not a great read this:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2 ... 06327.html

well its a good read, but makes the england set up sound ramshackle at best.

So someone got frustrated when he made a mistake and a journalist didn't think Monty looked very injured?

Ramshackle!?

They have a member of staff on tour to make energy drinks I think the set up couldn't really be more professional.

Some of the decision making however....

I have no problem with the three debuts (over the moon Borthwick is playing and Ballance should have played when Trott went home) but I can't believe it looks like Root will make way and not Carberry, how short sighted can you be?

A phrase I never thought to hear!

Well Borthwick won't be getting too many caught behinds or stumping s with the useless turd we have keeping wicket

Do you have some sort of mental illness?

Genuine question?

Not that I am aware of, but I'd be the last to know!

If not please stop posting the same thing about Bairstow all the fucking time it is tedious.

Also speaking of decision making and being short sighted I reckon would I much rather be watching Finn spraying it allover than Boyd Rankin who has never taken more than 5 wickets in an innings in his first class career.

We haven't bowled that well so got to be happy with three wickets before lunch.

I can't remember many younger England cricket teams than this one, after an awful six weeks it would be very promising for the future if we could get some kind of result

and even better to get 4.

Shane Watson LBW...it's like being back in the summer when all our troubles seemed so far away!

I'm glad Warne isn't playing or I fear we might have lost this series

First session of the Fifth test and we finally bowl a few at the stumps.

Ha, Must have been a combination of over excitement and looking at the melted faced bellend that made me write that.

Another quick wicket, keep Haddin below 170 and we might just get them sub 400 here

Some of those stats today from Strauss help you realise that we have bowled badly as well. 5% of the couple of thousand balls we have sent down have actually been hitting the stumps, 18 balls before this knock to Watson who is a walking LBW hitting the stumps.

We have combined the perfect marriage of shitting batting and bowling whisker having an extra marital affair with some awful fielding. I reckon you have a good chance of winning when you combine all of those elements.

Think Haddin will go earlyish

I saw a feature at the end of the summer on how The Aussies had managed to work out how to get our batsmen out (Cook down the leg side, Trott with the short ball). They've carried this on through to this series by working that Carberry struggles with balls from round the wicket and Root isn't comfortable on his front foot. We don't seem to be anywhere near them for this kind of homework. Your Watson LBW example is spot on, he should have continued being a walking wicket as he's a shite test match batsmen yet somehow he's scored more runs than all our batsmen.

I'm still not overly concerned and happy that we'll put things right in the summer when our better players return to form

5 down. Piece of piss this Ashes lark.

Might go to bed happy before Haddin comes in

It's getting beyond a joke now.

However I watched it up until tea and the best spell we had was when Broad and Anderson were bowling in tandem when Haddin first came in, how he survived is anyone's guess. He did though and then it became hard with us a bowler down. Anything that can go wrong is going wrong

Why we had to tinker about with selection after the successful series last summer is a mystery to me.

Now we've dropped Root who seems to be carrying the can for our batting debacle. I have no idea why Carberry was picked. He's not a test player. Yes he has scored about 40 more runs than Root in the 4 tests before today but that doesn't make him better than Root.

Good to see Stokes get a six-fer.

I'm not sure last summer can now be considered much of a success, we were simply less shit than them

another abysmal bowling performance, despite getting them all out in one day. 4.5 runs per over is rubbish.

Then to compound it, another pathetic effort from carberry, who was actually out the ball before, but no fooker appealed.

The team selection for this game beggered belief. Yes I do think we are ramshackle.

Poor form, bottleless batsmen, poor captaincy, half hearted attitudes..................Trott? and definitely Swann, and awful management.

Quite possibly the worst tour ever?

It wasn't an abysmal bowling performance, we get five cheap wickets and then continued to bowl superbly to Smith and Haddin but just couldn't get them. The ball got softer, we went a bowler down and had one on debut. Disappointing again? Yes. Abysmal? Far from it. They scored 325, not 525.

If they got the team selection wrong, what should it have been?

Root should be playing. As should Finn.

Root is the future, dropping him just gives players like Warner a reason to laugh.

To go from 97 for 5, to then concede over 230 in less than two sessions for the last 5 wickets is pathetic.

And in the 6 overs or so we batted, it looked like Johnson was throwing down cruise missiles.

So either we bowled shite to let them score so many, or we are scared of Johnson and are making him look unplayable?

If we scored 200 for 0, but were all out for 350 would that be a good batting performance or a shit one?

The stats in this series show we bowl well for 1 or 2 sessions, in every match?, but overall still bowl shite.

We have no killer instinct, and we have made Smith look like a test player.

I can not take anyone seriously who thinks Finn should be playing.

Root has given his wicket away all summer, Carberry hasn't. If we want to punish those who have been spineless this year then Root would come before Carberry. I don't care about this age thing, we're talking about salvaging something from one test here

The only reason that I can think of that Carberry is playing in this Test is that the selectors know he will score sod all runs and then they can bin him at the end of the series with no recall due to his age.

If it's not that then it could be something to do with betting because he never has been and never will be proper Test quality.

Compton would have been a better pick than Carberry.

As would Onions instead of Rankin.

what did carberry do today then?

Is lobbing the ball to leg slip not giving your wicket away?

Carberry did ok early on, but he was abysmal last match.

Root ran himself out, but has massive potential. carberry is nearly as old as me.

It makes no sense.

Finn hasnt played at all so I fail to see your problem there.

Finn is completely out of sorts. They're trying to fix his run up for one thing after he kept smacking into the bails every few overs. Saying that I do not rate Rankin in the slightest either but we had very few other options if we're determined to pick a giant.

and another thing. If we go on to score 500, then we can say we bowled well.

If we get out for around 200 or less then our bowling performance will have been shite surely?

I read an interesting statistic that shows that for 5 wickets down Australia's average score in the first innings has been 141. Whilst this is testament to how well Brad Haddin has played, in addition to other tail enders feeding off the feel good atmosphere Haddin has created, it makes terribly disappointing reading for England's bowlers.

In all honesty I'll be amazed if England pass 200 tomorrow. They are there for the taking and Australia know it.

this was the case most of last summer too. Remember they had a 6 year old no 11 batter that nearly scored a ton on debut.

I honestly think its an attitude problem with the bowlers. Once they get through the main batters they think they just have to bounce the rest out.

Its a shite tactic and attitude.

Tino Best also got in the 90s batting at 11 the Summer before as well.

Anyone who thinks we have one of the best test bowling attacks just needs to look at the present ICC rankings.

We have one bowler in the Top 10 - Broad 9th place.

We knocked over the tail in no time at all they lost the last three wickets for one run!!

Haddin has been man of the series for me, even more so than Johnson he has scored crucial runs when it mattered in every single first innings. He apart from Clarke is Australia's best batsman so I'm not so sure you can lump him in with struggling to knock over the tail.

PJ you are turning into this teams official apologist.

No I'm not but people are saying we have struggled to knock over the tail then have pointed out the score when they were five down in every first innings.

That's when Haddin has come in, He 's hardly a tail ender he has been the best batsman in the series!

I'm not an apologist I've said on many occasions England have been appalling.

OK, but you always seem to find a positive amongst the wreckage of this tour.

The last 3 went for nearly 60

Minus 59 and you have you your answer the last three went for one run!!?

For once it is something you can't really argue, although you'll probably try, seen as it is indisputable fact! Stokes got Harris then Siddle first ball and Smith at the start of his next over. 325 for 7 to 326 all out.

Ben stokes gave us a lifeline but carberry proved again the selectors just don't know want they are doing. Carberry didnt have a clue how to play Johnson. The full over looked like the wicket was very close.

How many times are we going to decimate there top order yet fail to there middle and tail order. Brad haddin is simply too good for our attack and we need to learn how to get this fucker out. He's carried his luck at times but has clearly been the series best batsmen and only Johnson can stop him for man of the series IMO.

Congrats to borthwick on his maiden test wicket and huge well done to Ben stokes. Justifying his selection with every innings.

Ehhhhhh??? We're the Aussies 269-7??? They finished on 326. The last 3 wickets went for 57 which as I said was nearly 60.

Indisputable fact

Are you seriously trying to argue this!!?

Unbelievable.

Yes the 7th wicket went down went on 269. What about the 8th, 9th and 10th the last three wickets....

22 Warner
51 Rogers
78 Clarke
94 Watson
97 Bailey
225 Haddin
269 Johnson
325 Harris
325 Siddle
326 Smith

PJ I am confused. And I think you are playing with stats.

The auusiess 7th wicket fell at 269, didnt it?

Therefore the last 3 wickets netted 57 runs. Unless you are ignoring the 8th wicket partnership until the out ball.

What the fuck are you both talking about have you been on Fatty Eats Roadkills glue bag they lost the last three wickets for one run that is not playing with stats it's what they did!

Yes I'd argue that if a team is 269-7 and finish 326 all out then the last 3 wickets fell for 57. In fact in guessing every man, woman, child, cat, dog and goldfish would agree. Somehow you think otherwise.

I agree with the word "unbelievable"

I am more confused than ever now. They lost their 7th wicket on 269.

I think you need to read through this again.

Obviously all Harris runs dont count and smiths aswell for that partnership. Wow can we let someone know and get them knocked off cos pj is adamant they only got 270

Agreed someone in this thread "on glue". Maybe when it wears off you'll realise its you

The aussies were 269 for 7. They were also 325 for 7.

I am beginning to think that period from 269 to 325 didnt actually exist.

They lost the 8th wicket with score on 325, the 9th on 325 and 10th 326. They lost the last three wickets for one run!!

Putting it another way if you were 59-0 then collapsed to 60-3 what would have happened?

Would you not have lost 3 wickets for 1 run!?

It is true those three wickets have added 60 but you have still have lost three wickets for one run....

when you put it like that they did yes.

Just tell me what their 8th wicket partnership was though?