1981 was better than this year because of the heroics of one Ian Botham, the best white cricketer I have seen. Neither are as good as the 1953 series though.

Football sickness - too much on television.

In my opinion, the over-exposure of football (the Champions League in particular) is on television, which (unless it is Rovers) I cannot be bothered to watch any more.

Williams admitted a few years ago that he had no idea how to reverse the decline in attendances (which sadly seems to be accelerating) so do not expect any initiatives now. Rather than be castigated, stay-away Rovers supporters should be congratulated for their judgment. The country is sick and tired of an over-hyped, over-exposed sport played by grossly overpaid average players.

No.

Oh dear. Nothing trivial for Lee one hopes. These Australian chaps aren't very durable are they ?

Excellent ploy by England to give the convicts a glimpse of victory and then snatch it away from them. No doubt Vaughan planned it all along. Very funny to see the faces of Kasprowicz and Lee at the end. Most amusing television moment since the head rock cruncher handed over the rugby World Cup to England.

Good weather forecast for tomorrow. Another rubbish batting performance by England today. The light-fingered brigade will spend dig in for two and a half days and quietly compile 600 plus, leaving England to try to survive four sessions. Trescothick should have made a big hundred and Vaughan and Strauss should be sent to the Tower for the shots they got out to. The only hope for England is that the soft pitch deteriorates (groundsman Steve Rouse says it is already pitted after the soaking it received last week and expects it to misbehave as the game progresses). The good news is that McGrath is injured. Nothing trivial hopefully. Couldn't have happened to a nicer chap.

Are you sure ? There were a reported 42,000 on Ewood for the Manchester City FA Cup replay in 1969 and the ground was full to bursting .... frighteningly so on the Riverside where the crowd swayed back and forth because of the crush of spectators. I dread to think what would have happened if one of the barriers had given way.

With the enemy at the door, now is the time to rally the troops, as Wellington might have said. Tomorrow morning, ten minutes before the start of battle, I shall be leading a sing-song at Oakside Nursing Home with a witty ditty written and produced by the glorious Barmy Army. I shall even wear my best set for the occasion. It is entitled Convict Colony, and should be sung to the tune of the Beatles' "We All Live in a Yellow Submarine". In the town where I was born, there lived a man who was a thief, And who told me of his life, stealing bread and shagging sheep, So they put him in the nick, and then a magistrate he went to see, Who said ’Put him on the ship to the convict colony.’ Chorus: You all live in a convict colony, a convict colony; you all alive in a convict colony, a convict colony...... repeat As an alternative, there is a tribute to the philandering drug addict, Shane Warne, which should be sung to the tune of Tony Christie’s "Amarillo". Show me the way to Shane Warne’s villa, He’s got his pills under his pilla, A dodgy bookie from Manila, Nurse is on her mobile phone. Happy days.

Good spot. Cole's 37 goals over two and a half years at Ewood cost about £263,000 each, still a princely sum. The salary figures are all correct.

I would like to have seen Andrew Cole in a Rovers shirt again but perhaps he has taken enough money out of the club. In his three and a half years at Ewood, Cole earned a whopping £73,000 a week and scored 37 goals, making each goal worth roughly a staggering £366,000. In his 12 months at Fulham, Cole earned £40,000 a week and scored 13 goals, at a cost of about £160,000 per goal. Manchester City are paying Cole £25,000 a week. I hope they get better value out of him than we did.

Correct, unfortunately. The stupid ECB, in its quest to make as much money as possible with a grossly overloaded fixture list and meaningless one-day tournaments, have played right into the hands of the enemy.

Titus Bramble broke an elbow in training today, putting him out for three months and leaving Newcastle desperately short of centre halves after the sale of O'Brien and Hughes. Souness admires Amoruso, so here's Rovers chance to offload the overweight tub of lard on our hapless former manager.

West Ham's computer systems have crashed such is the demand for tickets for the Rovers match. The club expect the game to be a sellout.

A relative of mine, a season-ticket holder for 40 years, is not renewing. He's disgruntled with the 500 Club. Or something.

Talking of donkey centre forwards, or carthorse to be more accurate, does anyone remember the late 1960s icon Jimmy Fryatt ? Of bucolic appearance, with his generous girth, bald head and splendid sideburns Fryatt looked like a Dorset farmer and his footballing skills were "agricultural" to say the least. They don't make 'em like that anymore. His son Ed Fryatt is a pro on the US golf tour.

To judge from those comments, Kuqi obviously has lumps of concrete in his boots instead of feet. Should play well with Dickov, another forward who cannot control a football. Hope Bellamy does not get injured or become frustrated by the incompetance around him.

Not surprisingly, London was a strange place today. No buses, no Underground, fewer cars than usual, and because of that the streets were teeming. People, people, people, walking everywhere. Most were silent, quietly going about their daily routine. It made for a very strange atmosphere. After the euphoria of yesterday, now this. @#/?s.

Great for London which will put on a show that will make the so-called "best-ever" Olympics in Sydney look like a village fete. Bad news for the rest of England as billions of pounds are pumped into what is already the wealthiest area of the country.

Chelsea have said they will not pay Gerrard more than the £90,000 a week that Lampard earns. If you believe what Chelsea say.

Yes I am. Strauss's parents are English, as is Pietersen's mother. Englishmen supporting Australia are akin to collaborators during the war. You shall henceforth be known as Lord Haw-Haw.

ahem, cough cough

Yes

Or Jewsons, the timber suppliers. Then it would be Deadwood Park, which would at least please Burnley supporters.