I had tickets for the first three days but decided to forgo shelling out $250 for all five. One of my few fiscally sound decisions.
I thought England were ok on day one and were one spilled catch away from having a pretty good day. I went to day two expecting more attritional old school test cricket but Clarke was having none of it. It seems the Aussies returned to their nineties ethos of taking the game to the opposition. Sadly, this England side had no answer. It was a hard slog for them with Swann badly out of form and Anderson, great bowler that he is, posing no threat on a lifeless deck but even so they looked a sorry rabble trudging off after Clarke's declaration. You would have thought England's batsmen would have been chomping at the bit to get on that wicket but apparently not.
As for day three, well Root needs a kick up his backside for starters. Having seen off Johnson, Siddle and Harris he takes a swipe at the largely benign Lyon - crazy. He is a kid learning the game but he'd better learn quickly. What Pietersen did however, was unforgivable. He's an undeniably great talent but his ego gets in the way and it's time for him to go in my opinion after throwing his wicket away yesterday.
What bothers me is the complete lack of fight in this England side. Yes, Johnson is quick but he's no Holding, Marshall, Ambrose et al. To see England's batsmen cowering in front of him on such a dead strip is embarrassing. Those of us who live out here will now have to put up with Australia's insufferable media for the next couple of years. Terrible losers, even worse winners.
Lets hope England discover some cricketers with cajones in the meantime.