KP out for 44... Although how he got to 44 playing like that I have no idea :p.

England's day today. A lead of 200 is pretty useful. Australia will have to pull a blinder to give themselves a target they feel confident getting.

That Bloody Bell, another century
& the game is turning England's way.
Bell is a class act, it cannot be denied

Ask not for whom the Bell tolls. It tolls for thee.

Bell has been shining this summer (man of the series is a near certainty), but by doing so he's made the others look like a bunch of numpties.

298 to win on a wicket that looks to strongly favour the bowlers. It will take the innings of the series for Australia to win this one. I hope they get close, but unless they pull a blinder I doubt they'll get past 200 or so.

I'd like Australia to get within 13 of winning, then fail. How important was that dropped catch?

Huzzah! Australia are showing some bottle! Should be a great finish :D

Well, that was the one they needed. 125 to win with 6 wickets remaining. Assuming Australia survive the day with all wickets in tact, we should be in for an exciting finish.

England just grabbed the initiative I think, on come siddle first of their tail-Enders. Will it finish today?

Aus 181-7

Did someone put laxative in the vegimite at tea?

Whooohooo...come on lads

17-4 in the last 10 overs. Wow, how quickly they fell

And another one's gone! Looks like finishing tonight

What an evening! A great day of cricket, but part of me wishes Australia hadn't crumbled quite as badly. I was really hoping my prediction of Australia only getting 200 or so would be made to look silly. Alas, not to be.

bloomin heck, the Australian openers do the job for once
and then Khawaja, Smith, Clarke & Watson fail --- AGAIN
& they don't even have the "new" ball excuse
sack Khawarja he's been a total dud this series

I've heard some commentators say that the difference between the teams is that this latest batch of Australians can't cope with pressure. If that is true then we could be in for a stiff fight in the final test. With nothing left to lose and no threat of a 5-0 whitewash Australia will be able to play freely. If they can get a win then the question is whether they can have some backbone beaten into them in time for round two.

bump

It's the 5th Test from The Oval
Australia bats first, & Watson makes some runs,but what about the other
"top order" batsmen ?
At least the commentary was fun, with Blowers and his butterflies, pigeons, and wasps
& G Boycott on the English selectors and the two "new" bowlers in the English team
I fell asleep with Watson about 120 runs & Steve Smith at the crease,
then awoke briefly later on & heard Siddle's name mentioned (as batting)
& thought "another batting collapse"
I have to wait till later today / tonight to find out the details--oh joy

Batting collapse it ain't. It's a damned shame to see England treating an Oval test match as a glorified friendly, but that's what they're doing. The new bowlers aren't ready for an Ashes yet, and bringing two on at once was madness. Especially here when you have to be damned good or damned lucky to have a hope of getting anyone out.

Australia will bat forever and then hope England collapse and have to follow on. Whether they do or not will likely be the only interesting thing in the match.

Siddle is the nightwatchman, it wasn't a collapse.

you're right, Siddle was put in early
& what a good day for Australia on Day 2
Smith made runs & thats whats needed --
at least 2 of the top 5 batsmen getting big scores
Watson's approx 170 and Smith's 130 approx were good
& a nice total -- 492 runs
Anderson bowled well & Broad had no luck
Now can Australia bowl well & force a "follow on" ?

I'm struggling to get excited about this game, to be honest, and only keeping one eye on it. The developing "will they, won't they" romance between Geoffrey Boycott and Katy Perry, and the exceptional performance of Aggers at Innuendo Bingo, have both proved more entertaining.

Day five -- 7 for 315 Broad has just been dismissed
Bumbles Boycott is commenating with Blowers
What's the chances Australia can get the last 3 wickets, bat for 1 over, declare & then
bowl England out quickly and get a surprise win ???? ( not likely )
Is Bumbles about to do a "Warnie" & get a celebrity girlfriend ?

Well if I was Australia I would bat for 0 overs. At this point England has secured the draw.

Its a shame that the whether only negatively impacted the games Australia did well in.

actually nevermind, its earlier in the day then I thought it was (I thought it was 4pm not 2pm), you'd have to bat because the last thing you want is England winning.

So I'd probably declare in ~10 overs

Come on Watson, treat this as a Twenty20 and lets start batting quickly. The faster you get lots of runs, the more time you have to bowl England out.

34-1, fantastic catch by Anderson. Interesting choice in Faulkner, I would have thought Clarke would put himself in.

67-4, hopefully Australia can get as many wickets as England is right now. I hope Australia declares soon.