Broad 8/15 scythes through Australia - all out 60 before lunch- then Root 124* confirms England dominance:T4 D1 to

England 4/274 (65ov, Root 124*/158b/1x6 19x4, Bairstow 74/105b/12x4, Cook 43, Starc 3/73) lead Australia 60 (18.3ov, Extras 14, Johnson 13, Broad 9.3-5-15-8) by 214 with 6 !st inns wkts in hand: T4/5 D1/5 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Toss: England, who sent Australia in.  England XI: Wood in for Anderson (injured); Australia XI{  S Marsh replaced M Marsh.

Stuart Broad bowled magnificently, inducing an appalling, if not entirely inexplicable, batting collapse before lunch. Australia's embarrassing 60 all out, apart from all the records it broke, has effectively allowed England to win the Test and thereby reclaim the Ashes.

If there were any doubts about this they were dispelled by Alistair Cook and Joe Root who took England into the lead after two early wickets fell, and then Root and Johnny Bairstow's  173 run 4th wicket stand.  This also exposed the limitations of the four man frontline bowling attack, which in turn questioned the competence of the selectors. In my opinion Adam Voges should have been replaced by Shaun Marsh, leaving Mitchell Marsh in the eleven (unless the selectors followed my wilder thoughts and restored Shane Watson, or Brad Haddin, or even Peter Siddle)

England had the better of the conditions- overcast at the outset turning to intermittent sunshine in the afternoon-  but this does little if anything to excuse Australia's technical deficiencies. It is one thing to look to bat aggressively but it is folly, as so many,perhaps all, Australians did, to fail to tailor your responses to the conditions by, for example, not going so hard at the ball as you would do on your
home pitches.

Magnificent as Broad's bowling was, his team supported him well. Mark Wood had David Warner caught behind in his first over after Broad had removed Rogers and Steve Smith in his first. 3/10 was only marginally better than Australia's 3/2 at the start of the 2010 Adelaide Test, but on this occasion was no recovery.

And England's fielding was superlative, Ben Stokes took the catch of the series when he caught Adam Voges in the slip cordon - watch it on TV or YouTube where it will surely be replayed many times.  My favourite was Alistair Cook's Aussie Rules style mark to remove Michael Clarke wafting outside off stump for an undistinguished 10 - the third highest individual contribution' after extras 14 and Mitchell Johnson's 13.

I watched England overtake Australia's paltry offering in the English afternoon but slept soundly through, and beyond, the last session. No nightmares during my slumbers: I'd already had them in real time via my TV screen.


Scorecard

England set for victory? T1D4

Australia 280 & 6/174 (71.0 ov, Rogers 52/121b/ 8x4, Watson 46/74b/8x4) need another 137 runs with 4 wkts in hand to beat England 215 & 375 (149.5 ov, Bell 109/267b/15x4 Broad 65/148b/7x4, Pietersen 64/150b/12x4, Cook 50/165b/6x4, Starc 3/81, Siddle 3/85); T1/5 D4/5 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

England gained the upper hand late on what a friend watching in Derbyshire confirmed to be a hot Nottingham day (which is not quite the same as a hot Adelaide day).

Despite taking the last 4 England wickets for 49 and embarking solidly upon the long fourth innings haul towards 311, Australia once again faltered with the bat, leaving it tenuously placed. On the last day they need something less (though maybe not much less) than a miracle, something more than a very good performance, to win.

It was another intriguing day, though at the end disappointing to Australian supporters.

Neither Ian Bell, who moved from 95 to 109, Stuart Broad, 47 to 65, nor the last three  - 9 runs between them- inflicted much more damage upon Australia, for whom Shane Watson started assertively and Chris Rogers solidly.

0/28 at lunch made it nobody's session. In the middle session both Watson and Ed Cowan fell, each of them just as it seemed that the visitors were coming back into contention. Cowan's dismissal, on the stroke of tea to  part timer Joe Root, was particularly galling. Fortunately Rogers was reprieved by the DRS which overturned a decision in the same class as Aleem Dar's yesterday, (for either lbw or caught behind) when it was clear to my unaided eye that the ball had passed nowhere near bat, body or stumps.

2/111 meant Australia were still in the game, if not on top. But  at 124 Rogers, who'd looked very solid in making 52, pulled Jimmy Anderson to midwicket. Michael Clarke, looking uncharacteristically scratchy, and Steven Smith, more restrained than in the first innings, looked to be regrouping, but at 161 Clarke fell to Broad, after another pause from Umpire Dar and subsequent DRS (the Cricinfo description of the dismissal must be one of the longest ever -click on the Scorecard to read it).

Then Graeme Swann, who hitherto had looked steady without looking dangerous, had both Steven Smith and Phil Hughes adjudged lbw - the latter subject a poor call by umpire Dharmasena and upheld by Hawkeye, which showed a slender majority of the ball just pitching in line.

So that left Brad Haddin and Ashton Agar - promoted to no 8, not sent in a nightwatchman I believe, to hold the fort until stumps.

They did this but it's asking a lot for them and the three to follow to get Australia over the line from here. Gideon Haigh, speaking on Offsiders today seemed optimistic about Australia's chamces. Much as I adnire his assessments I disagree with him on this one.

Last might I turned down the TV, turned in and listened on the radio until I fell asleep, waking at 3:14 by the bedside clock to the broad Yorkshire tones of Geoff Boycott.

I don't expect to be doing that again tonight, but will treat myself to a glass or two of red by the fire and wait resignedly to see what happens.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Scorecard

Incredible Agar + solid Hughes pull Australia back from abyss T1D2

England 215 & 2/80 (43ov, Cook 37*, Pietersen 35*) lead Australia 280 (64.5ov, Agar 98, Hughes 81*, Smith 53, Anderson 5/85) by 15 runs with 8 2nd inns wkts in hand: T1/5 D2/5 at Trent Bridge Nottingham.

Well, I was wrong to suggest that Ashton Agar shouldn't have been in the team (even though I was thinking of him as the no1 spin bowler). Whatever his bowling abilities his 98/101b(2x6,12x4) on debut and at no11should guarantee him a place - higher up the order- for the next foreseeable future.

His innings was remarkable not just for its quantum but also its quality: especially of strokeplay (not always along the ground) and choice of ball to hit.

We shouldn't forget Phil Hughes who contributed 60 to the 163 world 10th wicket partnership Test record. At times he exasperated me by not appearing to follow conventional wisdom by trying to keep the strike (as  conventional wisdom prescribes), but it became clear that he knew Agar's capabilities much better than me. He toughed it out and became more fluent as he stroked his way to yet another career refreshing (saving?) innings. 81*/131b/9x4 was not like the Hughes(es) of old but displayed a grittiness that I doubted he was capable of.

Even so, Agar looked the more accomplished of the pair, which only reinforces how well the young man batted.

Several significant records were broken: click
http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2013/content/story/650423.html">here
to see Cricinfo's summary.

The partnership saved Australia who had crumbled before Jimmy Anderson and Graeme Swann after the former had Steven Smith caught behind  for 53/79b/1x6, 7x4.  From the other end Hughes watched 5/108 turn into a nightmarish 9/117  before the unexpected revival and retreat from an abyss of almost certain defeat to shape a pinch-yourself-to-make-sure-that -it's -true lead of 65.

A handy lead in a low scoring match and Mitchell Starc's capturing two cheap wickets( one of which stirred up some criticism of the DRS umpiring) made England's 2/11 at tea look almost as grim a position as Australia's had been earlier.

At that point I dozed off,  and only watched highlights of the last session later, when it looked as if Kevin Pietersen and Alistair Cook fought determinedly and succeeded in preserving their wickets on a wicket taking more spin. A lead of 15 doesn't seem a lot but the spectre of Anderson and Swann bowling in the 4th innings must be causing a few collywobbles in the Australian camp.

Can Agar take a wicket or three? Will the sunny weather of D2 continue or will it revert to the gloom of D1? Can the Australian attack restrict England to a gettable target (like c200)? All this and more awaits.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2013/engine/match/566932.html"> Scorecard

England have slight edge after 14 wickets fall on hard fought day of uneven quality: Ashes 2013 T1 D1

Australia 4/75 (21ov, Smith 38*) trail England 215 (59 ov, Trott 48/80b,9x4, Bairstow 37, Root 30, Siddle 5/50, Pattinson 3/69) by 140 runs on 1st inns; T1/5 D1/5 at Trent Bridge Nottingham. England won toss and chose to bat.

Yesterday Sir Ian Botham predicted that this Test would be over in three and a half days, with England winning. I scoffed at what I took to be pre-series bluster, but after a hurly-burly first day's play in which 14 wickets fell it looks as if Sir Ian was, unusually for him, erring on the side of caution.

Australia surprised me (and many others) by preferring the 19 year old Ashton Agar to Nathan Lyon (who took 9 wickets in his last Test).  I couldn't see a good reason for this and the decision may well come back to bite them. He only bowled a few nothing-to-write-home-about overs but will almost certainly need to do more when England bat again, which will probably be on day two.

The first session gave little hint of what was to come. The Australian bowlers, Peter Siddle included because of his first few overs, were all over the place in what should have been helpful overcast conditions. The England batters took advantage of this and the fast outfield and at lunch were handily placed at 2/98 from 26 overs with Jonathan Trott looking good.

But early in the afternoon session  Kevin Pietersen swatted Siddle to cover and it was 3/102. At 124 Trott, who'd looked so on top of the situation, played on to Siddle for 48, which turned out to be the highest score of the day. Even so England's position didn't look to be beyond redemption, but none of the remaining upper order could keep Siddle 14-4-50-5 at bay, while James Pattinson and Mitchell Starc refocused and sliced through the tail.

215 looked decidedly below par. Yet when Australia collapsed to 3/22, including Michael Clarke bowled for a duck by a beautiful Jimmy Anderson nip backer (watch the replay if you can), it suddenly looked ample. Steve Smith, like Agar a late addition to the original squad, batted positively - his straight drive for 6 off Graeme Swann was the shot of the day - restore a measure of hope to the visitors.

 Talk about Australia batting down to no11 is all very well, but in the circumstances it sounds like Bothamesque bluster. The weather and the pitch, which is already starting to crumble, will play a big part in shaping the course of the match but on paper now England have an edge.

All this makes for mandatory viewing (the Sky Sports feed is available here on both free to air - Gem - and Foxtel)  for the next couple of days. I  shall try to keep awake as long as possible (unlike last night where I nodded off early in the afternoon session and had to catch the highlights this morning).

Scorecard