MadAsHell

Agree with everything you say there TU except Smith throwing it away twice goes. Reckon his dismissal this innings was just a good ball, had to play.. Threw it away in the first innings though. And I agree re: our shaky batting. Even if we do bring Shaun Marsh in for Voges, he doesn't fill me with a heap of confidence either.

Clarke gone, lost 3/9. Game over! This is getting ugly. Only heartening thing is we smashed England in the first test in 2005 and they came back to win 2-1. So lets hope history repeats!

Smith out, now 3/101 and pretty much game over unless Clarke & Voges can put on about a 200 run partnership. Warner was a bit stiff with the LBW, and England have had the rub of the green with those decisions this match. Watson got a similar one in the 1st Innings, where as we missed out on Lyth very early in their 2nd Innings. And you're right TU. Haddin's drop on day 1 is going to be the match changer in this test. Attention to turn to Lords now. Will Starc be right? Mitch Marsh will surely come in for Watson unless he somehow manages to score a match winning ton. And if Starc does miss, you'd think Siddle would have to come in ahead of Cummins due to his accuracy as we struggled in that department this match.

Probably let them get 100 runs to many. But the one thing we have on our side is time. 2 days to make 412. If Rogers and Warner can see off the new ball then we are a slight chance. But a few early wickets and it will be curtains.

Think your right. Don't know what's been more disappointing so far in this test. Our erratic bowling, inability of our batsmen to go on after getting a start of Haddin's keeping? At least there's plenty of room for improvement!

Game slowly slipping away. Time for Watto to turn this game with the ball.

Great catch by the skipper! Now get Root early!

He'll get Lords and if he doesn't produce anything there I think that will be it for Watto. We've already seen Harris retire on the eve of this series. Expect to see Watson, Rogers & Haddin all also head into the sunset at the end or during the series. And great delivery Hazlewood, got the pretender Ballance!

Got the ball talking Mitch.

Agreed, and he's been a very good keeper over a long period of time. But 17 byes to go with that drop suggest he had a poor innings, and he just let 2 byes go before. But well done Starc, Cook is still Australia's b*tch! He's clearly injured Mitch and can't see him playing at Lords.

Shocking morning by Watson, Haddin and the tail this morning, although Smith through to Watson are where this innings has suffered. All 4 getting to at least 30, none getting beyond 38. Bowlers need to step up now after they bowled erratic on Day 1 & 2. Need to knock them over for 170-180 to give ourselves a realistic chance.

He's going to have to find a way to bowl through the pain. Even if it means it puts him out for the rest of the series. Will need him badly come the 2nd innings.

Agreed. Well he's due Watto. And Haddin certainly owes the team some runs after dropping Root.

Well we've avoided the follow on which is the main thing. Lost 1 more wicket then i would have liked though. Hopefully Watson, Haddin & the tail can get us a bit of a lead. Disapointing that Rogers missed out on a ton and that all the top 5 got starts but no one could go on with it. Especially our two best players of spin, Smith & Clarke getting out to the plodder Ali. Big Day 3 coming up.

2/145 at Tea with Rogers unbeaten on 74. Smith getting out was annoying. Was looking good and then played a few false strokes before getting out. Only 86 more to get to avoid the follow on. Hopefully we don't loose anymore then 2 wickets in the final session. Add 100 runs, and we're in a decent position.

Spot on Cards. 7th consecutive 50 for Rogers. Lets hope he goes on to turn this one into a ton!

Was a shocking call, and for a minute it looked like Warner wasn't going to challenge. Decent start. And if Starc is injured, we just need to bat time. Mark Taylor already saying Starc could be in doubt for Lords. Reckon Siddle will be the likely replacement if that's the case.

England All Out 430 J. Root 134 M. Starc 5/114 (24.1) M. Ali 77 J. Hazlewood 3/83 (23) G. Ballance 61 N. Lyon 2/69 (20) Still believe that score was more a case of our bad bowling rather then their good batting. Outside Root, there's no reason to fear any of their top 5. Cook's form is still down, Ballance made the worst 61 I've seen, Bell's out of form and Lyth didn't do much. We'll need to bat well. 500+ if we're any chance, but from the looks of the pitch I'd say the likely outcome from here is draw or England win.

Over 400 now England with still 2 wickets in hand. On this track we may be playing for a draw. 9 down now, but to add salt to the wounds, Starc clearly has an ankle issue. We've leaked runs in this innings with the two Mitch's. Depending on results in this test, Siddle could find himself in contention for Lords due to his accuracy. Edit: 9th wicket.

Was it just me that thinks we were done over on that over turn? I've watched the replay several times now, and every time it looks to me that Voges gets it in both hands before hitting the wicket. Seems that Broad gets the benefit every time it's the 1st Test of an Ashes series in England....

Didn't see any of the last session, but to have them 7 down is alright, especially on that wicket. Knock them over for 380 or less and then bat well to make 500 and we take control. Important day coming up! Hope we bowl better in the morning then we did yesterday.

Funny session that one. I thought we bowled better, but nil wickets. The wicket looks like an absolute road, but hopefully we can maybe get them 6 down by stumps to be on track to keep them to under any type of huge score. Mitchell Starc has been a concern in the first two sessions, looks back to bowling the way he was before Warne gave him that massive spray. He played a few tests last Ashes Series in England, so doesn't have the excuse of not knowing the conditions. Fingers crossed for a big final session.

Pegged the run rate back a little since lunch and a few half chances with edges not going to hand. Get Root and the rest could go quickly!

Yep, as you mentioned we're already missing Harris at the moment. Watson may be useful on this wicket with his line & length. Siddle also. Having said that, the three quicks picked have certainly deserved first crack.

Hope that drop doesn't turn out costly, he's looking good! Although I said the same thing about Cook just before he got out, so hopefully that means Root will go out in the first few overs after lunch.