Are you being serious ? You can't beat Australia by enough, often enough. I'd like to have won this series six games out of five. I'd settle for a 4-0 though.

Yes I am I don't really get all this hate towards the Australians, what have they ever done to us.

References to South Africa is stupid. The players in question have lived in this country for a long time and are fully committed to the national cause.

Prior perhaps. Trott and Pietersen at one point were committed to South Africa's cause when they played youth cricket thereand Trott's case youth international cricket and they didn't move here until they were adults. But let's face it Pietersen is only committed to himself, we all know that. You may call the reference stupid but in the last year Strauss, Compton, Prior, Dernbach, Trott, Meaker, Kieswetter and Pietersen (who all all SA born) have played for England in one form or another which is quite incredible.

Whose side are you on ?

Hey Mr Thickness! The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB for short) is the governing body of cricket in England and Wales. Your national cricket team is called England.

No one particularly but I would like to have seen Aus win this game to keep the series interesting, surely from a cricketing perspective you wanted this as well. I was pleased Pietersen was out because I can't stand the arrogant self absorbed disloyal man.

I never actually call them England or England and Wales, I call them South Africa A instead.

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/aug/03/billy-bowden-ashes-umpires

Just as you thought the umpiring could not get any worse.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS Get Out Pietersen.

India may have been fined for slow over-rate, but the reasoning was due to field changes etc from Dhoni as he is a very active captain. Cook on the other hand was deliberately slowing the game down in order to force the draw.

You could certainly never call Cook an active captain that's for sure.

Lyon coming on to bowl really hope he bowls well because he has the ability it's just his confidence that is his trouble, due to always being dropped for no good reason.

"Disgusting" India team fined for slow over rate.

http://www.thehindu.com/sport/cricket/india-fined-for-slow-overrate-against-sri-lanka/article4880924.ece

Next.

His point still stands. The fans paid for 90 overs cricket alright due to rain they would not have got that but they could have got substantially more overs in with the quite clearly deliberate time wasting. In test cricket you should clearly be able to bowl 15 overs an hour. Also ODI and test are completely different, Cook was time wasting where Kohli was making tactical changes to try an stop the runs the overs were still bowled in the ODI in the test yesterday they were not there is the difference.

So Aus review the ball was shown to be hitting the stumps but it is still given not out and they lose a review ridiculous, if he was bowled you wouldn't say he's not out because only 49% of the ball hit leg stump. DRS is an absolute joke, just like has the umpiring been in this series. Trott out now anyway never looked comfortable

What a ridiculously selfish review from the man who told Bresnan not to review when he didn't hit it.

Great day out at OT, extremely hot, great day for Aussies on a flat batting wicket. Suspect if its more overcast tomorrow it wont be so easy. Aussies played well, but since the ball was doing nothing England quickly ran out of ideas. Suspect the decision to tale the new ball was a poor decision, would have been better to wait till last couple of overs or morning.

Just a shame that they have destroyed what was a wonderful ground and they have ruined what was the most beautiful pavilion in cricket.

Bob Willis currently at his best slaughtering the umpires on The Verdict, such a shame sky don't have him commentate on home tests. He was brilliant in NZ and he is much better commentator than the likes of Lloyd, Hussain, Atherton and Strauss.

Absolutely disgraceful decision the umpires in this series should never be near school cricket let alone an elite panel. In theory technology in sport is a good idea but in practice it is dreadful.

I said Pakistan don't like DRS (see below), not that they don't use it. Coupled with your ludicrous opinion about Prior and other silly statements do you know anything about cricket ?

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Cricket/CricketNews/ICC-rejects-PCB-s-DRS-reservations-during-SA-series/Article1-1029187.aspxbut

Prior is a good batsman but I believe that you have 6 batsmen to make runs and that you should select your best wicket keeper. And in my opinion Prior is not the best keeper in the country, just of the top of my head I can think of two better keepers in the country better than him. Already in the two games in this series Prior has dropped a few catches and missed a stumping or two, which if he does it in future games could prove crucial.

What a joke. The DRS has been brought in to ensure fairplay, if you're against it then I can only assume you're against fairplay as well. Its very illuminating that India are the only team in the world to refuse to use it, little wonder with a team who would appeal for an lbw for something going 5 feet down the leg-side.

And Broad, Swann and Prior have never appealed when a ball has been clearly missing the stumps? Also if DRS ensures fair play why did Broad not walk when he clearly hit the ball and he knew it?

India and Pakistan don't like DRS because it is fair and there is no cause for doubt with marginal decisions. They prefer to win matches by bribing umpires or by blatant cheating.

Another statement by you in this thread that is wrong as Pakistan use DRS.

It has been brought in to ensure fairplay yet these 2 test matches clearly show how flawed the system is.

India refuse it and it's bloody good job that they do. Stops all the controversy around DRS and focuses more on the match.

Absolutely agree with this I don't particularly like the BCCI and despise their IPL product which does nothing but damage the game, but where DRS is concerned they are absolutely spot on not to use it. I hope with the shambles of the system in this series in particular other international cricket boards will come around to their way of thinking.

Prior's a lynchpin of this England team and one of the world's best batsmen / wicketkeepers - any suggestion he should be replaced is ludicrous.

He a good batsman (although terribly out of form at the moment), but his wicket keeping is and always has been poor, as we saw again today.

On another topic how many people thought the guy running into Swann did it accidentally ? I think he could have avoided Swann but chose to take a cheap shot. Not that it did him much good.

Clearly an accident Khawaja had his head down and was just focused on completing the single, he did not even see Swann.

I terms of England in the series Root has cemented his place as opener with Cook for the winter Ashes. Bairstow has given himself some breathing space until the end of this series at least. But in my opinion Prior's place must be under pressure very few scores lately except on a couple flat tracks in NZ and lets face it his wicket keeping has always been shoddy to say the very least and this was highlighted again in this match.

RE : Johnson. I don't rate him as a spearhead but he's a good stock bowler. His overall record is still good (205 wickets at 31) but I'll never forgive for singlehandedly losing the 2nd test of the 2009 series when he bowled 9 overs for 61 on the first day.

You need to move on from the likes of Johnson he's nearly 32 now and Johnson never built on his fantastic series in South Africa in 2009, he just to inconsistent he should have an average of under 30. Also in my opinion although he bowled well 1st innings in this test you need to move on from Harris he's nearly 34 and had a lot of injuries so in the long term he offers nothing. You have a lot of good seam bowlers still to reach 30, Siddle, Starc, Cummins (huge prospect if he stays fit), Pattinson, Bird, Butterworth, Faulkner and Sayers, for me these are all capable of being very good seamers bowlers at test level as some have already shown and if you pick the right attack you have a lot of variety there as well.

Fair enough, years ago the likes of Doug Walters and from the present day Mitchell Johnson are big jokes over here.

Doug Walters a joke, what are you talking about he was a class batsman and a decent bowler as well. Did you ever see him play or have you just read about his lifestyle of the field and come to that conclusion?

Clarke contributes to the collapse in two ways

1) By coming in at #5, the batting has already collapsed when he comest to the wicket. If he comes in at #4 (or heaven forfend #3) he can stop the collapse in the first place. When we rebuilt our side in the 80's Allan Border always batted at #3 or #4.

2) By ensuring that a player with a test average of 45 (who has made 874 runs at 72 in the current country season) won't play for Australia.

Re : bowling. Peter Siddle is currently ranked #5 in the world (3rd best paceman behind Steyn and Philander). Our depth in pace bowling is fine (and is probably the 2nd best in the world) when we can choose from Siddle, Pattinson, Starc, Harris and Johnson. We have no spin option though and haven't since Warne retired.

1) For me it is madness having your best batsman not coming in until you are 3 wickets down another thing I could never understand was why Hussey never came in until six. One of those should have batted at 3 after Ponting dropped down to 4, instead of using inexperienced test players like Cowan, Quiney, Khawaja, Hughes, Marsh and Watson (who I like as cricketer but is not a number 3).

2) Katich is 38 this year I think you should be looking to bring in younger players than that I don't know why Joe Burns has no been selected, over the last 2 years he has really impressed me in Sheffield Shield Cricket.

Re : bowling. Do you really rate Johnson, I thought that the decision to leave him out the Ashes squad is about the only good decision Inverarity and the rest of he selectors made. Although the 4 seamers Australia have played this series have bowled well I would like to see Jackson Bird given a game he has impressed me in the last couple of years in Sheffield Shield cricket and had a very good debut series against Sri Lanka and he looks tailor made for English playing conditions. Another seamer you have who I think if fit will cause England lots of trouble in the winter is Pat Cummins he looks a real prospect to me and I was pleased to see him get some wickets for the A team over the last couple of days.

On the spinners I don't think its that you have no option its that you are picking the wrong option, Agar may turn out to be a good bowler but at the moment he is not a better bowler than Nathan Lyon. Lyon has always impressed me when I have seen him bowl he usually ties an end down a takes some wickets, I hope Lyon does get to play this series but his confidence must be low after 9 wickets in his last test and then being dropped for 19 year old with just one decent first class season behind him. I think Lyon will still only improve as he is only 25 and the move to NSW and working with Stuart MacGill will help him greatly to make himself the number 1 spinner in the team.

As for this game and series it has confirmed what I have always thought that technology has no place in cricket or indeed any sport, its a shambles and making a mockery of the game instead of enhancing the game. Back in the day Bell would have accepted Smith's word that the ball carried today (which it did) and he would have walked, but walking and Bell sadly don't go together as we saw in the last ashes series in Sydney and at Trent Bridge against India to name just two examples.

A part time bowler ripping through this fragile England middle order. All the talk prior to the game was about Finn. It's the batsmen they should have focused on.

Brilliant from Michael Clarke too. Inspired bowling changes all throughout the day. That's why, along with MS Dhoni, He is the best captain in the world.

You would not see such bravery/tactical changes from Cook.

Very true England's negativity and Cook's negativity shown by sending in a night watchman for the number 9.

Clarke has lost 6 Test in a row.

Next.

Rubbish batting by England, at least 130 short of a decent total.

Four in a row actually.

Night watchman for the number 9 how bizarre.

This the same guy who took 17 wickets in 3 tests at 26.82 in India?

Yes and it is also the same Panesar who has just 16 wickets in 9 Championship games of cricket with at an average of just over 46 run and a strike rate of over 102 and he was also dropped by Sussex last month. Also in his last series for England he took 5 wickets at an average of 70 runs against New Zealand.

You guys should embrace the warm weather and prepare dust bowls. Swan and Panesar will finish the test for you in four days. Have you seen Phil Hughes play spin?

You obviously haven't seen Panesar bowl of late.

I cannot stand the English cricket team and you really think I'll be cheering on a Dingle in James Anderson? You've got another thing coming. Club before country.

You can look forward to seeing Yuvraj's face, but I guess he'll just wave back with his World Cup, ICC Champions Trophy and Twenty20 world champions medal wrapped around his neck.

The hypocrisy amongst the England camp is unbelievable. I guess Swann will be questioning Broad's morality?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2116812/Graeme-Swann-blast-Sri-Lankan-cheat.html

Take a leaf out of Tendulkar or Gilchrist's book and play the game how it should be played. Not cheating!

Could not agree more with this, absolutely spot on. They are an obnoxious arrogant lot of cheats, particularly Broad who is the biggest cheat in the sport. He is just like his old man an average player who damages the sports integrity with his ego.

Think you should google .tendulker not walking ..

Tendulkar always walks, if he thinks he hits the ball, end of. That is another reason why he is the greatest batsman since Bradman, he believes in the spirit of the game, like when Ashwin mankaded Thirimanne and he told the captain Sehwag to withdraw the appeal. Pure class from a great.

You can't stand your own country's national team, well thanks for clarifying that. I can happily proceed to totally ignore every post you make from now on. Can't stand traitors.

Perhaps like me he is a cricket fan who puts the game and spirit of cricket above anything else. And as you cannot stand people who turn their backs on their own countries would it be safe to assume that you cannot stand Pietersen and Trott who both turned their back on South Africa despite them both being born, raised and playing all their youth and first class cricket there (before they left). So are these traitors in your mind? Let's face it over recent years the England cricket team has been a South African B team with the likes of Strauss, Compton, Prior, Dernbach, Trott, Meaker, Kieswetter and Pietersen all playing in one form or another in the last year.

Onions has had a bad injury from which he has only just recovered. Good bowler.

He has been back fit from his back injury for over 2 years now.

Personally I'd drop Finn and Bairstow, bring either Bresnan or Onions and Morgan in. Another option would be to move Root down the order and bring in Compton. Bopara is just another Ramprakash-great at county level but how many chances has he had with England? He is simply not good enough.

Onions should be in the team he is a far better bowler than Broad, Finn and Bresnan but his face doesn't fit with the selectors. I would also drop Bairstow but he has been poorly treated by England he had to follow the ODI squad around as a glorified water carrier when he should have been told to go and make some runs for Yorkshire in first class cricket ahead this series. Morgan's injured and he is also no way near good enough for test match cricket anyway, why he has a central contract is beyond me. If England want Root to open then they should bring in James Taylor to bat at 6 he is another lad who has been treated shambolically by the selectors since the South Africa series last year. Me personally though I would drop Root to 6 and have Varun Chopra open with Cook, I don't know why he never gets mentioned for selection he is easily the best opener in county championship cricket.

As for Compton as a Somerset member I don't want him in the test team as he is by far our best batsman (and I would rather we stayed in Div 1 than England won the Ashes) but if they do drop Bairstow which I don't believe they will yet Compton replace him as the got him to play for Worcs against Aus and I have heard that he will also be playing for Sussex against them as well, but the what the selectors don't seem to understand is that Compton is not an opener and he never has been (until he played for England) he made all his runs for Somerset batting at 3 and 4.

Put it this way, go back to the Adelaide 1993 test match when Australia were within two runs of winning the series. If Tony Crafter had given McDermott not out, do you think he would have walked? Should he have? How do you think Border et al would have felt about that?

Actually it was Darrell Hair (who along with Ross Emerson is the worst umpire I have ever seen) who gave him out and I still don't think McDermott hit it. But if he did and your scenario played out happened that still doesn't exscuse what Broad did in anyway it is unacceptable it is cheating plain and simple.

On another note this test has only enhanced my view that technology has no place in cricket and sport as a whole. DRS has been a shambles through the match and its whole time in cricket, Haddin never hit the ball yet he was given out. Sadly the BCCI are the only organisation with any sense in regards to the technology that is destroying the game of cricket.