2 par scores coming up..... nowt between the sides.... Ridiculous bowling at a guy with a first class average of 12 and who'd never hit a 6 in first class cricket..... bit like charity park rangers...
What a brilliant day ! All of us had a great time and backed up with some engrossing cricket. Enjoyed the atmosphere and the food and too much drink, will be suffering tomorrow morning. Was hoping to see Jimmy get a 5 fer on probably his last Ashes Test, but not to be. Watched Smith's innings intently as watching a maestro live is something to behold. Having said that I'm pretty sure he was run out under the laws of the game. The umpiring and 3rd umpiring continues to be ****, evenly balanced but England have the chance to put them under serious pressure last innings. I think we need to set them 270 minimum !
It’s all happening….. Cinderella story unfolding. Australia take a huge 12 run advantage into day 3 of the fifth test.
A mixed day cricket-wise yesterday but a superb spectating experience. We had an excellent breakfast in the members' restaurant (sadly not available on Sunday) followed by a talk by Ian Botham and Geoff Miller. We then took our first beers of the day out onto the restaurant balcony for the start of play. The balcony adjoins the pavilion and there can be no better view to be had unless you were actually in the pavilion itself. We never took up our actual seats at all. Perfectly set up now for a Sunday finish and an England win.
Nice commentary there, Stroller. You had me there until the last sentence. Good to hear you had an enjoyable day out.
Stat of the day..... Comparing the morning sessions today and yesterday..... yesterday Australia scored 54 runs 41 off the bat for 1 wicket from 26 overs.... Today England scored 130 runs, 126 off the bat for 1 wicket from 25 overs.....
Just hope the rain on Sunday and Monday doesn't deny us the win again. Its not gonna be easy to take the 10 wickets on this pitch quickly . Surely they can't be saved 2 games on the trot by the weather!
265/4 at tea...... Don't let them back in it...... Get another 100 then put them in for half hour tonight ....
I'm going tomorrow and wouldn't mind seeing England bat for a bit. There's no rush anyway, there's plenty of time left in this test.
There's meant to be rain tomorrow and Monday 9's unfortunately. Just like the last test, we are competing against the weather. Here's hoping it doesn't save them again !
Fair point HB, I've just had a look at the met office page and it's not looking too good after lunch. The Oval Surrey C.C.C. (Greater London) weather - Met Office
I can't decide how many runs we need here. I don't think there's been that many high successful run chases at The Oval this century. Just found this ... List of highest successful run chases in Tests at The Oval - CricBlog