Cooks best days are behind him possibly but he is only 33 on Christmas Day and he’s still our 2nd best batsman, question marks about a bloke with 31 Test Hundreds in top five where three of the other four have none seem a bit misplaced. He’s a bit out touch yes, maybe though him and Root are under too much pressure because the batting is so weak?

I would bat Bairstow 3 in Perth.

Talk of brining Wood back is surely just straw clutching though? He's barely bowled a red ball in 6 months and has a pitifully small number of overs under his belt. He might do a job but the evidence doesn't suggest he will. People seem to be forgetting the reasons he wasn't picked in the first place. It might have made more sense to have brought Plunkett along, all things considered.

I think there's very little chance Overton would be dropped given he's shown a refreshing stomach for a fight and did well in the 2nd test.

So this Duckett stuff... is it now apparent that England cricketers have a drinking problem?

See Cook has blown it AGAIN!!!

Went a good way to stopping the rot today

Woke up this morning to see us 160 odd for 4 and thought oh well 3-0. Brilliant stuff from Malan and Bairstow

Yes, great fight back from Mallan and Bairstow. Hope they can continue tomorrow. But still our leading ‘batsmen’, the ones you expect to hit 3 figures, failed again. Cook’s confidence looks totally shot.

The ball is still quite new so there's the risk that we could be blown away in the first hour, that's the worry. But Bairstow and Malan were top class today, hope they can carry on and take us to 400+.

I have finally worked out what has been going wrong, me, today I watched only about an hour. Literally the first ball I saw Stoneman played are fairly loose drive outside of off stump and edged a fairly simple chance to Mitch Marsh at slip which he spilled, then he got hit on the head by Hazlewood, then got dropped another chance that should have been caught by Lyon next ball. Then Root was strangled down the legside, then Stoneman was on the end of a ridiculous decision by the third umpire. The last ball saw Bairstow drilled down the ground to get off the mark. I They were all over us of like a cheap suit in the words of Ivan Ash. I checked the score at the close as I'd been out all day. I reckon if I take no interest in the rest of the series we've pretty much got this in the bag 3-2.

I have liked Stoneman and Malan all series they have both tried their bollocks off and put a value on their wicket without looking the classiest of Test batsmen but I think Malan showed Stoneman why he's not kicked on from 50 very early in his knock, you can't just become a sitting duck against the short ball you have to either get out of the way of it well, or take it on.

Very pleased for Malan. As has been said he's really knuckled down and shown some tremendous application. Even in the 2nd innings of the last test he was simply undone by a superb delivery. He didn't give his wicket away. Hopefully he can kick on in the morning and Bairstow can get to his ton, too.

Lot of work to do still though. It's imperative we put 450+ on the board and put Australia under some serious scoreboard pressure for the first time.

Guarantee I’ll check the ECB app when my 6:50 alarm go’s and the Aussies will be batting

Oh dear! At the end of the day the Aussies are better all round. It seems that when England post what would be a reasonable score, then you could say it must be a good run scoring wicket and everyone getting hopeful. But with the Aussies higher quality and more capable batsmen you can expect them to Possibly doubling England’s score. I don’t think smith, from what I’ve seen, has offered once chance to the fielders. England are running out of ideas.

I don't think the Aussies have more capable batsmen, what they have is quicker bowlers who can make things happen when it's flat. It's looked a really flat wicket today. We really shouldn't lose on this pitch though. Mind saying we shouldn't and won't is two different things!

Surely it's horses for courses? Most of these Aussie batsmen will struggle in a couple of years against our seam bowlers in English conditions. This is not a top notch Aussie side but they are going to enjoy whitewashing England yet again on home turf.

Cook, Root and Ali not finding any form will see to that. Cook looks shot - hope he gets a couple of decent scores before the series finishes and can retire with his chin up. Root looks like he's got too much on his plate and Ali just looks like he can't play against pace.

I think the England bowlers and fielding to some extent are now demoralised. The bowlers have been hammered all over Australia for the last 2 days and are bereft of ideas and dare I say it desire. They seemed to start this innings reasonably well and fresh but since smith and marsh got settled they have had any confidence and energy they may have had battered out of them. The missed catch by Root yesterday was I thought crucial.

I think the England bowlers and fielding to some extent are now demoralised. The bowlers have been hammered all over Australia for the last 2 days and are bereft of ideas and dare I say it desire. They seemed to start this innings reasonably well and fresh but since smith and marsh got settled they have had any confidence and energy they may have had battered out of them. The missed catch by Root yesterday was I thought crucial.

Anderson and Woakes skittling out Australia for 138 in the 2nd Innings at Adelaide was one of the few bright spots in this series. They don't lack desire - they're on a hiding to nothing on this pitch, which doesn't suit their style of bowling at all.

Cook is 33! I think it would be a disaster if he retired with Englands current batting struggles. Form is temporary.

Luckily rain is forecasted for the next two days

We would need a complete washout to save this one.

The TMS commentators blame our bowler's lack of pace, flat Aussie pitches and the Kookaburra ball for our inability to take wickets but Glenn McGrath wasn't faster than our bowlers and yet was highly successful on Aussie pitches with a Kookaburra ball. Whilst it is nice to have 90+ mph pace men, bowling is still about the correct line and length for the conditions which are different to those in England.
Having said that I wish a modern day Frank Tyson could appear to put the frighteners on the cocky Aussie batsmen.

Surely we can bat for at least a day. Surely

And that's the million dollar question.

There's no denying the quality of the aussie bowlers but we had only two batsmen in the first innings who were good enough, confident enough and patient enough to take the aussies bowlers on. The rest were like the proverbial rabbits caught in the headlights making airy fairy shots.

McGrath was quicker than all of Englands bowlers on this tour so far, he was also taller. He was of the greatest line bowlers of all time with Curtly Ambrose, hardly a fair comparison!

Stewart Broad and Glenn Mcgrath are both 6ft5in tall and McGrath certainly was not up at the 90mph level. He had immaculate control of line and length which was my point. It is possible to bowl well in Aussie conditions without extreme pace but I admit it helps.

Whitewash or what?

Can’t see any other result.

To score 400 and still get beat by an innings is quite some achievement. I would drop Cook, Ali, Broad for the next game give some new ones a chance

This series demonstrates that selecting players who have done well in English conditions for a series in Australia is a flawed concept. It is the easy option for selectors to pick those who have done well recently in England but down under we need fast, 'fast bowlers', spinners that have height and can put revs on the ball and batsmen who can play short pitched bowling. In England, players can achieve success without any of these attributes which is why a whitewash is on the cards.
Having said that we will probably win the next Ashes series in England and things will remain unchanged.

Said it on December 6th. At least Malan and Bairstow both got tons in Perth.

Meanwhile Cook is averaging 13. I still think that it's odds on he will retire from test cricket after this series.

No coverage of the 4th test on telly?

Just realised they started at midnight and finished at 07.00

Just realised they started at midnight and finished at 07.00

Say what?



He only turned 33 on Christmas Day and is apparently the fittest bloke in the team. Like I said last week it would be an utter disaster for England if he retired now he could easily play for another 4 or 5 years.

It's been a brilliant knock, but unfortunately doesn't take away from the fact that in the 6 England innings where the Ashes were lost he scored a total of 83 runs. He's struggled against real pace in this series, as to be fair have most of the English batsmen, and Starc not playing has made all the difference.

I said earlier on I hoped he would get a couple of decent scores before the series finished - well 240-odd not out ain't bad

As for retiring from international cricket - let's see what he says at the end of the series. I hope he won't.

There’s no chance of him retiring after this series, he’s way too young for that has no injury problems in his career and he has plenty to offer the team still.

He’s just been a bit out knick and they have bowled well he plays fast bowling as well as anyone in World Cricket (Lyon has caused him most bother) you don’t score the thick end of 12,000 Test Runs without that. I hope he has the ambition overhaul Sachins record, he has shown his appetite for batting is still their in the last two days.

He’s going to retire now isn’t he

Cook is pure class, easily one of the best English openers ever. From the dismissals I’ve seen of him this series he’s just been getting some belting deliveries which can happen to the best.

Undoubtably the hardest place to bat in Test Cricket is one or two. You always face the two best quick bowlers at the start of your innings with a new ball. He’s sixth highest run scorer in the history of the game now, and the only opening batsman in the top ten.

Like other great test cricketers, the only person who can retire Alistair Cook is Cook himself. He's said that he's taking it series by series now. He may be 'only' 33 but he's played a huge amount of test cricket and had winter after winter away from home. By all accounts he's got a very good life away from cricket and if he decides to pack in at test level that's fair does. On the other hand, he's a team player and can see there's no ready made replacement to step into his shoes, so perhaps he'll carry on.

There's a few people like to have the last word, but it will be Cook who has the last word on this subject - at the end of the series.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/ ... -own-terms

The fourth test match illustrated that there is no need for doom and gloom surrounding the England team. I accept that in Aussie conditions they are better than us but in English conditions we are better than them. It is a fact that to win test series away from home, the visiting team needs to be much much better than the home team. Even a trip to Bangladesh, never mind India and Pakistan(UAE), is no walk over for 'strong' teams such England and Australia.

If ever a days play summed up an entire series it was today.

England battled hard and played very well at times but when it mattered with that second new ball the Aussies wrestled the initiative and won the day.

Why on Earth did they send Bairstow in when Crane was padded up? If ever you wanted a perfect time to use a night watchman that was it especially with England’s longer tail is this match. I felt for Root he deserved a ton and was trying his guts out.

Very disappointing to lose those 2 wickets at the end. As you say it sums up the series.

I liked Vic Marks' comments about James Vince in that he offers a real conundrum for the selectors. If he scored 25 scratchy runs with lots of play and misses it would be much easier to make a decision about his future. Instead he plays like Michael Vaughan in his pomp and then gets out. Very true and very irritating!

He does look a good player it’s got to be a mental/concentration issue he’s certainly not a Test match number three when he’s so loose outside off stump. It’s not a good sign when you could do a poll with half a dozen candidates for his worst shot of the series!! Today’s was horrible, no footwork straight after a drinks break when you should be switched right back on. He needs to look at Malan who’s a more limited player in many ways but has played with real guts and discipline to cement his place for the foreseeable future.

Cook was frustrating as well as he was playing as well as he did at the MCG everything was hitting the middle then he’s seen off by millimeters in terms of where the ball pitched! It’s were I’m still not sure about DRS as that was hardly a howler by the umpire it was a perfectly fair call to think that pitched outside leg. Anyway Moeen will score a ton tomorrow.

What was Dubai like over Xmas PJ? Or did you return home?

290 all out and an innings defeat I think

I suppose the argument for legitimising the aspect of DRS that you are complaining about is that whilst it wasn't a howler the replay gives conclusive proof that the ball did pitch in line. It wasn't a howler but it is a rare instance of black and white decision being presented. And upon inspection the ball does pitch in line. You can't really give an error margin in terms of "umpire's call" for something you can clearly demonstrate happened.

It’s only black and white if you’re happy with the confirmed accuracy or tolerances within the technology though surely?

Every cricket team has a captain whose responsibility it is to make the best decisions on behalf of the team. The England system of giving a batsman the decision to use a night watchman is flawed and contrary to the role of captain. The captain decides the batting order and whether to use a night watchman is a batting order decision.

Root should never been captain for me he’s far too good a player and doesn’t need the extra weight on his shoulders I think Broad or Anderson should have took it on for a bit.

But it that instance Root was batting and had just got out so he had no say, I actually think Bairstow has been a bit daft and possibly a bit selfish in that he didn’t want to wait to bat in the morning. Half of the problem as well is I think that they had a Test debutant padded up to go in and face Stark with a new ball, maybe he felt like he was protecting Crane? If it was Woakes padded up I don’t think Bairstow would have came out.

I do actually but this was the most obvious time to actually use one that I can ever remember. Loads of times I think the tempo of an innings is clogged up by one the next morning but Stark was rubbish all day, half fit and the new ball hooped from ball and he picked up about eight miles an hour of pace all of a sudden. He hit Bairstows pads which Smith (badly) reviewed then Hazlewood got him with a good one that a lesser player wouldn’t have edged. The issue in this Test is our tail Curran is batting 8 here with a top first Class score of 60, replacing Woakes in that position who has 9 first class tons. My fear now and was before the game is 5 out all out.

I had it on TV for the last 7 overs this morning and the sense that England were going to lose a couple of wickets to the new ball was as strong as the foreboding you get watching Pools defend closer and closer to their own penalty area in the last minutes of home games.

Was hoping that the Ashes would provide some light relief from the footie - fat chance!