hey all
good to see the first day of many on the box
c'mon Aussies n c'mon the weather

I had lost hope with the earlier one dayers but bring on the test!!

Aussie Aussie Aussie

siddle on a hat trick.. what a cracker!!

you beauty!! nice work siddle

Siddle 6 for. Dougie who?

But now we have to bat. Worst part is I forgot to watch it all day. Only saw the last 10 minutes

Don't worry about what happened in the 20 and 50 over matches v Sri Lanka. No one remembers or cares. Test cricket is the only format that matters !

Great bowling from Siddle. I remember how hard he tried against South Africa here in 2008/09 but without luck - this time things went his way, great to see. I reckon Dougie should ALSO be in the side. It's Johnson who should go back to Shield cricket for a while to learn how to bowl line and length. His bowling accuracy is shite. 15 overs, no wickets for 66 runs! Well done young Doherty, two wickets in his first Test and he'll never forget them as long as he lives.

Bell and Cook batted well but were let down by their team mates. Pieterson and Trott could have gone on with it but got out to lazy shots. The less said about Strauss and Collingwood's innings the better.

I hate the umpire referral system. Both our referrals - and the one of theirs - went with the original on-field umpire's decisions, as they should. Third Umpire Referral Decision System - or TURDS for short.

hussey n haddin = gold

And I see Johnson got 0 runs to go with his 0 wickets. The sooner he and North are back in Shield cricket the better.

I have had the TV on all day but the radio on ABC 702. I can't stand the Channel 9 commentary team - can someone please tell Warnie that the players carrying bats are called BATSMEN - not 'batters'. It's cricket, not bloody baseball.

the wheels have fallen off the trolley :0

Well look on the bright side - after today it will still be nil-all !

What an incredible Test. Two triple century partnerships, AND a hat-trick. The 1st and 2nd-highest England partnerships ever in Australia. The highest 1-for innings total in Test history. The highest English innings score ever at the Gabba.

We have to regroup and look forward to Adelaide. Let's drop Johnson for Bollinger to start with. And should North get another chance - he was the only wicket taker in the second innings...

Great game. We'll be happy with a draw. Especially at the gabba lol

I was at the last gabba ashes test for Day 1, then watched a little bit of cricket, a little bit more bikini on Day 2 at the big screen set up at Southbank. swore I'd go back and watch the whole 5 days there this time around but lots of things happened in between then and now. Had to settle for tv.

Aussie press is now worse than pommie press. Sunday papers are basking in glory about '10 pounded pommies' and tomorrow they will be demanding Johnson and North get dropped. I'm not so bothered about batsmen in form slumps. A batsman is out of the game when he makes a mistake, bowlers go back and start again. I think they have it much easier and so should be afforded less leniancy. We've got some decent bowling talent out there. Did you see the England v Aust A game? Peter George has been bowling really well. Smashed Tasmania over the last couple of days. Bowled well against England for Australia A, played one test against India in India and got 2/77 off 28 overs. Steve O'Keefe took 4 wickets including Cook and Peitersen plus he can hold a bat. Apart from his no balls Mark Cameron was bowling really well against England for Aust A as well. And thats leaving out Harris and Bollinger.

But then the pitch was pretty flat and crap. Could have used tennis balls on a concrete pitch for the same result.

Absolutely agree Chris, there are plenty of good young bowlers out there, but they question is whether they will be given a chance. There seems to be a 'clique' mentality, where it's harder to get out of the Test side than into it. Even today Ricky is saying that Johnson is 'high on enthusiasm and confidence' and his 'state of mind through the ganme was particularly good and particularly positive.' So he'll be pushing for the status quo. It might take a loss in Adelaide before something happens.

I thought the Gabba pitch was great on the first two days, a bit of green and something for both the bowlers and the batsmen, if they were good enough. Lots of wickets fell on the first day and Siddle looked like a genius, but Cook made 67 and Bell made 76 so it wasn't that bad. Likewise a few early Aussie wickets, but then as you say it became flat and lifeless. Who ever heard of a score of 1 declared for 517 ??!!

I still think the Sheffield Shield is the best domestic competition in the world, but it has been shagged around by administrators and sponsors over the last 10-15 years. They need to organise the summer properly so that incumbent Test players can play for their state on a regular basis - like they did for the rounds on 17-20 Nov. Nothing better for young players than to play with and against Test players. Of course they'd need to reduce the number of meaningless 20 and 50 over matches - and money comes first.

Bill O'Reilly was the best newspaper columnist I ever read - no nonsense or fluff, no sensationalism, no toeing the team line, he called it as he saw it. Greatly missed. I see that Robert 'Crash' Craddock has done a straight pinch of Kerry O'Keeffe's famous line in his Tele report today - "more nicks than a Greek cafe." Today's writers are both good and original - but the parts that are good are not original, and the parts that are original are not good.

bring on Friday and the weekend
hopefully the wheels are attached n ready to roll
and the have been practicing catching the red ball

beware of wheels flying thru the air.. oh dear

I spent all day yesterday at Adelaide oval watching England notch up about 280 runs. Some very average bowling and generally not all that much to get excited about, but I still had a good day. Bring on the next test, because I think this one is lost!

aussies secret weapon for taking 20 wickets.

My favourite moment of Howard history
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o8by05rtMY 

embarrassing to say the least
ponting give it up

u 2 clarke - pathetic

it just keeps getting worse for us...

C'MON AUSSIES!!!!

5/69 wtf oh dear

Great fightback by Hussey and Haddin (again), plus some excellent batting from Johnson of all people. We ended up with 100 or so more runs than we really deserved. We'll know by the end of today whether there is any more fight left in our current side or if we say goodbye to the Ashes for another 2 years.

Four years ago in Perth, Australia also batted first and was all out for 244. We then bowled England out for 215 and went on to win by 206 runs. So the scenario is not impossible - just pretty bloody close to it at the moment.

If we lose I think they'll dump Punter - he's past it. But who do we replace him with? Not Clarke, he needs to go back to Shield cricket. Katich and Hussey are chances but only for a season or so. Watson? Cameron White? David Hussey?

They need to sack Hilditch as head selector and put in a full-time panel. At the moment ALL the selectors are batsmen - no bowlers at all. How dumb is that?

The less said about Phil Hughes' dreadful batting the better. He needs at least another two seasons in Shield and should never open again.

hussey or haddin maybe should get the nod..
they seem to be the credible saviour for the country since this dismal episode began

thank goodness m j is back