Watsons in to bat ... maybe this is how he looks to the Poms ...

... given his recent run of outs he's suffered recently.

Lol !! He should sell advertising on his pads as they get so much exposure.

I agree that Australia should declare sometime after tea, and hope for a couple of wickets tonight and the weather gives them enough time to bowl England out tomorrow.

But Clarke should leave England a reachable target, otherwise they will just block until the rain comes.

Michael Vaughan just made a good point on TMS:-

Clarke has a total in mind and has told his team to reach it as quickly as possible, regardless of losing wickets, so that his bowlers have as many overs as possible to bowl at England.

Watson out for 18: c Pietersen b Bresnan.

103 for 4.

If it carries on like this Clarke wont need to declare!

Australia batting like they want the runs before tea and four full sessions to bowl at england

England are in trouble, 287 behind and by the looks of it they are certainties to be back in tonight looking at a 350+ total.

Bring on the rain I say.

Oh and while I was posting Smith get's himself run out.

What a game.

.

Australia batting like they want the runs before tea and four full sessions to bowl at england

Is that a euphemism??

England are in trouble, 287 behind and by the looks of it they are certainties to be back in tonight looking at a 350+ total. 

 

Bring on the rain I say. 

England could be looking at 300 and a win at this rate

Australia batting like they want the runs before tea and four full sessions to bowl at england

 

 

Is that a euphemism??

KP can join them if he likes

Enjoyable test!

How long is the rain expected to last?

How long is the rain expected to last?

BBC reckons it looks like it might be clearing up...

Over 300 now, England will now just dig in for the duration. remember England held out for nearly 140 overs in their first innings.

6 down no one except Warner got even halfway to a half ton, Root's catch must have made him happy, and presume a very predictable response from the crowd.

Edit:

OK Clarke's got 30, but now bad light stopped play, and England got 368 in the first innings maybe they may just go for it? will Clarke declare now?

Edit again:

Aussies really winging now that the batting side has no say in the bad light decision, they really would have something to complain about if they declared and England walked on and then promptly walked off due to bad light.

Over 300 now, England will now just dig in for the duration. remember England held out for nearly 140 overs in their first innings.

6 down no one except Warner got even halfway to a half ton, Root's catch must have made him happy, and presume a very predictable response from the crowd.

Edit:

OK Clarke's got 30, but now bad light stopped play, and England got 368 in the first innings maybe they may just go for it? will Clarke declare now?

Edit again:

Aussies really winging now that the batting side has no say in the bad light decision, they really would have something to complain about if they declared and England walked on and then promptly walked off due to bad light.

He's a canny lad that clarke ,batting himself into a draw ,whatever happened to the brave win at all costs australia? maybe he should've asked the umpire for a review on the light ?

Get out there and bloody bat!!!

Raining hard now; that's it for today, I reckon.

Close of play, play abandoned for today.

Surely England will be batting when play commences tomorrow, If and when it does...

There was a time in the not so different past that England would be doing a rain dance to ensure a draw, but these guys have got more bottle. At 331 and needing a victory Michael Clarke's bum will be squeaking.

Subject to weather again, this game is still not over.

There was a time in the not so different past that England would be doing a rain dance to ensure a draw, but these guys have got more bottle. At 331 and needing a victory Michael Clarke's bum will be squeaking.

Subject to weather again, this game is still not over.

The Aussies lost the chance to win the game in the last hour of gloom when England should have been struggling with the new ball.

Draw.

Except England would not have been struggling in the gloom against the new ball; the umpires would have stopped play for bad light no matter who was batting.

If England were batting and were offered the light, off they would have come.

If Clarke had been offered the light, he'd have stayed on. Look at his reaction when the umpires stopped play!

But that is no longer the batsman's decision; they are no longer offered the light.

These days the umpires no longer offer the light; they, the umpires, decide whether it is playable or not.

In an interview on SKY, Tony Hill said it was because he could not follow the ball from square leg. But as David Gower commented, there's a lot of difference in what a man in his sixties (Hill) can see from 30 yards away and a man in his thirties (Clarke) can see from 22 yards away!

Except England would not have been struggling in the gloom against the new ball; the umpires would have stopped play for bad light no matter who was batting.

If England were batting and were offered the light, off they would have come.

If Clarke had been offered the light, he'd have stayed on. Look at his reaction when the umpires stopped play!

But that is no longer the batsman's decision; they are no longer offered the light.

These days the umpires no longer offer the light; they, the umpires, decide whether it is playable or not.

In an interview on SKY, Tony Hill said it was because he could not follow the ball from square leg. But as David Gower commented, there's a lot of difference in what a man in his sixties (Hill) can see from 30 yards away and a man in his thirties (Clarke) can see from 22 yards away!

It's the umpires choice to determine if light is good or bad,end of .Anyway 7by7 do you still think KP should be dropped & replaced by Compton?

In an interview on SKY, Tony Hill said it was because he could not follow the ball from square leg. But as David Gower commented, there's a lot of difference in what a man in his sixties (Hill) can see from 30 yards away and a man in his thirties (Clarke) can see from 22 yards away!

Gower makes a good point. Of course each side is going to view it differently depending on their circumstances.

Cook was offered the chance to bowl spinners and they could have stayed on but he decided to move back to quicks.

The decision is with the umpires, as it should be.

Clarke has to send England in first thing tomorrow. Sure England has a chance to win, but so will Australia. More likely England will batten down the hatches.

There was a time in the not so different past that England would be doing a rain dance to ensure a draw, but these guys have got more bottle. At 331 and needing a victory Michael Clarke's bum will be squeaking.

Subject to weather again, this game is still not over.

The Aussies lost the chance to win the game in the last hour of gloom when England should have been struggling with the new ball.

Draw.

A tied game would be best

Another good test match being ruined by these two idiotic umpires.

Floodlights were on, batsmen were ok with it. Where's the danger

and how is it unsafe?

There was a time in the not so different past that England would be doing a rain dance to ensure a draw, but these guys have got more bottle. At 331 and needing a victory Michael Clarke's bum will be squeaking.

Subject to weather again, this game is still not over.

The Aussies lost the chance to win the game in the last hour of gloom when England should have been struggling with the new ball.

Draw.

A tied game would be best

I wonder if England are sent in to bat first thing whether they will simply go for it being 2-0 up and a threat of rain anyhow?

Close of play, play abandoned for today.

Surely England will be batting when play commences tomorrow, If and when it does...

Will there be an early start to partly compensate for the lost time yesterday?

Any idea when?

Weather forecast for today in Pommy Land?

No-one has actually said ... has Australia declared? Lead?

Cheers ... David48 out in the Boonies swatting mosquitoes.

Close of play, play abandoned for today.

Surely England will be batting when play commences tomorrow, If and when it does...

Will there be an early start to partly compensate for the lost time yesterday?

Any idea when?

Weather forecast for today in Pommy Land?

No-one has actually said ... has Australia declared? Lead?

Cheers ... David48 out in the Boonies swatting mosquitoes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/6691246

^^ Thanks for that.

I would have given you a like ... but I didn't 'like' the forecast ...

^^ Thanks for that.

I would have given you a like ... but I didn't 'like' the forecast ...

And after going to all that trouble. ...............................

The weather forecast is my like.......Ashes retained.

^^ Thanks for that.

I would have given you a like ... but I didn't 'like' the forecast ...

And after going to all that trouble. ...............................

The weather forecast is my like.......Ashes retained.

I would have thought you would be thinking of 5-0 uptheos

^^ Thanks for that.

I would have given you a like ... but I didn't 'like' the forecast ...

Unfortunately I do not think it is a question of when will play resume, more like at what time are they going to abandon the match and declare it a draw?