Indeed, anyone saying otherwise looked very silly when Clarke stood firm today despite knowing he was out and even going to the extent of reviewing it when he was given out.

The use of reviews by the two teams could very well be decisive. Australia have thrown too many reviews away on hopeless causes whilst England's appeals have been good, the decision by Cook to review the LBW today was fantastic.

Play finished on that horrible situation where we should win, but there is still that glimmer of hope for the Aussies. Wouldn't surprise me at all to see them get close tomorrow. Getting Agar is the key. 98 from 101 in the first innings turned into 1 from 24 in the second.

You mean Ute mate

John_D wrote:Look it up Never played a Test v the Zimmers The reputation Bell used to have as a flat track bully was more due to the match situation when scored his hundreds rather than who he was playing against. His centuries were usually scored after arriving at the wicket when the score was something like 300-4. For a long time all of his centuries were scored after one of the earlier batsmen had already scored a ton. But he's been a different player since the 09/10 tour of SA. Superb century in this match in view of the match situation. Expect England to win but could be like the 2nd Test in 2005. Need to get Agar out early.

John_D wrote:Look it up Never played a Test v the Zimmers The reputation Bell used to have as a flat track bully was more due to the match situation when scored his hundreds rather than who he was playing against. His centuries were usually scored after arriving at the wicket when the score was something like 300-4. For a long time all of his centuries were scored after one of the earlier batsmen had already scored a ton. But he's been a different player since the 09/10 tour of SA. Superb century in this match in view of the match situation. Expect England to win but could be like the 2nd Test in 2005. Need to get Agar out early.

It may not have had 400 runs in every innings and run rates of 4-5 per over but that was test cricket out of the very top drawer. It was truly compelling viewing and was a game that had almost everything. Some superb batting, some atrocious. Some outstanding bowling, some woeful and some terrible umpiring.

Who needs T20!!!

Winning the toss on Thursday could be critical. Need to give the seamers an extra days rest.

Two last wicket stands worth about 230 in total is a bit of a concern.
Something badly wrong there.

Same squad of 13 for Lord's. I can see Finn playing there, especially if it's a hard, dry track. Perhaps Bresnan in for Broad if Broad's shoulder isn't right.
Either way, it's more a case of the batting firing than owt else. Getting rolled for 215 was unacceptable.

They seem to have 50 overs cricket mentality.
It's not a sprint England, take your time, pick your shots, make it a pain to get you out.
Don't give your wickets away.

So much for that refund.

England win toss and will bat.

Aus drop Starc and Cowan which will weaken their batting. Also, they've dropped Cowan.