Unless there is a remarkable collapse by the Aussies I can see them posting something approaching 600 leaving them 3 days to bowl England out twice.....looks like a batting paradise.......
I think Cook was hoping to win the toss and would've batted again, hence the flat paceless boring pitch. Cook was trying to nullify the Aussies bowling attack by asking for this type of pitch and it's worked against him. On the plus side I've now got a free weekend as I won't be spending it watching this borefest.
Right you were, Stan. We'll have to see if the pitch is as easy when England bat. I still don't think the Aussie bowlers are as big a threat as they are made out to be away from home.
If the Aussies post a 600 odd score England will probably fold under the pressure, if they don't then we can start to believe we might have a chance of winning the series...
Naturally, I m pleased were putting together a decent innings. Not looking any further than that, at present.
Australia batted superbly today,but the wicket is a farce!It's obvious that England have ordered every pitch to be a featherbed,to nullify the pace that Johnson and Stark possess.However in doing so they have produced a totally biased wicket in favour of the batsmen,it's simply turning this into a series where whoever wins the toss is immediately hugely in the ascendancy.While it may have improved our chances of winning the Ashes back,i fear it's going to turn this series into a very turgid,predictable and rather boring spectacle to watch.Whatever the outcome of this match,i hope that we see more balanced wickets for the rest of the series!
This is where it shows up the stupidity of 'auctioning' the venues. Headingly is not on the schedule yet always produces a lively pitch that rewards good bowling. In their fear of defeat England have actually given away their chance of winning this one...
Having seen this Australian team, it is clear that there isn't as much between these sides as was thought. For the rest of the series we should prepare decent cricket wickets and back the ability of this new look England team.
One wicket, one chance dropped and one half chance - probably the dullest day of test cricket I can recall. They should be 400/0 - its only Warner's foolishness that gifted us the wicket. England should have enough experience to not panic with the scorboard pressure on this wicket - and with the heavy rain forecast for Sunday it should be a draw. Even if we'd won the toss and been the same I wouldn't have bothered watching it. They prepared similar wickets last time, for Swan to do his business in the fourth innings which I can kind of appreciate - but Clarke kept winning the toss. I'm at a loss as to why they'd want similar tactics with the pitch this time. Even the fastest English wickets can't compare to Brisbane and Perth - so why panic about Johnson and Starc? I often wonder if they make them like this to get five days of paying customers.
Clarke declares on 566-8. Let's hope we can do what the Aussies did to us at Adelaide in 2006 - we declared our first innings on 551-6 and lost the game!
So really we need to bat until as late as possible on Sunday, get 800 and see what happens. Hmmm.....
for the 22nd innings in a row England are 30/3. Just need to see the new ball off tonight and they should still be fine on this wicket, so long as they avoid the follow on.
Bell seems to have the mental strength and decision-making ability of a Samba Diakite and Joey Barton love child.
Once again, first three wickets go cheaply to poor batting. So Cook and Root have it all to do. As I said this morning, the Aussies near 600 piles the pressure on, Lyth, Ballance and Bell just aren't up to it, time to give others a chance...
