on an egotistical attempt to score runs quickly.

So by your logic, if no one player EVER wins a test match then no one player can EVER lose a test match.

What about the other top four order batsmen? Scores of 15, 13, 31, 3 and 11 hardly indicate an easy batting wicket.

dave_r wrote:What about the other top four order batsmen? Scores of 15, 13, 31, 3 and 11 hardly indicate an easy batting wicket.

Did they move grounds after australia batted?