Cricket fred

[Galfon]

Hubris leads to nemesis - Smith needs to be aware.
Great chance now to turn the screw, now we've Woaken up.

[Stom]

All is forgiven, Chris.

always said he was the biz

But then he concedes 8 in that over with poor bowling...

When Stokes is fit to bowl, I'd drop Woakes and keep Curran.

[Banquo]

All is forgiven, Chris.

always said he was the biz

But then he concedes 8 in that over with poor bowling...

When Stokes is fit to bowl, I'd drop Woakes and keep Curran.

and carries on bowling dross. 10 from the next, chucking away a big chunk of lead.

[Banquo]

This is poor after such good stuff. Ffs

[Banquo]

Ffs

[Galfon]

Deja-vu ..the idea is to increase intensity & accuracy / put the foot on the throat blah blah...when blood is sniffed, else the beast bites back.

u/d: 6-fer for the triumphal Arch..attaboy.An innings lead for Eng ?..sacre-bleu you'd think the Ashes were already won..

[Galfon]

Twud be a great fillip for Burnley to survive the last few overs and count the bruises with satisfaction.

[Digby]

That's what should happen when you bat like Smith. What an amazing talent he is, though he's on a shocking run of below century scores now

12 consecutive 50+ scores in red ball Ashes cricket.

Just broken by that stupid pink ball test...

He's just a pleasure to watch, and it's not his fault so many others are just desperate to given their wickets away, so many poor shots on both sides. I could argue Smith's was a bad shot, but if your average is in the 60s you can do what you want

[Digby]

In defence of Burns that's such a bad ball to get out to he has kept the comedy value high.

[Galfon]

Effectively 127-1 with 2 reasonable days forecast.
Pitch looks placid so Eng should not stuff up from here.

[Banquo]

FFS

[Galfon]

Denley deserved his first ton - no panic needed, lead of 400+ will be something to work with.

[Banquo]

Denley deserved his first ton - no panic needed, lead of 400+ will be something to work with.

Shame for Denly

[Big D]

Good knock by Denly but the fact he averages 15 in 1st innings and 40 in 2md needs addressing if he is to stick around beyond NZ and SA.

[Banquo]

Keep giving them a sniff

[Digby]

Buttler is moving his feet, this is new thinking for him

[Galfon]

..all the way back to the Pavilion
ffs.
u/d: survived the day - 20-30 runs by the tail in the morning would be nice.Losing those late 3 wickets took the shine off a bit, but still in a reasonable position.

[WaspInWales]

So...Steve Smith then. Possibly not human?

Discuss.

If his ability to read the ball (bar the occasional blip...and by blip, I mean a play and miss) wasn't well documented enough, he is somehow able to catch Woakes' edge like that.

Fan-fucking-tastic!

[fivepointer]

A very good day for England.
Batted all day and scored over 300 runs. Losing a couple of late wickets just took the gloss off things but overall we are in a great position.
Extraordinary catch by Smith.

[Galfon]

Not quite to plan - Aus take last 5 for just 50 but a big total to chase though.With the S-factor anything's possible.
Now Leach can consolidate his National Hero status with a match-winning bowling effort..

[Galfon]

Warner into nose-bleed territory now - (nearing double figures). Harris already skittled by Broad.

[WaspInWales]

Lol

[WaspInWales]

Smith out first ball please!

[Galfon]

Job done Broad - he can now climb out of Warner's head.The bookies must have lost a shed-load on that!

[WaspInWales]

Aussies firm favourites whilst Smith is out there.

Joking aside, there is probably some truth to that

Gotta get him out.