Terry Alderman!!! Those were the days How many more wickets could he have taken if he wasn't assaulted by a yobbo on the pitch. Bryan - we've heard down under the McGrath will miss the Old Trafford test but should be right to return after that. Warne's ball to Strauss was absolutely amazing, up there with his best. I let out a spontaneous yelp at 3:00 am.. couldn't help myself! England should still win the test though. Lee is consistently serving up half-volleys a foot outside off stump. Gillespie is non-threatening. Perhaps Michael Clarke to bowl some off-spin and repeat his heroics of the India tour?!?

Just to be sure, I was actually referring to Gillespie.

Australia loses its #1 fast bowler an hour before the test. Our #3 bowler is still out of form. Our best bowler is a spinner. The track looked fairly benign on the morning of day one. Based on those points, I would have thought that batting first was a lay-down misere... ...but then again I'm not captain of Australia, so what do I know! Oh, and why everyone thinks that Australia making over 600 in their first innings is an almost certainly is beyond me.

Do these posts make me look very clever? Or do they make me guilty of jinxing the Aussies Why Ponting sent the English in to bat will be a mystery that may haunt him forever. Suddenly McGrath's out for two tests, Lee is resembling the two-year test reject he once was and the English are pasting us all over the ground. I'm having flashbacks to 1985!! I think that the Aussie selectors should fly in Brad Williams and/or Nathan Bracken, just to make sure that the #4 quickie has some international experience. I wouldn't want to blood Tait in the middle of a 1-1 Ashes series. It will be interesting viewing tonight.

As I stated earlier in this thread, I'm not getting worked up about the result. As long as the cricket is close and entertaining I don't really care who wins. Personally, I think its good for the game, and good for the Australian team to lose a series every now and then. It keeps them on their toes, and (hopefully) keeps them humble.

I'd gladly swap an Ashes series for a Football World Cup Qualification.

sam - all states are under-represented... ...except NSW

It's nice to be watching real cricket for a change! Some of the aussies fell to great deliveries, others just lost their heads and played awful shots. The middle order of Martyn, Clarke and Katich doesn't exactly inspire confidence at the moment. But I suppose Clarke does play for NSW so he must be fantastic right?

Paul - such views are also very common for very religious (i.e. Orthodox) Jews.

Thenodrog - just for the records : Buddhists and Hindus have been at it for years in Sri Lanka. And yes, there are Buddhist 'extremists' and Buddhist suicide bombers. There were various Jewish terrorist groups running around Palestine just before and during WW2. They blew up hotels, sent bombs in the mail..all the usual terrorist activities. See 'The Stern Gang' and 'Irgun'. Many of its members went into politics, and some became Prime Minister. Needless to say all of the Christian troubles that the Europeans have had to put up with for the past 500 or so years. Muslims do not have a monopoly on war and organised violence.

Don't forget that there were spontaneous candle-lit vigils in downtown Tehran after Sep 11 with people offeres prayers for the New Yorkers.

What about the Arabic Christians from the Coptic (Koptic?) church?!?

Most batsmen always suffer a drop in form when they are made captain. Ricky Ponting went for almost a whole year without a century when he was made captain. Mark Taylor made a pair on debut as captain The 'greats' will flourish with the captaincy role (e.g. Viv Richards, Allan Border) but for some (e.g. Tendulkar, Lara) it becomes too much of a distraction.

Geez you guys don't learn do you?!? A toss of the coin on a green-top wicket and suddenly Australia could be down 1-0 in the Ashes. Don't count your chickens yet. Although as David Lloyd pointed out last night : 1) The first test is at Lords 2) The Ashes are very late in a warm English summer 3) The pitches are likely to be fast and flat, and wear a lot during days 4 to 5. Those aren't good from an English point of view.

Philipl - as you rightly point out, Saudi Arabia is very much 'the root of all evil' when it comes to financing the spread of Wahabism and Muslim fundamentalists. The Saudi Royal family have been very cunning over the past few decades. On the one hand, embracing the Bushes and other Western financial interests to grow very rich. On the other hand, not intefereing with the growing influence that Wahabism has on the streets of Riyadh, and throughout the Muslim world. The current Iraqi war has as much to do with 'the Saudi problem' as it did with Saddam Hussien. By removing Saddam, the US were able to pull their troops out of Saudi Arabia..thus placating Osama and co. and taking pressure of the Saudi Royal family. Whether or not the west has the moral courage to tell Saudi Arabia to 'get stuffed' will be interesting. After all, why are states such as Iran and Libya evil, yet Saudi Arabia is not? Is it as simple as one has an oil industry open to foreign investment, yet the other two have nationalised ones? The perpretrators of Sep 11 were mainly all Saudi, backed by Saudi oil money and trained by Pakistani militray intelligence. So far, the West is still staying friends with these two countries, whilst waging war on Iraq, and pressuring Iran..two countries with very little links to global terrorism (I'm not ncluding groups such as Hezbollah as it doesn't have a 'global revenge' agenda). Does such a policy make sense? Ask Tony and George. Finally, Socrates said : All wars are fought for money. Far be it for me to argue with such wisdom. The ideas of a 'clash of civilisations', of 'religious wars' and 'defendnig our way of life' are for me just red herrings. Of course, there is no doubt that there are plently of religous nutcases in the world who think that they can make the world a better place by killing people. But IMO, ultimately this conflict (which has been raging at various intensities since the fall of the Ottoman Empire) comes down to this. The world's strategic energy reserves are based in the Middle East. They have it, and we want it. Either we pay a decent price for it, or we turn our back on 20th century technology and create an energy infrastructure independent of oil. Even Osama bin Laden realises that this conflict is at the heart of this conflict. In one of his 'messages to the west' after prattling on about Western decadence and the crimes of Israel, he says the the stealing of oil wealth from Arab countries is a reason for war. Its all down to money. Is money worth dying for?

Good fightback from England at the moment. Watching the Aussies drop two catches in two overs was priceless I felt so sorry for Gillespie...but to his credit he's manged to pick up a few wickets. But Pietersen is getting stuck into him now... ..until he hit over the top of the slower ball.

Just as well I don't give a rat's arse about Rugby isn't it?

Having Ponting return to some sort of form is the last thing England would have wanted. Just think, if the Ashes had started a few weeks ago, England may have been 2-0 by now.

Phhtt.. a slab of VB?!?! Why not make it something worth betting over

I've heard that story about Viv Richards and the county player before... although the version I heard had somewhat harsher language Blueboy - as dave birch mentioned, McGrath's wife was at death's door during the last Carribean tour for cancer treatment...and he completely lost it. Not that I'm saying McGrath is all smiles and sunshine mind you... he can be a downright moody and surly p*** at times.

I'm beginning to wonder how Justin Langer will fit into the test squad, and indeed he is looming as a key player. Hayden has been in ordinary form, but he and Gilchrist have still managed to get Australia off to good starts. It has been the middle order where we have been falling down. If Langer can blunt Jones and Harmison and we can get off to a good start in the tests, Australia will have a good chance. But Langer hasn't played any cricket in a long time, and if it takes him a few tests to get used to the conditions and find form, it will be too late. The last thing we need is for the Australian middle order to be facing Harmison, Jones and Flintoff with a new ball.

Yeah... them fightin words!!! Yer only saying them 'cause you're 6'4" and build like a brick s*** house aren't yer Blueboy!!?!?

Sums everything up nicely for me. All of my London friends are safe. I hope everyone on here stays safe as well.

Thanks for the updates people.

BBC is still going with 'Power surge' on its website.