So it's now 1 all - who do you think will win?

I also think, despite being about as hardcore an Australian supporter in cricket as is possible (in pretty much any sport for that matter) that the last test was probably the best test match I've ever watched. The last day (today) was incredible. Actually every day was. England's batting on the first day was so awesome - 10 wickets and 400 runs in a day - that's pretty damn cool. Australia's batting performance wasn't so good - but then our bowling was awesome - followed by a match winning awesome display of batting from Flintoff and then another awesome display of batting and guts and determination from Australia's tail end and I think the closest result I've seen in a test that I've watched live. Apart from the result it was pretty fantastic.

I don't usually watch test cricket too intently, but I couldn't look away last night. Great finish. I think Australia will win the series, just because England looked so shaky and the Poms should've easily won it. Still, McGrath looks doubtful for the next match, so anything could happen...

Yeah Australia will win, probably 3-1 with one drawn since the rain has to wash out one eventually. :P

But considering the Australian team were missing their key strike bowler in McGrath and generally only playing at about 70% and still almost won I can easily see them knocking over England in the next two or three tests.

I think the Aussies will take this one out, as England were miles ahead at the start of their second innings and we absolutely smashed them, 4-31 at one stage. Unfortunately they let some guy (the one after Peterson) in and he got a few runs. Also, our batsman did shit. Two of our Tailenders were the top two scorers!!

Lol, that "some guy" happens to be the best all-rounder in the game.

Whatever Flintoff is contracted for, the ECB should double it, as he's basically a cult legend now, delivering England their first "live" ashes victory since 1997.

Hopefully Michael Vaughan can get out of this form slump, as he is the missing link to England absolutely dominating this Ashes series. I'm an Australia supporter, but I believe that England winning the Ashes is better for cricket then them losing it. Plus it'll be funny to witness.

That's him, i just couldn't think of his name. Sorry if i offended :P.

I still think Kallis is the better all-rounder. He may not be as good with the ball but he is leaps and bounds ahead of Flintoff at the moment with the bat.

I reckon if England had of lost the second test Vaughan's captaincy would have seriously come under intense scrutiny. He has a terrible batting average of late the likes of Flintoff and Peterson have been showing far greater leadship on the field.

Flintoff scored 73 with a sore shoulder. He is a front line seamer. Kallis, at best is a medium pacer who is used as a second change. I honestly believe Flintoff could open the bowling if he wasn't such an integral part of the batting facet of the team.

Vaughan would've been under so much pressure if England lost this test, what with the whole averaging 38 or so as captain and all.

I really question just how "sore" Flintoff's shoulder was, given that immediately afterwards he was freely extending his arm battling and later bowling. Nevertheless it was a great all-round performance.

I think there are a lot of other batters I would rely on than Flintoff. Had Australia batted first and England were chasing and Flintoff was forced to keep his wicket and score runs I think it would be a much different situation. I think part of the reason why he batted so well is because he batted with so much agression and because it was down to the tail end who he probably thought were going to get out soon - it didn't really matter if he had a go at the bowling or not - better to get out scoring runs then to save his wicket only to have a tail ender get out. There are a lot of good all rounders out there - I think it's a big call saying Flintoff is the best - but definitly in this performance he was fantastic with the bat and ball. I'd like to see how he performers with the bat in a tail end run chase though. I guess he reminds me a lot of Chris Cairns - who would definitly be up there as one of the best all rounders too. I've always thought Andrew Symonds is the best just because he can pretty much do everything - bat, bowl pace, bowl spin, field. I bet he can wicket keep well too ;) Although I concede that his bowling isn't that great and his batting is very inconsistant but his depth of skills is still impressive. I saw him score 50 off about 30 balls against Pakistan at the SCG in the only international cricket game I've ever gone to and have been impressed ever since.

Symonds is ODI specialist, will never get another chance in test cricket at his age and after scoring a pair (at least one duck I'm sure of, not too sure about the other?) on debut.

Cairns no longer plays Test cricket for New Zealand. Which leaves Kallis, Klusener (?), Flintoff, and Heath Streak.

Best for mine, especially after Edgbaston. He had Ricky Ponting looking very uncomfortable (after he scored a quickfire 60odd in the first innings so form isn't an excuse) and Langer has not looked likely against any of England's bowlers (Harmison has hit him a few times with his bounce)

But did Flintoff have any option but to hit sixes or fours? He had a number eleven in every sense of the word at the other end in Simon Jones and nine fielders on the boundary. Singles were out of the equation, so he did what he had to do.

If I recall correctly, he injured it just before lunch, and in the overs before lunch, he looked very uncomfortable, barely being able to use his top hand, rather punching the ball, with his bottom hand largely dominantly.

At lunch the commentators led me to believe that he had a cortisone injection which would allow him pretty much full use and mobility for a short period, which would explain his drastic improvement.

If anything can be learnt from this test it is that Australia's bowling depth isn't as good as they thought it was. No McGrath and suddeny it's a different line-up. Brett Lee's opener (a wide) highlighted this. McGrath's line and length is a huge weapon to be missed.

When Warney and McGrath retire Australia will be very beatable, Gillespie, Kaspa and Lee have all struggled at times this tour. I'd love to see one of them get dropped and bring in Shaun Tait, just so some youthful exuberance can shake the team up, much like Clarke has done.

All this Ashes talk and no one has mentioned Warne's early contender for ball of the millenium, nor his ten-for?

It's already been pointed out that Australia's bowling stock is definitely going to suffer once Warne and McGrath retire, however Gillespie has been in superb form up until this tour and every bowler generally goes through a rough patch at least once in their career. Lee on the other hand is far too "hot-cold" for my liking and questions must be raised as to just how valuable he really is once teams adapt to his speed. I can certainly see Tait being brought in later on, once he gets his line and length sorted out.

As far as that ball Warne bowled, it definitely was one I've ever seen for sure.

yeah, of course I don't doubt that new and very impressive bowlers will appear from Australia. Also I think people like Brett Lee will mature into excellent bowlers. Glenn McGrath wasn't the greatest bowler straight away - he took a while to mature and become Australia's number 1 pace bowler. I think Lee will improve with time and I think we'll have a new pace champion spring up sometime soon.

Lee needs favourable conditions to be a successful bowler. I think this was highlighted by the Channel 4 commentators on the first day, when really, the pitch and conditions were suited to batsmen.

There was no swing or huge seam movement and thus because of Lee's slingshot bowliery delivery, balls usually stay low and kind of skid through to the keeper, making it quite easy to hit once you adjust to the speed.

Lee is a fantastic bowler when conditions are right, but when he has to work hard for his wickets you can kind of notice that he goes for quite a few runs. Plus the fact that he has to bowl in short spurts doesn't really help Australia in Test matches. I feel that Lee is best suited to ODI's.

I really felt sorry for Strauss watching that ball skittle his stumps. He was completely shocked, it was an unbelievable freak ball that for mine, wasn't as good as the Gatting delivery. The Gatting ball just had that awesomeness attached to it, whereas the Strauss ball, for mine, was a real fluke.

Of note: Hayden is 20 innings without a Test match hundred...

I've been hearing those type of comments for the last couple of years about Lee though. He isn't the really young player with the world at his feet like he was when he debuted and got those two wickets in his first over years ago. He is getting older and I'm still yet to see any real solid consistently in his bowling in test match cricket, both at the domestic and international level.

I think suggesting it was a real fluke is underminding it more than a tad. Warne would have had the idea to pitch it in that particular spot on the wicket and predict that it would spin dramatically, although questionable as to knowing it would that much. :P The look on Stratus' face afterwards certainly added to it's overall effect though.

So who is watching right now? I am!! Shane Warne just got wicket 600 :). 'bout time Australia got a wicket. Would have to say that England are looking very strong at the moment. Hopefully Australia can bounce back. It's a bit worrying though - with three players possibly injured - Clarke, Lee and McGrath. I think it will be a tough test for us.

We're getting our arses kicked.

late wickets helped things but I'd have to say winning this test looks pretty unlikely from here. OF course it would be silly to write off Australia but maybe we should be looking to draw the test and win the next instead? It must be a very long time since Australia has not played a test to win but maybe this situation is the time for that? Personally I'd rather we win the series than see us play an exciting but losing game.

I can't write them off yet. We were 313/3 Against NZ in March and got them all out for 433. Then we went on to win by 9 wickets. Any thing can happen in 4 days.

Australia are 7/210 with only tailenders remaining. Hope England win this one. It would do great things for the remaining Tests and for world cricket in general.

By the way, who else is loving every aspect of the commentary? I love Simon Hill, Dean Jones and Greg Matthews and the Channel 4 commentary is excellent. Geoff Boycott has the best accent ever. Mikey Holding is awesome and so is Mark Nichlaus.

I can't stand Michael Holding. But yeah, better commentors on SBS than Fox for sure.

Hopefully Warne will get that much deserved ton tonight when play resumes.

lol poor old shane. I remember the game he got 99. If only that had happened again. Still he's been the best batter for us the last two tests now. Perhaps we should put him up in the order and drop say the top 5 batters in our team. Australia is full of fantastic batters - why aren't they in the team?

I think we should start hoping for rain.

Go Australia.

Still looking hard for us - but we only need to survive 30 overs now. A draw is basically a win for Australia :)

Fuck yeah. So so so so glad I watched that test to the end. Maybe the best I've seen ever. After Ponting got out it was so good. Wow. Last 4 overs were so good.

Ricky Ponting was amazing - I called him for a big score when he was on 20 and he played so well. Pressure on England now to have to win the next test or we keep the ashes. Lee at the end was fantastic too.

Fuck yeah.

A bit of luck went our way for once, unlike the last test. :D

What a match...I sat up half the night watching it, but it was so worth it. Punter was incredible.

I think it's time to exercise a little debate about who should be in the side. For far too long we have enjoyed the luxury of fielding a similar team week in week out and creaming the opposition inside four days. As was demonstrated by McGrath's injury, we are only a coupla' retirements away from being very mediocre.

For starters Hayden is a liability. He's making 30s/40s but the problem is he doesn't look anywhere close to being comfortable. Katich although he failed in the last two tests looked solid in the first. Hayden looks so out of sorts, and effectively the batting equivalent of Dizzy. Played and missed Flintoff at least five times, edged twice in the gap at slip and then got bowled trying to play a regulation glance off the hip. Sacrilage!

It is about time some new blood got a dip.

I'd keep Hayden in the side for sure. Get rid of Dizzy. I think McGrath ended up being an ok selection in the side. I'd probably get rid of Katich too. I think with the out of form players - we really just need to give most of them some time and have condidence in them. Look at Ponting - not playing well until it really counted.

So drop Dizzy for sure - he's played too poorly for too long. Maybe Kadich too. And if Clarke is still seriously injured leave him out of the team until he's fit. Playing injured players is too much of a liability.

Not sure about replacements. Obviously Kaspa for Dizzy. Maybe Hodge for Kadich. Don't really know who else is playing well enough right now. I'd love to see Magill in the side but I don't know who he could replace and I think Shane Warne is playing too well (especially with the bat :P).

They won't drop Hayden because they really have no other 'Test' openers. But I'd like to see Hodge and Kaspa get a go. I went to bed after the Clarke wicket and prayed for an a Draw. Woke up at 7:40 had to goto Police training drill at work at 8, had to leave home at 7:50 checked how we went and I was like Shit yeah!

Very well done.

I think it is far too long to start riding off Hayden. It pains me to admit but Dizzy has to go, though hopefully not for too long. Kaitch has been pathetic, especially given he replaced Lehman before the Ashes began. Gilchrist is another who's batting has left a lot to be desired. His glovework was never expectional, in comparision to Ian Healy, but it has really stood out thus far this tour.

I wouldn't start getting too satisfied with Ponting either. He needed that innings to rectify the leadership mistakes he has made in the last two tests.

Who the .... is Dizzy?

It's probably someone obvious...

Jason Gillespie. As in, Dizzy Gillespie.

Gillespie should be dropped until he recovers his form. he is talented, he has a lot of wickets to his name for not many tests, I hope he comes back, but at the moment the English team is waiting for him to come on. I think Gillespie needs to have a look at Simon Jones. Both bowl at a similar pace, fast medium, but at the moment Gillespie is bowling straight up and down and doesn't look a chance for a wicket. Jones always looks likely.

Bring in Shaun Tait for some exurburance and mainly cos the English team will never have seen him bowl before.

Jason Gillespie - it's a refernce to the Jazz player - trumpet and then composing - Dizzy Gillespie.

Fair enough. I haven't seen Dizzy bowling for a long time, have only seen Lee and Warnie (haven't really been watching much). I've heard that he is out of form though, so maybe he should be dropped.

I think there may be a bit of an over-reaction within media about australia's downfall. At edgebastion, australia almost snatched the win, without mcgrath or our batsmen performing. at old trafford, england played superbly in both batting/bowling, and only came away with a draw.

however, I've just been amazed at how the english side managed to create so much swing at old trafford, whilst our quicks were just banging them in, straight as an arrow.

I think we need magill in the next match, probably at dizzys expense. katich needs to shape up too. he was horrible in both innings. perhaps hussey should be given a cap? he performed well in the ODIs.

I think there's going to be a major shakeup after the ashes, win or loose. Most of the batsmen are in their mid thirties and if development is left too late we'll be in a very bad position come 2009.

I use to be one of the naysayers that said in a couple of years we'll fall into a hole like South Africa and the West Indies have done but so far it has just not happened. Our batting stocks will definitely survive, with the likes of Clarke, Hussey, Hodge, and co. all ready to step up to another level if required. Our bowling will be our biggest concern because Warne doesn't have much left in him and MacGill is getting pretty old too. We have some geniune pace in Tait, but not another McGrath waiting in the wings as of yet.

I think Cricket Australia were betting on Dizzy to mature into a genuine swinger to fill a similar role that McGrath holds. It doesn't seem like thats the case at the moment... he's just lost his zip, and not fully developed any other attribute. I hope he bounces back

Its sad though, i hate to see South Aussies get shafted in Australian Cricket. They always do :|

atleast we have tait and cullen coming along eh? ;)

Edit: I'm an idiot.

Yeah, up until this tour I had always considered him the McGrath replacement. He is a bit younger and generally was almost as tight as McGrath in line and length. It's a real shame that he has blown up so badly on this tour because we simply won't be able to rely on guys like Lee and Tait to do that sort of thing, their additional speed immediately means they only have to make a smaller mistake and they'll be going for more runs.

I think if the series ended now, everyone would call it the greatest Ashes series ever by far and for mine, Andrew Flintoff would be man of the series.

Apart from his poor performance with the bat at Lord's he has been electric, taking 16 wickets and punishing the Australian bowlers. He is like Adam Gilchrist in that there is no relaxing once they get the fifth wicket because out comes a genuine all-rounder who could be picked in the English team for purely batting or bowling.

There has been no real consistent player apart from Flintoff who has dominated. It is testament to this Ashes series that the ratings on SBS cricket is consistently beating Friday Night Footy nationally. Who would think footy would be less popular then cricket in winter?

Bring on the third test!

fourth test mate.

I think you're right though, it's been enjoyable watching freddy play. It's probably the greatest series of the modern era, but i would have really enjoyed it more if australia were on top of their game as england are. Seeing two equal, in form teams battle it out in the ashes would be heaven.

It's definitly the best test series that I've ever seen and I'd rate the last 2 test matches as the best 2 tests I've ever seen as well.

I think the fact that Australia aren't playing our best is part of what makes it so exciting. We've had years of watching Australia dominate and destroy the other teams. Now it's exciting to suddenly see all this pressure on the players - to see our runs come from tail enders. I think it says a lot though that Australia playing badly is still equal to England playing at their best.