Decent start by Australia despite piss poor performance by the third umpire. Let's hope this will be a good'un!

Just woke up, what has the 3rd umpire done wrong?

Khawaja was given out despite all the evidence seeming to point the other way. You can forgive the umpires on the field for making these mistakes, but when you have a bloke spending 5 minutes looking at the evidence it should be easy enough to get it right in all but the closest of calls.

God damn it. Kevin Rudd agrees with me. I hate it when that happens.

303-3 A great score for the close of 1st day. Australia's batsman have finally decided to show up.

It was an important toss to win, but Australia made the most of it. We will see today how easy it is to bat in less pleasent conditions. The weather is going to play a big part in this. It will be easier to get people out, but their could be significant stoppages. I think Australia's best chance at a win will be to post a huge total (500+) and bowl England out cheaply to force a follow on.

If it gets to bottom of the ninth and there's nobody on and no score, what happens then?

dats baseball Nigeebubs
there might be three or four Innings,
this games only in the second days play, chillax
495 runs scored for 7 wickets in Australia's first Innings

so any no score at all bets you've made are duds Nigeebubs

Hmmm, lets say Australia get 550 odd all out. England should turtle up and play it slowly towards 400 or so and make the game a certain draw. This shouldn't be too hard, even with KP's inevitable duck, but we still have a nasty habit of a collapse every now and then.

We need a few home runs, at the moment we got zero and the other dudes have 500, it will have to be a good 2nd half

Ah, Nigs, have you been on the Robinsons double concentrate again? You know you shouldn't have anything stronger than Ribena.

well if you need a few home runs, then run home a few times
dis cricket nigeebubs, you don't seem to unnerstan it bubs
Australia's test cricketers are now having 507 cricket runs in their first Innings, bubs
and having a nice cuppa tea & cake before batting on bubs

Australia declare for 527.

An attacking declaration... I like it! Time for the English openers to make a stand worthy of their position. Should be a fun evening :)

Anyone else think Australia declared to early? I would have waited till at least 550. The more runs you get the more likely you can force the follow on.

England 119 runs 4 wickets @ lunch day3

I forget, how many runs does England require to avoid the follow on?

Oh no :/ England 7 wickets down now! What an innings by KP! Shame no one else stayed around to make a mammoth stand with him. Bell did alright i guess.

England needed to get 328 runs
to avoid giving Australia the optoin of enforcing a follow on
(200 runs less than Australia's 527 is the minimum "follow on" )
well they got the runs needed and now Australia have commenced their 2nd Innings
& there is talk of possible brief rain later today & /or tomorrow

I think Australia's bowlers conceded a few too many runs in England's first Innings,
only Peter Siddle kept it really tight

Yeah, Peter Siddle has had a very good test series so far!

The big question now is when Australia will declare. I reckon there best chance of a win is to give England a target of 250 that they will be tempted by. Much more than that and they'll just bunker down and wait for the rain.

well my thinking was for setting a target of about 320 runs,
it's a "runs and time" consideration -- runs --you need to balance having
"enough in the bank" to allow you to set attacking fieldsmen and the need to set a target that England will be tempted to chase
time -- time to bowl England out, but also time for your bowlers to "recover & freshen up" needs to be considered
England with two wins have the "luxury" of not having to chase a win, but they would be keen to get a 3rd win to make sure of a series win.
Australia "have" to win to have any chance in the series, so it's good to see that they have at least given themselves a good chance of getting a win
whilst you bat

This is the same England side that didn't enforce a follow on against the Kiwis a few months back despite almost everyone thinking it was the best shot at a win. They are not a naturally aggressive bunch. Unless they have a mouth watering target in front of them I would bet the farm on them deciding defensive batting for the draw and making certain of retaining the Ashes will be enough for them. You can see by the speed of their bowling that rain and a draw is firmly in their minds at the moment.

This bad light delay is BS

Very much so, but it is very predictable BS that Australia should have anticipated. They have batted too long. Tomorrow morning will almost certainly be rained off. Australia will have what's left of the afternoon and evening (light permitting) to get out an England side that will be thinking purely defensively.

Yeah, I've said this before (not sure if in this thread or just elsewhere) and I will say it again.

I don't approve of Clarke's captaining. Hes a great batsman and I enjoy watching him play, but I think Clarke is a terrible captain, and that the reason Australia lost the first test and the 3rd test will probably end in a draw is because Cooke is a much better captain then Clarke is.

I think Australia lost their advantage in this game with their bowling
too many loose / poor balls that gave England easy runs
Only Peter Siddle kept his bowling tight / well disciplined

The bowling let them down a bit, it's true, but it's been a tricky wicket for bowlers from the start. I liked their choice to declare in their first innings and take the fight to England. It showed great intent and fighting spirit, even though it din't quite work.

What I don't like is them batting on and on in their 2nd innings. It would have been a great strategy if their was no rain forecast on the final day, but there was. I know teams like to pretend that they don't base their strategy on the weather for some strange reason, but I always assumed they really did. If they don't they bloody well should.

Australia should have declared with a lead of 200-250. England should have been out there batting and trying to win for a couple of hours yesterday. Today the game could be on a knife edge with a real chance of a result in between the showers. The few overs we will be getting today are showing glimpses of what could have been,

As things stand it will almost certainly be a draw and England retain the Ashes. Boring.

Or will it ...... 35-3 at lunch, England collapse in the afternoon - 2-1