Innings and 80, which is better than it was looking before Broad and Swann decided to treat it like a 20/20. That’s not enough to polish this turd, though, and I wouldn’t bet the change in my pocket on England’s chances of winning at the Oval to take the Ashes. What we were doing with five batsmen in a must-not-lose match is anyone’s guess, but what between the record poor performance of our 3-4-5 and a whole load of utter filth from our bowlers, we worked mighty hard at losing this one.
I hate to say it, but I’ve been thinking all along we were just one poor session away from losing the Ashes, and the boys just delivered that in spades.
Correct, I was listening to TMS (complete with smug Aussie commentators) at the time.
According to TMS, tickets for day 5 (not 4, though) were bought on a “caveat emptor” basis, in other words those who shelled out will not get any refund. Seems a bit one-sided to me - not as one-sided as the actual match, mind you.
My bastard housemate got a ticket to the last day at Lord’s. Not only did he get to see Freddie running through the Aussie lineup for surely his last five-for, he got a 50% refund because they saw fewer than 25 overs. Git.
Agreed though, non-refundables for day 5 is a bit bastardly (although I’m guessing they’ll have been much cheaper than at Lord’s). And they’ll be pleased with Broad 'n Swann’s efforts, that’ll have saved them some cash as well.
So, with one Test left, anyone looking forward to the interminable one-day series that follows?
Kind of you, but candidly, we’re fucked. I don’t see Australia losing at the Oval. It’s all very well Broad and Swann having a bit of a waft when they would have needed to put on another 250 to give the bowlers even a thin chance, but I suspect the bowling wasn’t quite as tight as earlier.
England ceased to dominate the third Test early on day five, sad to say, and that was a better chance of closing out the series. And as usual Harmy went like a train for an over or two, and like a drain the rest of the time. Wish they’d played Sidebottom - and I wish even more he was the automatic selection he was a year and a half ago.
I tell you, checking out that awful first day on cricinfo as it unfolded, it was an act of real self-control not to go home and kick the cat.
Given the schizophrenic nature of the English team and and weather, a win at the Oval isn’t out completely of the question. The first day is going to be crucial, we’ll need early runs or wickets to get a bit of confidence back.
Ah, he’s always mentioned. Some newspaper asked Geoff Miller about him and Miller replied that they weren’t ruling anyone out. But that’s what he always says. There’s about as much chance of Ramps playing as there is of my mum getting a call-up.
Ah, but does she have a really fresh stick of rhubarb?
At the beginning of the series, I was chastised by a colleague for worrying about the fitness of our two key players. “We’re more than just Pietersen and Flintoff” I was told. Technically true, in that we do have players with the requisite skills. But what they lack, and Pietersen and Flintoff don’t, is the ability to dig themselves out of a bad situation. Compare Freddie willingly banjaxing his knee in pursuit of his 5-for at Lords with our dispirited bowling on the weekend. It takes so little to make this team’s spirits flag, and once down, they tend to stay down - unless one of the talisman players is there to remind them they can actually play cricket if they try.
At the end of the first day, England has lost 8 wickets for 307 runs – which means that either side could win this game, but perhaps England has a slight edge. It also means that the fans at the Oval will probably get their money’s worth this game!
A shame to see so many wickets go down in the last session, but well done Bell on chalking up a reasonable score and to Trott for a respectable debut. Once again, shot selection seems to have let us down or we could have lost far fewer wickets (nothing to be done about that brilliant piece of fielding that disposed of Trott, though!).
Fingers crossed that Broad can oblige with a few more runs in the morning, and then the rough spots that Mitchell Johnson has kicked up will give Swann a helping hand. We have fewer runs than I would have liked to see for eight down, though.
I agree with Malcandra. I only watched until after tea (it was midnight here) but I had thought it was a 500 pitch. It was flat with no movement- and the Oval is a fast scoring ground. I was surprised to see 8 down this morning. That being said Australia has to get them.
It’s typical Bell though isn’t it? Get in, play pretty well without making a really telling contribution. Trott played well on debut, until Katich ran him out. Was almost a stumping. Great bit of opportunistic fielding, but Trott was unlucky the ball went right to his hand. Was unfortunate Strauss was given out off a no-ball when playing well, we really couldn’t afford that. Can’t really complain though, England have probably had the better of decisions in this series on the whole.
Great time for Anderson to get his first duck. I just hope Broad and Harmison can thrash a few, they do have previous. I think a par score here batting first is probably 400+. The dry pitch gives us a bit of hope though, if Swann can find some form.
In regards to Strauss it is unfortunate given out when the bowler oversteps. Especially as the technology is there to limit that. In saying that, would he have played a different shot? It was a dreadful shot that got him out.
