Highlight of the night was bumble going on about the Hoff when he turned up

I thought our bowling was very loose in the overs before lunch: too many down the leg-side. And the field positions were very negative for tail-enders - I'm glad I went to bed and didn't see them knock us for another 50 (or whatever it was), we could really regret that.

Happens with lots of teams, they get to the tail and change the way they bowl. Like Holding/Warne etc said there is no need to change the way you bowl to the tail. But that extra 100 runs and the extra time taken up could prevent us from winning the test.

Yes - mind you, it's been great catching whatever I can of this series and I'll be watching until lunch again tonight.

Whilst it's been good to see a decent Egnland team, it's been great to see Ponting trying to carry that team and fail. Without Warne and McGrath the Aussies are just the same as every other team. For years they've been kidding themselves that their progressive selection process and aggressive batting tactics have made them number one when actually all they did was let those two dig them out of every hole they ever put themselves in. Warne was brilliant and even with a new ball on a new wicket was as good as any spinner today with perfect spinning conditions and McGrath was also very, very special.

While i agree to an extent, you can't knock Ponting, Hayden, Hussey and Gilchrists records. And the Waugh brothers too!

Alot of people seem to forget to mention the top quality opening batsmen Australia lost in Mathew Hayden and Justin Langer , which IMO is just as vital as Warne and McGrath. I lost count the amount of times they would put on 150 runs for the first wicket.

yeah well... to support my case I just did some figures on Ponting's average test score since the retirement of Warne and McGrath compared to before they retired but unfortunately they didn't support my case so I'm not going to mention them...

so there...

But I'm still right

Cheating Aussies!!!!


Nice ton from Cook, Colly goes cheaply again, could be Test career over.

Agree about Colly, think we should take the decision for him to be honest.
Gotta love beefys rant after the catch incident.



Arise Sir Alastair.

We've carried Collingwood for the entire series. He should have been left out and replaced by Bresnan after the frst test match, giving us an extra seamer as well as a batsman. Thankfully it hasn't mattered that much

Might be the right time for Colly to retire. It's the right time for Bell to have a prolonged run at 5 imo. 1-4 are nailed on following this series. Prior looks to have nailed himself on too.

Bresnan would be the debate but i'm please to see he's started to take wickets. nice position to be in.

Morgan in at 5, straight swap.

Not convinced Morgan is a Test player, there are other options though knocking on the door for selection like Gale, Bopara and several others.

Not convinced by Bopara at all, too inconsistent in all forms of the game.
Haven't seen anything of Gale tbh.
Morgan is fearless exactly matches the mind set of the rest of the team.

He is certainly an option along with a few others, the problem is his best batting comes when playing one day games.

I'm not convinced about Bopara either, lacks the temperament for test cricket imho. Morgan would be ok on the odd occasion but i think by and large he's a one dayer and Gale doesn't have the technique to be consistant at test match level. Gotta say i disagree with Bothams comments about Hughes as well, thought they we well over the top. To call someone a cheat on live international TV is pretty low and totally unnecessary imho.

He just said how he saw it and to be fair it looked the same to me. He knew he hadn;t caught it as did their vice captain. But they still let it get referred, after Ponting moaned about the catch he did/didn't make it seems highly hypocritical from them. The Bell out/not out was a dubious one from our side as well, if he felt the nick he should have walked, but hard to say if he did or didn't.

Collingwood retires then. (from test cricket at least)

Does that make Bell a cheat then??

Hughes knew he never caught it and his face showed it, he then suddenly started celebrating. Cheating or not it was a very low thing to do.

As for Bell, batsmen don't walk these days and he said he felt he had not touched it which hotspot confirmed.


Great day for England, the barmy army were going mental!!

Think the Aussies should forfeit overnight, just to save face. They are woeful.

Yet snicko said otherwise as did the umpire

Problem with Botham though, is he opens his mouth before he engages his brain. Great player, terrible pundit.

To retain the ashes in Oz was immense, to win the ashes series in Oz is incredible, but to win the ashes series in Oz with potentially 3 innings victories is unbeliveable.

Like i said earlier in the thread Aussie cricket is in turmoil and most of us saw this coming. Without taking anything away from England the aussie batting was very fragile and the bowlers were completely inffective, this series was only going one way. I think they have only scored more than 300 twice in the entire series and to think England still have Broad, Finn, Panesar & Shazad waiting in the wings.

Good times lie ahead me thinks for Englaish cricket.

I think beefy is a great pundit, tells it how it is.

The Bell incident was inconclusive either way, Botham was right, Hughes knew he had not caught it but then started celebrating like he had. When it comes to catches honesty has always prevailed, Botham called it like everybody saw it which is what he usually does.

Aussies have been poor but we have been superb, I hope England get the credit rather than the aussies getting smashed.

How many times have England gone up to a man for a catch behind the wicket yet not referred it when the umpire has given not out?? Were they cheating?? The word 'cheat' is a powerful word and Botham may have a history of saying it like it is, but he should use his words with more care so as not to get a reputation for bias and double standards, particularly in his position as a pundit and one of the greats of the sport.

Your right though for all Aussie have been poor, England have been superb and couldn't have won anymore convincingly.