MadAsHell

Never in doubt Macca!Still a long way to go in this test, but couldn't have asked for a better day 1. Pitch likely to quicken up for our bowlers which will help. We shouldbe aiming for well over 500 now.

Great middle session by the Aussies, lets hope Rogers & Smith can both go on and make 100's. Hopefully we aren't anymore then 4 down at Stumps and with about 300 odd runs on the board, we should be well set up for that 400+ score. Wont be watching this final session, so I hope for good news when I wake up.

They've slowed us down to a snails pace England. But wickets in hand is worth two in the bush!

What on earth was that Warner! You've got through the first hour without incident, taken 10 runs of Ali's first 5 balls and then you try and hit him out of the park again only to sky it to midoff! We'll be in for another painful test if that's an indication of the shot selection we should expect. Dreadful shot!

Good first hour. Lets hope they can cash in and make at least 400 in the first dig. 500+ would be even better!

Funnily enough, I think our batting looks a bit better now with Mitch Marsh & Nevill there now instead of Watson & Haddin. Although we will miss their experience no doubt. Still think we can bounce back qucikly. Especially if we win the toss and bat first and make a decent total. We saw in the last sereis out there in 2013, that the two tests we batted first (3rd test & 5th) we had them on the back foot the whole time, and if it weren't for rain would have likely won both tests. If enough pressure's applied to England they'll fold I have no doubt. Bowl in the right spots, build an innings with the bat and hold your catches and we win without much fuss. That I'm confident of!

Suspect they figured it would be his final series anyway, so thought they might give hima farewell series. With us 1-0 down and him falling LBW twice yet again, they had no choice but to bite the bullet early, and fair enough too!

Watson & Haddin out. Mitch Marsh in & Nevill to debut. http://www.news.com.au/sport/cricket/ashes-2015-shane-watson-dropped-for-second-test-at-lords-with-mitchell-marsh-selected-for-australia/story-fndpt0dy-1227442241402

Good to see the tail show some fight towards the end. But we were completely out played this test. The three main areas where we lost it were: 1. Haddin dropping Root. 2. Poor bowling in Englands first innings. 3. Failure to convert starts in our first innings. We can rebound for sure. But not ideal to give England that sort of confidence first up.

Watson out LBW for a change. But I'm not going to point the finger squarely at him. Having said that he's underperformed for a long time! Have we seen him for the final time at Test level? Mitch Marsh surely must come in. Tea on Day 4: 7/162 Praying for a miracle they can survive till stumps and it rains all day tomorrow. But there's less then 1% chance of that happening. Will make my calls for Lords now: OUT: Watson, Starc (if injured) IN: M. Marsh, Siddle (if Starc misses, accuracy at Lords valuable) Haddin & Voges under pressure also with both Nevill & S. Marsh in the winds. Edit: Tea score/changes.

Batting to save the match and Haddin tries to slog Ali over cow corner first ball he faces off him, only to hit it to short mid wicket. Lucky he's got some credits, because that was horrible, he's had a shocking match! Nevill will be a chance to debut this series after Haddin's performance in this match.

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.