And after that ...... could have done with Bell staying in a while longer.   I think 350+ should still be on the cards though.

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Two vital wickets for the Aussies, made things a litte more even

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What a twit. Should have been out for his usual 20-odd anyway. Can't resist the hook either. That nearly did him a couple of times. I've no confidence in him at all at test level.

Bell out to a good ball. The beauty of test cricket; it's swung again.

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279-6 with about 20 mins left today.

It's a so-so score. Australia will probably be slightly the happier of the two sides with the two late wickets and they might nick a couple more yet.

Thought Root was a little unlucky. Had the ump given him the benefit of the doubt as perhaps he should have been, even if the Aussies had reviewed it they'd have stayed with the onfield umpire as per protocol (no clear evidence to overturn).

Trott gave his wicket away as did Bairstow to a certain extent, but at least he survived the no-ball Bowled.
Belly got a good-un as did KP. Interesting with the turn and bounce which will help Swanny.

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283-7

Aussies have got themselves back into it

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Another wicket given away 😠💀

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Another very fragile looking batting display from England will be a very close series if we continue to bat like this.

 

 

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I never get the purpose of the nightwatchman. They are sent in to survive to the end of the day, so the next batsman doesn't have to come in.

Surely if the nightwatchman is sent in to survive, the next in the batting order is perfectly capable in doing so and be more capable of surviving because they are a better batter?

What other sport is a weaker player sent in to protect a stronger player?

Anderson was sent in with over 15 minutes to go. Are Swann and Broad not capable of doing that?

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Haha! Cheers 😂

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It's not about how good the night watchman is, it's about protecting a better batsman. Occasionally it doesn't work but mostly it does.

Sending in a proper batsman is a one-way bet for the fielding side because the batsman cannot afford to get out so cannot play his shots so the fielding side can set more attacking fields.

Why is it so different to pulling off a good player on a yellow card to avoid the risk of him being sent off? That's also about what's best for the team in the circumstances.

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Mixed feelings from me this morning. When I switched on the tinterweb this morning I was half expecting England to be bowled out for something like 210 and Australia something like 58/0. So the fact that England are still in is at least something as after going down 28/3 it could have been much worse but for Bell.... again. Bell must feel like he is the only batsman bothering to show up at the moment.

Pietersen look out of nick again to me, when he came in we really needed someone to dig in but I don't think he has that in him at the moment. Add to that the fact the Cook is out of form and Root looks like a bunny as an opener and it is not hard to see why we are struggling!

Bresnan and Broad are no mugs with the bat so I would be disapointed if we didn't get say 320 - 340 on the board, I think a par score on this wicket would have been say 400 - 420 but until Australia bat it is hard to say, the ball deffinately did a bit  yesterday.

Certainly par would traditionally be around 400. I think England will post around 350 tops.

It's easy to forget that before the first text the convict's batting was/is a joke. Hopefully it'll return to type

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Occupying the crease is also important. There are at least 30 hours of cricket in a Test match, weather permitting, so if an innings is under seven & a half hours you're opening the door. Ideally England need to bat past Lunch but that might be a challenge. Getting to Lunch would mean 375-ish and I think they'd be happy with that.

The Aussies can bat, just that - like England - it's hard to see much consistency there. Assuming England get past 350 then the goal is to keep things tight - 3 runs per over max - and wait for mistakes.

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Occupying the crease is a dying art form, gone are the days where you get a Geoff Boycott style player setting out determind not to lose their wicket and will only score at a very low rate to do so. Test cricket has probably improved because of this as it is now more exciting with greater results but it can be very frustraing as per the Trott dismissal yesterday which is a perfect example of the modern day game I think.

England will do very well to make lunch, you would expect Jimmy to go in the first few overs really, he did his job not getting out last night. Then it is really up to Broad and Bresnan as personally I think Swann isn't that great with the bat. I would take a punt that England will make around 315 - 325 so 88 runs or so short of a total I think was achieveable on this wicket.

You look at the Aussie batting line up and if it clicked they are a side that is more than capable of scoring 450 - 500 plus runs, but that hasn't happened for a logn while but I suspect it might at some point in this series.

T20 and series' such as the IPL are the reason. Cricket is a faster game now, mainly down to batsmen playing far more aggressively. With that mindset is bound to come a greater margin for error.

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It was Lords 1985

Emburey came in at number 3 and Allott at number 4, lol

Not surprising England overnight were 34-2 soon became 57-4 the next morning.

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From earlier in the year the last 10 tests at Lords had the average first innings score of 335, with the team batting first getting 411, so work to do this morning. That said never judge a pitch until both sides have had a go. I just have a feeling this is a funny year with the very dry conditions, plus the historic tightness of the Ashes games. Even when the Aussies have thrashed us in past series the individual games were not always an Aussie cricket tragic's wet dream (Aussie 800-3, Eng 22 all out etc etc). It will be nip and tuck but the beauty of test cricket is that after the whole series the best team almost always wins...

I'd have thought 3 might be closer...

A three hour 32 not out, inducing comparisons with Gower, etc. Standard Anderson batting stereotype quotes.

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Oh, and this to go down in Ashes history as "The Swann Test" and not for his batting.









🤔

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Can't expect much from Jimmy with the bat this morning, any time he stays there is a bonus really, he will last a couple of overs likely, he is a proper number 11 batsman.

Watch him knock a 50 now

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The circus batting performance continues with the first ball.

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I've seen people describe Bresnan as an all rounder, but that's crap because a decent innings from him is rarer than a Papal visit to a clap clinic. He's an up'n'down bowler who occassionally gets lucky swinging the timber.

 

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Can't be that bad as he averages just shy of 30 in 19 tests...

 

Odd Lords match this, thought we had got away yesterday, 400 + on the cards, but now I am happy with 350ish. See how the convicts go later...