I totally agree we have batted a whole day but we should have been looking to score about 420 to make a good decent statement and give as more momentum to bowl at Australia. We are a bloody good side and all this Aussie macho crap is really pissing me off. I don't disagree that cricket should not have a bit of banter out there but the Aussies have over stepped the mark and I don't know why Tremlett or Carbs just don't take Clarke and Warner around the back of the bike shed and give them both a good hiding.
I actually stayed up and watched some of this. It's all very well saying England should be more positive but the Aussies bowled very well (at least they did while I was watching) and it has to be remembered that after the last game Pietersen got slaughtered for being too aggressive. This has been a bit of an odd series and while it's obviously very disappointing to lose I think we have to suck this up as one of the final flings of some good to very good Aussie cricketers. There aren't many of their current players who you'd expect to still be in the side next time we go to Australia and 3 or 4 of them may even have retired by the time they come to England next summer. Rogers is 36 (and doesn't look that great anyway), Watson is 32 and injury-prone, Clarke's nearly 33 (in fairness he might be good enough to keep playing til he's 37), Bailey is 31 and unproven in Tests, Haddin is 36, Johnson's 32, Harris is 34 and injury-prone. Having said that, we need to find some players ourselves. Carberry needs to convert one of these starts or I can see him losing his place and there are some big questions to be asked about selection too. Finn and Tremlett look poor picks for this tour and I'm not really sure why Bairstow was in the squad either, they don't seem to trust him as a batsman and he's definitely not the second best keeper in the country. Root looked poor for the first time yesterday. I think I'd like him and Bell to swap positions in the order
Pietersen looked ill, he definitely wasn't feeling right all day. He deserved his luck. I'm hoping he can make a hundred and drag us up above 300.
I don't know about rightly. He got slaughtered but for some reason hardly anybody said a word about Ian Bell, who got out trying to play an upper cut over the slips. Pietersen's been praised for last night's innings but the only real difference between this one and Perth is that Australia missed a couple of catches. Pietersen's always been an aggressive batsman. In his first Test innings he walked to the crease at 18 for 3 and the score was soon 21 for 5. His response was to attack, launching Warne and McGrath into the stands. In the second innings of the same game he slapped 64 not out off 79 balls as England were bowled out for 180. I don't remember people complaining about him then, I don't remember complaints when he recklessly kept hooking Brett Lee at the Oval at the end of the summer, when he switch hit Murali for 6, when he drove Dale Steyn for 6 back over his head or when he racked up 186 in Mumbai. The fact is that his method generally works. I think George Dobell put it quite well today:
Nothing against Carbs, but I sort of hope he does lose his place in the test team, as I think its going to be a hiding to nothing over the next year or so. He should opening in the ODI's though.
Johnson strikes first ball, Broad gets a single and Pietersen shaped up as though he's going to attack Johnson. Could be fun if it lasts a while.
6 Aussie wickets, but we are letting them escape again. However, at least we are still in it....normally out of it by now.
Woke up early and its been good stuff from England. Seems the best way to deal with Haddin is to knock down his partners. Haddin must be man of the series
Showing some "competence" might be more accurate. Why would I not be surprised to wake up tomorrow to hear about a record breaking 10th wicket partnership with Haddin 150 not out?
It's a tight call...Haddin and Johnson have been the main difference between the two sides. Johnson has whipped away the English tail, but Haddin has rescued every Australian 1st innings
I can see the argument that Haddin's performances have been better because he's dug Australia out of a hole several times while most of Johnson's wickets have been batsmen 7-11 rather than the top 6, but Johnson's pace has had a big effect on the series and England's mindset. For England it's simpler, Broad is clearly the man of the series. He may not have made any runs but 17 wickets so far at 22.5 are a very good performance and nobody else in the squad can claim to have done much of any use.
