Mm, Ashes is a bit of a clue Sherlock.

Limited overs cricket is like 4 or 5 a side football, interesting, exciting at times but essentially a watered down version of the real thing. Test Match cricket can be the most enthralling sport to watch. Who can forgot the drama of the 2005 Ashes series. Amazing nail biting stuff, games that see-sawed one way and then another. Just brilliant.

I can't say I remember that Jim, maybe after we went down in 1966 ? I remember being in a pub in Rochdale and getting within a ace of some daft older guy trying to plant me. He had the broadest Scots accent ever and was a really rabid Utd fan. After a while I said " What part of Manchester do you come from pal ? " It got a bit tasty before wiser councils prevailed.

I'm not interested in the "Tip and Run " cricket, even when we win them. Test matches or nothing for me.

Yeah he thought his life couldn't possibly be any worse, and then he saw Broad and Prior.

Yeah, they've got you weighed up.

Just been on the news that Broad and Prior have been involved in talking a guy down who was threatening to commit suicide ! My money's on it being Flower.

We need to dispense with whoever is responsible. Nobody should be beyond reproach for this debacle.

You don't lose that comprehensively without something being wrong in the camp. Ability wise the two teams should not be that far apart. I agree about the toss, the first one we've won and we put the opposition in ! Unbelievable !

I've run out of things to say, just sick of getting up to hear about the latest capitulation. Only draconian changes will suffice for me. Flowers can't possibly survive this debacle, nor should he.

Yeah I agree, you've got to start somewhere to unravel this mess. What happened to the players though ? Only the kid Stokes had come out of this disaster with any credit.

I've been watching cricket since 1961 and this tour has been the most spineless performance by any England team that I can remember. There is something seriously wrong with morale and team spirit. Every aspect of the team is a shambles.

The days of Millionaires being able to run Premier League and recently relegated Premier League clubs successfully are over. You need to be a Billionaire now. The game has moved on so much. The only people who've benefitted from this are the players and agents. Sooner or later it will all collapse.

If you put all the players in a sack and hit it with a big stick you wouldn't be hitting an innocent man.

Best all rounder ? Going off the ones I saw play it's got to be Gary Sobers.

Yeah, they only "sing when they're winning". Quote facility not working- I was replying to South Aussie Rover.

Mm, plague of flies or major flooding ? It's a hard one to call. Having said that if we get flooded out Noah will be building another ark.

Just seen the scorecard - almost everybody got in and then got out. Not good enough.

No not really, when I show the locals a photo of the prices on the menu's over here they fall about laughing.

My wife and I went to one of the Tapas bars on Deansgate on Saturday night, La Vina ? the one on the corner just down from Waterstones. Very average tapas, I've had better for free in rural Spain.

Yeah 33 is no age for a slow bowler. I think maybe the sheer amount of time Test players spend away from home is having a bearing. They'll be out there until early Febuary as I understand it, playing for nothing now.

OK , I won't.

I agree with you about Onions, what more did he have to do to get in the squad ? He would have been more of a threat than Rankin and if Broad is out of the next test he would be an ideal replacement. Something has been rotten behind the scenes with England for the last year or so.

I agree with most of that Patrick. I hadn't seen much of Carberry before he was selected but I remember seeing him make 60 odd in one game and he looked like could have been out next ball at any time in the innings. When he was on 30 odd he played and missed about 4 times in one over. I would have taken Compton. Carberry isn't a test player in my opinion. Neither are Root and Bairstow at this moment in time. The team papered over the cracks in the summer helped by winning important tosses and a bit of luck. This time we've had neither.

Another thing that went tits up was the batting from no 7 onwards. Many times In the past the tail have been able to put on 120-160 runs. Prior was good for 50 plus more often than not, Bresnan was the same. Swann and Broad were capable batsmen who could easily make 30 to 40 or 50. Anderson could hold an end up while the better players made runs. Only really the No 11 batsman wasn't capable of regular runs.. This time it just hasn't happened .