What a lovely story, northie. I think that everyone has a soft spot for Johnny which is why the England team were so psyched up by the sledging he got in the last test.

Great contest going on now - emphasising again the daftness of not making us follow on. We don't need to hustle, we just need to stay in. James Vince is on the boat home, so far as I'm concerned. Brainless !

[I feel that I am channelling my inner Geoffrey!]

DD just said - it's the hope that kills you. How true.

Northie - highlight for us tonight [apart from Joe's batting of course] was the Barmy Army teasing Steve Smith. Classic.

Northie/Cheska - thought you might enjoy this compilation of the public's contributions to the BBC cricket on-line feed:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/42238239

My DD has promised to wake me up when she gets up to go to work at about 6.30 - which should be round about half way through the second session of play. If we're still playing, then I think we should have a chance.

As John Cleese's character said in the film Clockwork

"It's not the despair. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand."

Going to bed now, knowing that by the time I wake up, England will have collapsed against the new ball, and lost by 100+ runs.

Yes it is awful having hope. I haven’t recovered from my footy (AFL) team losing in September and don’t think ican ever watch again.

While Australia won I didn’t really enjoy the game as I thought it was mean spirited on both sides. Or it could just be me. I thought Australia were far to cocky yesterday.

ann can’t say much to console you but at least we all have an eight day break. Does Kevin Pietersen annoy cricket lovers in England?
Willit. Did you have a crystal ball?

Yes, Pietersen is annoying globally. Excellent batsman, first class (expletive deleted).

Crystal ball, no, but a great deal of experience following cricket, and English cricket in particular.

Going to bed now, knowing that by the time I wake up, England will have collapsed against the new ball, and lost by 100+ runs.>>

yep. Except that I work up at about 4am, stuck the radio on, and listened to the whole sorry saga. I had hoped that Root would at least get his 100 but even that was beyond him. So far this series is turning out a great deal as I feared - Root's batting is being undermined by the weight of responsibility and he is not a strong enough character to captain the side. Having chosen to field, his bowlers needed to bowl well, but they didn't even manage to bowl averagely. A strong captain would have taken them off after the first 2 overs. [that's Geoffrey speaking again, but he's right] OHOT Smith didn't cover himself with glory either - not making us follow on was daft, but losing both reviews on consecutive balls was asinine. Still, it gave us the best comedy moments of the match; watching the Barmies doing the review sign every time there was a dodgy decision was priceless.

Cheska - I agree about Australia being cocky but I suspect that you would have found the English contingent equally so last summer. Winning gracefully is so much harder than losing gracefully I think.

As for Petersen, there must be some reason why people hate him so much.

annhig - love the comments by the people at work !!!
Unbelievable those referrals - what were they thinking ?

Good to see jimmy Anderson get his 5 wickets .

Sad to hear Aggers is gong back to England - he told ABC listeners about his wife and her breast cancer and the care and concern he has had since coming here . Still we have Alison - she's excellent .

Will Stokes continue playing for Cantebury or will he play here ??? The drama ?????

Divided opinion about the dropping of Handscomb, the inclusion of Marsh and the non inclusion (yep I made up that word) of Maxwell.

Onto WACA.

A quick trip to NZ and I missed the Adelaide test. I'm heading to the northern hemisphere next week, so will miss all of test 3 and 4, and get back towards the end of the Sydney test. Bad planning that! (just in case you thought I was a bit quiet!)

I'm not visiting any cricketing nations - so will be very limited in what news I can catch. (I recall trying to find out the results of a World Cup final while in Venice without tv or radio - had to text message home)

I did enjoy Kerry O'Keefe - his interactions with Harsha Bhogle were just wonderful.

Carry on!

Sad to hear Aggers is going back to England - he told ABC listeners about his wife and her breast cancer and the care and concern he has had since coming here . >>

me too Northie - and I hadn't heard about that. Will have to look at the TMS website. As you say we still have Ali - did you see her walking on top of the stadium? Can't see Sir Geoffrey doing that. Glad you enjoyed the comments from the listeners - they often read them out on TMS in the summer and it's amazing how many women get through labour assisted by the sound of Aggers' dulcet tones. When they did the TMS 60th anniversary prog, it turned out that lots of people ask for the "leg-over" clip at their funerals too.

Stokes is still in purdah - no chance of his playing for England while plod makes up its mind about whether to charge him, but he is in the one day squad. And it sounds as if he's a bit rusty - he only scored 2 for Canterbury. There was a fun interval when one of the journalists who was sent over to cover it was interviewed - it didn't sound like the most exciting event ever, but they did report that the 400+ crowd was about 8x more the normal numbers they get for that sort of game so that was something I suppose.

What bad timing, margo. For updates though you might try the BBC website. I know that we have been able to pick the TMS commentary in Europe from time to time. We missed O'Keefe and Harsha - so far they haven't made it onto the BBC. At the WACA perhaps?

annhig how will the timing of the WACA test affect your sleep pattern? Bad enough here on the east coast of Aus as Perth is 3 hrs behind, so will be on when I get home from work. Perth could be hot weather.

I hope that the next test is played in a better spirit.

My DH will be at the Boxing Day test for day one with family so I hope it doesn’t rain.

Cheska - the bad news is that play starts at about 02.30 GMT on Thursday am, but OTOH it does on until about 10am, so I can wake up to it. I'll be staying with friends so I might have to ask nicely to have the TV on at 6am so it'll probably be TMS under the bedclothes!

Meanwhile no sooner had the ECB lifted the night-time ban and one of our brave boys gets himself into an incident in a bar. Brainless or what? More sledging material?

I too hope for "good" weather on Boxing Day.

I expect young men, alcohol and an a team environment does lead to an occasional brain fade. All of our footy stars say when this happens to them that they were tired and emotional.

Hope you have all survived the wild weather in England.

All of our footy stars say when this happens to them that they were tired and emotional.>>

Ours too, Cheska, but this was just asinine - the first evening after they lift the team curfew too. How many more examples of the trouble that drinking on tour can get them into do they need? If team discipline were what it should be they shouldn't need curfews - the thought of a dressing down from the captain should be enough. But I honestly don't think that Root is going to scare anyone, except with a bat in his hand.

We had wind today but no snow - the advantages of a maritime climate and the influence of the Gulf Stream. My mum however who lives in the Midlands has about 20cm, and it looks as if it might last for a few days too. I hope it's gone by the time I have to drive up there to bring her back here for Christmas!

I wasn't going to get the ham this year but then. Was told in no uncertain terms what would we take for lunch on Boxing Day at the G - my son is even coming from Broome to see the test this year . They'll go off with many leftovers and buy rolls at the Vietnamese bakery - our tradition ! And the ham!

Trevor Bayliss seemed quite frustrated with the latest drink episode - don't envy that job .

northie. Thank goodness the error of your ways was pointed out to you. Ham sandior rolls are a must on Boxing Day. My breakfast on Boxing Day consists of ham on toast, and as trifle can’t be taken to the Cricket I have to eat the it for breakfast.

The WACA pitch is doing its normal thing. Hazelwood is bowling well so far.

A good score by the visitors for 1 St innings - amazing how Root has won every toss.
Wonderful batting by Smith at the moment .

cheska- my kids take the berry fruit salad and slices of cake - it's a real pig day for them but they do leave the trifle . Mm mm - for breakfast - now there's an idea .

Fwiw despite the results thus far and the carnage this afternoon I don't think there is too much of a gap between the sides - probably the main difference is that the Australian quicks are just that extra bit faster, which comes in particularly handy creating chances and getting them to carry when conditions are in favour of the batsmen. Might have been interesting seeing Stokes getting among the runs yesterday.

farremog, there was a lot of talk on TMS that our attitude was wrong - shoulders went down, catches went begging [though TBF they were very difficult ones] and there seemed to be an acceptance of the inevitable, whereas in the main the Aussies have been up for every session and full of aggression [mainly in a good way!] The best attitude IMO has been shown by Overton who is prepared to keep going all day long.

I agree that your bowlers are better suited to the conditions, and all credit to them, but the conditions were known in advance as was Stokes' absence so why not pick at least one who was a real quickie? Liam Plunkett for example is not detained at her Majesty's pleasure, and is really fast.

And despite the fact I don't like him much, Smith really leads from the front. A wonderful innings and some great captaincy. Will he go for Lara's record? in a way I hope he does because that might mean you run out of time to bowl us out!

One of the TMS commentators posed an interesting [to me] question. What do teams do about trying to win test series abroad? Do they use their home series as preparation, perhaps not picking the best teams for their home conditions, or do they aim to please their home supporters and make preparation for the series on foreign soil a secondary consideration?

I have to say there's precious little cricket in Norway. Good rhing too, as its -8C this morning.
No TMS here but the Aussies seem to be getting along OK.

annhig- what's not to like about Smith? ??? Apparently he missed Lara's record by one run .

I wish there was more fight in the English side - no wonder the Barmy Army are doing conga lines around the ground. Love their song about Lyons new girlfriend !!!!

I wish there was more fight in the English side - no wonder the Barmy Army are doing conga lines around the ground. Love their song about Lyons new girlfriend !!!!>>

agreed, Northie, though Vince, Mallan and Overton do seem to have some fight about them, Jimmy did what Jmmy does, and Vince was by all accounts very unlucky. Thank goodness for that rain. Perhaps the conga lines were a rain dance for tomorrow as that's the only thing that will save us.

I haven't heard the Barmy's latest, I must You Tube it.

SS has had a very bad press here over the years; as I recall he wasn't universally liked at one time in Oz either. But someone who plays as well as he does will generally be forgiven by his own side at least. And you cannot fault his batting or his attitude in any way. The record of Brian Lara's that I thought they were talking about was his 400 for WI v England in 2004 so SS fell quite a long way short of that one, unfortunately from an England PoV as it would have taken him till close of play to get it!

Rain! It never rains in Perth.
Sheeesh. It must have been a rain dance!
Play on tomorrow. I think I've found TMS so i may be able to hear some of the broadcast.

Play on tomorrow. I think I've found TMS so i may be able to hear some of the broadcast.>>

Margo - unless further extraordinary weather intervenes, play should start at 2am GMT. Not sure what that is in Norway.

Call me a killjoy, but you can keep the BA, other 'look at me' clowns, and the pumped-up aggro of the 'reflected glory' fist shakers, particularly those who should know better at their age. Wouldn't be surprised if many others of my life-long sport-loving cohort have largely given up attending big match cricket and rugby since the spectators became a large part of the spectacle. With rugby at least, the local derby usually provides a much better game (and a much better class of steak sandwich!).

:)

All over, red rover!

Well the banter for 3 hours on what happened to the wicket /pitch - did they put wet hessian on it ? Who's responsible ? Why aren't the covers better? Why can't someone tell the grounds men the rain is coming ? I'm amazed at how commentators can fill in time!!!!

I'm afraid I got muddled re the SS record - dh told me the wrong thing or I wasn't listening properly -annhig.

farremog-i really only know of the balmy army - its presence hasn't stopped attendance at cricket here . Local Rugby either league or union is not well attended here anyway.

Great to see Malan do well .

Roll on Boxing Day .

Ok so perhaps I should start rubbishing England and then they may win. I have continually rubbished our Aussie team publicly and they have won.

After dieting for four months I am really ready to eat Christmas pudding, trifle and chocolate, and drink Champagne. Long range forecast for Christmas Day is 24 c and 28 on Boxing Day in Melbourne. However Melbourne weather can be all four seasons in one day.

annhig I hope your Christmas is the best it can be for you and your family, and you find comfort from all the wonderful memories you and your family have of a husband and father.

Merry Christmas all.

Ok so perhaps I should start rubbishing England and then they may win. I have continually rubbished our Aussie team publicly and they have won. >>

sounds like a plan, Cheska! You won't have much problem finding something to rubbish them about, with a very few honourable exceptions. I hope that you thoroughly enjoy breaking your diet and that the weather gods shine upon us all.

Thank you so much for your kind thoughts. Our kids wanted everything to stay the same as much as possible so we will be going to the theatre and attending a carol service or two and we have a couple of rugby matches to go to over Christmas which hopefully will lift the spirits, especially if our team wins, which it should.

Northie, I know what you mean about attendance figures. When he went to away matches Bill often used to remark that there were only 30 or 40 people there whereas we regularly get 500+ and in order to boost attendance [which is already the best in our league and often better than teams in the league above us get] our club has decided to offer half price entrance to all local rugby club members for the last league match before Christmas, so DS and I will have to get there early! Sadly no steak sandwiches farremog but they do a mean sausage and onion bap and the chicken curry and chips is pretty good too. And if none of that suits, there's always a pasty!

Anyway congrats to your team, the lads done good, to quote a now not so famous football manager, or as one set of football fans once famously chanted

"You're better than us"

As for the Barmy Army, I have a lot of time for them as long as they aren't too close.

annhig- curry and chips - and here I was thinking it was just the weird Yorkshire people who added chips to a curry !!
We take our own rolls ( sometimes rice paper rolls )to the football here but we do splash out on coffee and buy it from the espresso bar all venues have .
Getting ready for a day of sport on Boxing Day - the start of Sydney -Hobart yacht race - spectacular and the test .
Love and thoughts.

Northie - the previous club caterers offered rice as well to go with the curry but not the current ones; mustn't complain though as the food is generally very good and cheap - curry and chips is £3.50 and £2.50 for a large pasty. The food they provide for the committee members and visiting club officals, and for the players after the game is a cut above your usual club fair - usually a nice casserole with interesting veg - they are spoilt.

No expresso bars for us - it's instant or lump it [or occasionally both if you're very unlucky]. The beer and cider are good though, and sold at club prices which are very reasonable. As for what's on over the holidays, I'm debating whether to go to the Boxing Day match at Camborne - Bill and our son went a few times but I never bothered. They are in a lower league than us and not doing that well so we should beat them but you never know with these "derby" matches. And there will be the cricket to watch of course [I must be a sucker for punishment].

Thanks as ever for your kind thoughts - which I return likewise to you.

Well, here we go again. There have been some minor changes of personnel, but no dramatic resignations or retirements as there were after the first three matches of the previous Ashes Down Under. Can England turn it round and regain some honour towards the end of the tour? Will Cookie remember what he's supposed to do with the stick of willow in his hands? Can Stuart Broad actually take a wicket?

While you are pondering those questions, I thought you might like to read some of these stories about the fans who make the long trek to Oz to follow their team:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/42471806

Quite mad, the lot of them. And none of them Barmies.

Happy Boxing Day Test, everyone.

annhig you will be very happy with the way things are going. Melbourne is an exciting city to visit when there is a big sporting event. Good luck for the rest of the Test.

yes cheska, at last we have a match on our hands. Whether it's the absence of Mitchell Starc or Broadie finally rediscovering his mojo, I'll take it. And it turns out that Steve Smith doesn't actually walk on water. Shame about Vince's dismissal for LBW [he probably hit it] but in the event that probably isn't too important.

as for Melbourne being an exciting place to visit during a bit sporting event, I'm bearing that in mind for 2021.

annhig- pleased with Cook's 100- Good to see Warner congratulate him .

I bet Currans pleased - 1st wicket SS . Heard him interviewed after his non wicket - hadn't realized he's from a Zimbawbe cricketing family.

2021 - is that the Ashes?

northie - I noticed that too, and some of the others as well. Warner was still dishing out the sledging on the field though - he's such a pussy cat.

Yes - Kevin Curran was Tom Curran's dad; Tom has 2 brothers who also play cricket. Sadly Kevin died whilst jogging aged 53.

November 2021 - by my reckoning, that's when it starts all over again [down under that is]. I like to plan ahead!

Yes, good to see Cook back in the runs (but not too many thanks very much). One of the game's greats and appears to be a decent bloke as well.

COOK!! finally. After being a passenger so far!

Catching up intermittently. Now in France. Still no cricket on TV. There are supposed to be civilised countries?

Happy new year all

Yes, good to see Cook back in the runs (but not too many thanks very much). One of the game's greats and appears to be a decent bloke as well.>>

Sorry, farremog - I suspect that 244 is "too many" by your lights. And yes I think that he is a decent guy, which probably didn't make him the world's best captain, but he sure can bat.

Shame that no cricket coverage in France, Margo - they do play in a few places I believe but it hardly registers on the national radar. We managed to get it on the BBC website in Sicily last year though so that might be something to look at if you're desperate. [and sorry for the spoiler!]