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!]