45HG

Drop Misbah! Up 28, down 37, even, even, up 3, down 8, up 13, too stressful! Meanwhile the test at Newlands is shaping up as a cracker. Collingwood and Bell have (somehow) seen out Steyn and the second session. One session remaining for South Africa to square the series.

He's been doing it for years

Interesting comment...but we didn't score more. I'm thinking we just play 6 SCG tests a summer. What a final day. Surely there's a replacement for Kamran somewhere in Pakistan

It's time to go... Marcus North. Akmal has dripped Hussey not once, not twice, but thrice

Can you tell me if the pitch is rolled before the start of the day's play?

Hughes scores his first runs in Australia. It may lead to his undoing, but I like seeing the young man back himself and play his natural game.

Well, that took 6 balls. I'd have just declared overnight and protected my bowlers. is the pitch rolled before each day's play? Because if so, it's just been rolled twice in twenty minutes which must be an advantage. We'll need at least 450 you'd think, should be a good day for batting

C'mon Misbah, get out! Yes! Tell you what, this has been one of my more interesting bets (and that's saying something!) Innings by innings: Up by 28, down by 37, even, even, up by 3, down by 8

Good to see Johnson back to his one day form. Hauritz wicket, will it spark a collapse? 18 matches probably isn't enough to get him in, but I'd have Bond above Lee in terms of bowling talent. I don't agree with the hyperbolic nonsense that is thrown at Murali, but I'd certainly take Warne ahead of him.

Yep, I think the "big four" have the league to worry about more and more these days

Their team was Kuszczak, Neville, Brown, Evans, Da Silva, Gibson, Anderson, Berbatov, Rooney, Obertan, Welbeck with Giggs, Owen and Valencia coming off the bench. I think they took it seriously, especially at home in front of over 75,000 fans.

Going through this thread for old times sake I came across this post and had to reply. Steve Waugh won the toss and elected to bowl 11 times in his career... Australia won 100% of those matches. Eleven wins. 11 from 11. The margins of the victories are as follows: 10 wickets, 4 wickets, 6 wickets, an innings and 126 runs, an innings and 27 runs, 10 wickets, 8 wickets, 9 wickets and two against Bangladesh by two innings and 230 runs combined. The fact that when RR pointed one of these out to you and you replied with "even the greats do make mistakes" illustrates how you do not understand what you're talking about.

Keep digging. By God, why does Hauritz bowl so many no balls?

I find this very odd. Your statement was "its Basic cricket Knowledge that when you win a toss YOU BAT in either format of the game." There were no ifs or buts or other considerations to take into account - which you are now saying they are. The original argument pertained to you arguing you should always bat first against the thoughts of others (including myself) who felt this is not always the case and sometimes it would be a good idea to bowl first - evidenced by Australi's recent record of bowling first in the past decade. You are now arguing our point that you should not always bat first. MOVE THE SLIPS FORWARD!!

8 beaten edges? Certainly do need a breakthrough

I thought Clarke (who certainly isn't in top form) looked like he was showing a little grit and IMO was trying hard to battle through the dangerous period. Unfortunately he was undone by a ripper. We've been bowling too short this morning - the first well pitched ball drew the edge. Marcus North, another dropped catch - a real sitter. He's dropped a couple now hasn't he? P.s. why have they changed the AAMI girl? We've started pitching it up further, beaten the bat quite a few times already. Sometimes test cricket is a bit of luck

Leeds knock Man U out of the FA cup in a giant killing display! They are certainly on the up

7/62 - some of the best bowling and worst batting you're ever likely to see. Good thing we didn't elect to bowl.

I was on Villa or draw. Looked good until he came on. Literally turned the match immediately. His free kick especially was amazing, the crowd started cheering as it left the boot. Special player.

S.A. 6-50 still 182 behind! Swann is tearing it up. My Clarke vs Ul-Haq bet goes into the second test all square!

Can't believe we're not 3-4 up. Cue equaliser? Defoe! Quality strike, has had a bit of a rotten day. Followed up a cracking strike with an even more blistering finish.

They were 1-59 off about 31 overs, hardly surprised to hear it was boring!

202 not out in 2006 I think.

Pooh-pooh to that declaration (only because I need Clarke to score more than Ul-Haq).

This article pretty much summed up my feelings towards Watson's performance.