England wrap up T4 & retain Ashes. Let the Australian recriminations begin continue

England 513 defeated Australia 98 & 258 (85.4 ov, B Haddin 55*, S Watson 54, T Bresnan 4/50) by an innings & 157 runs: T4D4 at MCG: England retain Ashes, lead series 2-1 with one Test to play. Player of the Match: Jonathon Trott.

There was little deviation from the script that had been written before the day's play began as England completed a massive, and well merited victory over Australia.

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Congratulations to them: they are, despite their loss at Perth (which now seems apart from being much more than a fortnight ago difficult to explain, or perhaps to believe) , clearly the better team.

The recriminations will continue, as Australians have become accustomed to beating the Poms here (if more so to losing in England). I have my thoughts but for now I'll keep them to myself.

Depite all the wailing and gnashing of teeth we Australian cricket supporters need to keep things in perspective, as veteran journalist Keith Dunstan in today's Age reminds us.

Australian batting crumbles again to disciplined England bowling: T4D3

Australia 98 & 6/169 (66ov, S Watson 54) need 246 more runs with 4 second innings wickets left to avoid losing by an innings to England 513 (159.4 ov, J Trott 168*, M Prior 85, A Cook 82, A Strauss 69. P Siddle 6/76) : T4 D3 at MCG

Some time, probably before lunch tomorrow, England will take Australia's last three wickets (the injured Ryan Harris is highly unlikely to bat), complete a well deserved innings victory over Australia and retain the Ashes.

Today, another huge crowd (68,773) turned up to watch Peter Siddle continue to bowl his heart out as England lost its last five wickets for 69. Then the Australian batting, set a daunting (?improbable) 515 to make England bat again, fell apart after a foolish runout (once again involving Shane Watson) followed mot long after by Tim Bresnan dismissing Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey in quick succession.

While Matt Prior didn't get a 100 his aggressive 85/119b (11x4) was a good counterpoint to Jonathan Trott's more measured 168*/345b (13x4). But for Siddle's 33.1-10-75-6 who knows when England would have declared.

Bresnan, as in the first innings, justified his selection. 15-7-26-3 is an excellent analysis, though most of the time, unlike Siddle, he had the benefit of someone keeping the other end tight.

Australia are in disarray. Neither Ponting nor Michael Clarke looked like building a big innings and their futures as captain and vice-captain will be discussed even more in the coming days. Despite their underperformance and, in Ponting's case, yesterday's intemperate on field outburst (for which he was fined 40% of his match fee), I think it's too late in this series to remove them.

But beyond that...


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England keep building lead and path to victory:T4D2

England 5/444 (136 ov, J Trott 141*, A Cook 82, M Prior 75*', A Strauss 69. K Pietersen 51) lead Australia 98 by 346 runs with 5 1st innings wickets in hand: T4/5 D2/5 at MCG.

There was little to write home (or blog) about today unless you are a staunch England supporter (perhaps one of the 67,149 spectators who were at the MCG), in which case you are allowed a generous measure of triumphalism at the sight of Australia trailing by 346 runs on the first innings and consequently without any prospect of victory and little of a draw..

Australia did show a little resistance early in the day as Peter Siddle removed both Alistair Cook 82/152b (11x4) and Andrew Strauss 69/167b (5x4) for the addition of only 13 runs. But then Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen steadied the innings (as if at 2/170 it needed steadying) before Siddle returned to claim Pietersen lbw for 51/89b (7x4) and dismiss Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell cheaply, by catching them in the deep, off Mitchell Johnson's (short) bowling.

5/286 turned out to be Australia's last satisfying moment of the day as Trott 141*/278b (12x4) and Matt Prior 75*/105b (10x4) added 158 for the sixth wicket before stumps leaving England, as they were yesterday, dominant. Early in his innings Trott snicked Johnson to the keeper but survived umpire Aleem Dar's self-imposed review after replays showed the delivery was (just) a no ball. Pity about the overstepping as it was Johnson's best ball of the day. As for the other bowlers, Siddle was, as 26-8-58-3 suggests, by far the best. Steven Smith and Ryan Harris bowled the occasional teasing delivery, though Ben Hilfenhaus looked out of puff despite clocking some pacy balls on Channel 9's speed measuring instrument.

So Australia is headed for defeat. Whether it is to be an honourable or dishonourable one will depend on the batters and the captain, who lost his composure at one point by challenging an umpire's decision which was clearly correct. Not a nice sight, but a reflection of the pressure Ricky Ponting is under. He should try to let his bat do the talking.

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England to retain Ashes after dominating T4 first day

England 0/157 (47 ov, A Cook 80*, A Strauss 64*) lead Australia 98 (42.5 ov, C Tremlett 4/26, J Anderson 4/44) by 59 runs with all 2nd innings wickets intact: T4/5, D1/5 at MCG

After as one-sided day as anyone with even a rudimentary grasp of current cricket form could have expected, or as England supporters might have wildly fantasised about, Australia surely can only be saved by the weather from a crushing defeat which will leave the Ashes in England's possession (even though - small comfort- the series could still be drawn 2 all).

Yes, the toss favoured England, but, apart from the first 10 minutes, they made the most of the conditions. Andrew Strauss chose to field on an overcast morning, and from the outset the ball moved around.

Australia's luck ran for the first 10 minutes during which Shane Watson was dropped twice, but after he was caught off his gloves for 5, there were few moments when the team looked like getting, let alone holding, the upper hand.

Their quick bowlers Jimmy Anderson , Chris Tremlett and Tim Bresnan ( who replaced Steve Finn) exploited the English - like conditions magnificently and skittled the home team for 98. Their figures: Tremlett11.5-5-26-4, Anderson 16-4- 44-4, Bresnan 13-6-25-2, speak for themselves.

None of the Australian top order looked comfortable against them: several were caught playing at balls outside the off stump. Ricky Ponting failed again well caught in the slips - after a slow start, Michael Clarke struggled to the innings top score of 20 while Mike Hussey, as was bound to happen sometime in the series, and Brad Haddin both failed.

I thought that the tailenders should have hit out and, even if it meant a smaller total, got England in before the sun came out. But they didn't, the sun appeared, play was extended to make up for a rain break earlier in the day, and the pitch flattened, making the bowlers' job harder, though Strauss 64*/ 147b (5x4) and Alistair Cook (80*/137b (11x4) played hardly a poor shot between them.

Australia used six bowlers: the four quicks who'd played at Perth (Michael Beer again didn't make the final cut), Watson's medium-fast and Smith's leg spinners. None of them, as the scorecard suggests, really troubled the English openers. Certainly Mitchell Johnson didn't approach anything like his Perth form while none of the others showed many signs of their best. TV graphics showed that the England pace trio were accurate: the Australian quarted tended to spray the ball round a bit more.

So a disastrous day for Australia. Moreover, the hoped for (and hyped for) world record attendance didn't eventuate, even though 84,345 was pretty good given the moderate weather.

Surely Australia can't have another day as bad as (or England another as good as) today....I hope the South Africa - India Test in Durban isn't as one-sided.

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South Africa do to India what England did to Australia at Adelaide

While the last three matches of the Ashes are being played here the top two ranked world Test teams, South Africa and India, are playing a series in South Africa.

I was expecting a tight contest in the first Test but South Africa did as England did at Adelaide a couple of weeks ago and and trounced their opponents by an innings: 4/620 dec v 136 & 459.

As you'd expect there were some significant performances by the South Africans, notably Jacques Kallis' first ever Test double century, Morne Morkel's 5/20 in India's first innings as well as centuries by Hashim Amla (measured) and A B deVilliers (quickfire). There was also one memorable performance by an Indian amid the wreckage: Sachin Tendulkar's 111*, his 50th in Tests.

Will India be able to effect an Australian style turnaround in the second Test, which begins, as does the fourth Ashes Test (though in different time zones so it will be possible for enthusiasts to watch them in sequence), on Boxing Day? I doubt it. They don't seem to have any ace bowlers up their sleeve.



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Harris & Johnson put England out of misery and level series: T3D4

Australia 268 & 309 def England 187 & 123 (37ov. R Harris 6/47, M Johnson 3/44) by 267 runs: T3 D4 at WACA ground, Perth. 5 match series level 1 all.

It didn't take long for Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson to scythe through the 5 remaining England wickets, including those of Ian Bell and Matt Prior, and complete a comprehensive victory for Australia over England, one which looked unlikely after the first day.

Johnson was named Man of the Match for his 9 match wickets and team reviving first innings 62, but several others , especially Hussey and Harris in both innings, Shane Watson in the second and Brad Haddin in the first, made vital contributions which papered over the cracks in Australia's batting.

We'll wait to see whether the crack in Ricky Ponting's little finger prevents him from playing in Melbourne. Even though he's not delivered when it matters and age is creeping up on him (the win is a great present for his 36th birhtday today) IMO he is still capable of making runs and moreover is due for some after an unlucky dismissal in the second innings (and he was out to a great catch in the first).

England don't seem to have as many problems, though it's doubtful whether their team structure with only four frontline bowlers will suffice to dismiss Australia twice more for low-to-middling scores
if, as must surely happen, more than two of its top order batters fire.

Another variable unknown factor will be the MCG wicket. Will it play more like the relatively (pace) bowler friendly Perth than Adelaide or the Gabba, or will it be its own thing? These and other matters will be the subject of much speculation over the next week.

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England on ropes as batting crumbles after Watson & Hussey set up big target: T3D3

England 187 & 5/81 (27 ov) need 310 more runs with 5 wickets in hand to defeat Australia 268 & 309 (86 ov, M Hussey 116, S Watson 95, C Tremlett 5/87) T3 D3 at WACA ground, Perth.

At the start of play I was hoping that Australia would be able to set England a reasonable target, by lunch hope had become expectation, which the subsequent loss of 6/57 only slightly changed. I didn't even contemplate the prospect of England losing 5 wickets before stumps...I hoped (with fingers crossed) for two or three, but couldn't see the England batting lineup, which in the first two Tests had carried all before it, crumbling on a pitch which while not quite a flat track wasn't a bowler's paradise either.

But it did, and Australia stand on the threshold of a remarkable victory which looked out of the question after Day1 .

Today's heroes were the four quick bowlers, who justified the selectors' decision not to play a specialist spinner, and Mike Hussey and Shane Watson who with their bats fashioned a silk purse out of what could have been a sow's ear.

Watson, perhaps because he hadn't had to bowl in England's first innings, looked on top of his game until, not for the first time, he approached his century when Chris Tremlett had him lbw for 95/174b (11x4). Hussey continued as the England attack, especially Tremlett, regrouped and was last out for a masterly116/172b (11x4). Remember all the calls for his sacking before the series began?

As in they'd done in the first innings, Andrew Strauss and Alistair Cook started well, but they only put on 23 before Ryan Harris broke through. Then it was Mitchell Johnson's turn , then Ben Hilfenhaus' (Kevin Pietersen a well deserved wicket caught at slip for 3), then Johnson and Harris each had a second bite of the cherry as the lineup which recovered from a poor start at the Gabba to look invincible at Adelaide fell apart.

The series has been re-ignited. The last rites of this match should be completed early tomorrow.

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