all the years of aussie sledging they get a bit back and they dont like it..anyway looks like we`ll get well over 400,pressures well and truly on the aussies when they bat again..keep sledging em jimmy its clear they are feeling the pressure....brilliant knock by cook,its time pieterson chipped in with a ton as well

I was so wrong about Cook, i thought it would take him 3-4 innings to get going, he's been amazing! albeit the aussies bowling attack is laughable, Xavier Dohety looks like a village team bowler he's that poor.

Doherty is terrible.....I thought we used to have problems trying to find our own Warne during the Aussie glory years, but the likes of Croft and Salisbury were spin kings compared to this new Aussie fella.

Australia are a mess. Johnson may have been garbage in Brisbane, but there's always the chance he might click. Can't see Doug the Rug producing a game-changing spell.

Doherty does indeed look out of his depth. If Hauritz wasn't going to be picked, they should have gone for Smith as their spinner.

The thing is, that if they get a good hiding here as seems possible, where do the selectors go next? Bring back Johnson and Hilfenhaus, or scour their 6 first class sides for other options. Goes to show how lucky they were to have Warne and McGrath at the same time.

Some of our spinners back in the day, were not that bad. Peter Such was a good steady bowler as was Richard Illingworth, but we were too busy trying to find our own Shane Warne so we wasted time with guys like Salisbury. The arrival of Warne and Murali meant that we had got the idea we needed a spin bowler who would be a heavy wicket taker, but only a very few spin bowlers in history have been like that, most of the time England have done alright with guys like Underwood or Emburey. Duncan Fletcher realised that and thats why we had Ashley Giles during our most successful period.

Salisbury and Chris Schofield were rubbish, and I didn't think Croft was that good either, he wasn't as good as Such or Illingworth but I suppose at least he wasn't a massive liability like Salisbury or Schofield, those two bowled more short balls than Courtney Walsh. A good over from them was one with only one four hit in it!

I thought Graeme Hick could have been used more as a spinner, I would have kept him in the side throughout the 1990s rather than dropping him, because his bowling was at least as good as guys like Croft, I remember him on a tour of India bowling 40odd overs per innings and keeping it tight.

Our only credible wicket taking spinner was Tufnell but he was too unpredictable a character, but he was another who was always in and out of the team, but he managed to win a few matches for us over the years.

I met Ian Salisbury once. He was a complete and utter c0ckend.

just had a feeling pietersen would chip in with good knock,class act..its up to you bowlers now....

Eng 620-5dec

Aus currently on 53-0

Only Hussey and Haddin seem to be causing us problems, get them two out and the rest should be easy

Prayer mats out for good weather.
We need Swann to fire on all cylinders from the word go, and hopefully Anderson gets some swing from the conditions.
I don't want to tempt fate, but this current Aussie side are just average at best. Their batting line up is OK, but that attack is dross. Their selectors must pine for a Warne/McGrath.

Wonder what the odds are of Warne playing in the 5th test if they have a chance of winning the ashes back

Our selectors must pine for a Flintoff or Gough. We are finding it a struggle taking Aussie wickets.

Come on england 1-0 up. As soon as Hussey and Haddin went was only a matter of time. Nice 5 wickets for swann, My 3-0 bet is looking good

"Swaaaaaaaaaaaann, Swann will tear you apart again..."

We did OK Sal, getting 20 wickets sub 600 on a flat batting track. Only down point is losing Broad for the rest of the series. Are Tremlett/Bresnan good enough for an away Ashes series?

The problem with replacing Broad is that nowadays Broad is considered an all-rounder. The most like for like replacement would be Bresnan but i think he's more suited to the one day form of the game, Tremlett would be a good pick because he's tall and would be very effective on the bouncy pitch at the Waca, then theres Ajmal Shahzad who i've not seen much of to be honest but, from what i did see he looks pretty quick with a skiddy action. My money is on Chris Tremlett for the simple reason that he's tall and should be very dangerous in Perth.

totally agree tremlett for me,shame we lose broad as he was turning into a quality player.andersons the key for me hes our best bowler keep him fresh and he`ll get his wickets..

At times Broad can be a bit "hit and miss" with his bowling. Many matches he can go along with just 1 wicket per innings, then WHAM, he's got a 7 for.. and a 4 for.. . Likewise with his batting. Five or 6 relatively low scores, then a 150 Graeme Hick-esque innings. I was hoping this tour would be the making of Broad, because the next few years are against Sri Lanka, India on dead wickets which wont do bowlers like Broad any favours. Real Shame.
Tremlett possibly fav for me (what I've seen of him). I don't think Bresnan is the answer in an away Ashes tour.

I really don't think we need to worry about lengthening the tail. The batsmen have done alright so far, and Broad's contribution with the bat was a golden duck. He's also only taken two wickets so far at an average of about 80. I'm not disparaging him on purpose as I think he's a good cricketer, I just don't think he'll be massively missed on the evidence of the series thus far. If the next test was on a spinning wicket (which I know it isn't, but this is just to illustrate), then I'd have suggested Broad's place in the side was the most vulnerable.

Taking wickets is the key to winning this series, so I'd hope they go with Tremlett or Shahzad, rather than Bresnan. Shahzad marginally ahead for me as Tremlett seems a bit too similar to Finn.

disaster..need to skittle them out asap..englands worst 2 days in the series so far

normal service has resumed..get a decent lead and the ashes will be staying with us..wonder what ponting and his boys will whinge about now

Good to see that the Wigan Walk is alive and well and now being practiced in Melbourne.

Will Joel be joining us when he hears the word "Walkies"?

Rather watch paint dry - or dry paint.

Bet Boycott is feeling a bit of a tit now, especially as he wrote off England's chances after 12 minutes of play, stupid Yorkshire twunt.