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

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

283-7

Aussies have got themselves back into it

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

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.

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.

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...

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

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.

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...