North really digging in now – digging in to his dinner in the pavillion that is!

he'll be alright. He'll have to come out again before lunch tomorrow at this rate 🙂

alright then… I like this new strategy: let's bat so badly we get the follow on, then bat magnificently to post a substantial 2nd innings lead for England to try and chase down 😀

Bloody apalling batting from Australia today… the bowling has been tight, but not brilliant, certainly not good enough to get this sort of result 🙄

aah, so we're only winning because you're letting us. very sporting.

what's this slope they're all talking about? I guess I'll have to get down to Lords at some point to take a tour and check it out.

aah, so we're only winning because you're letting us. very sporting

Nope… we're just batting very poorly and England is bowling nice and tight (but not spectacularly, at least IMHO 😀 )

🙄 sigh…

lulz 152 -8

**** it… and now we'll go off for light will we? 🙄

nope… we'll play on. follow-on tonight and then we start again to build a 2nd innings lead… time for our batsman to find some cojones in this test 👿

since when did cricket become popular on this forum? – normally threads struggle to reach double figure postings.

Nah, great big floodlights at Lord's now 🙂

Edit, boo, light offered, wimps. 156-8 at stumps.

Astonishing days cricket.

since when did cricket become popular on this forum?

when we're winning ?

since there was a rampant cricket tragic aussie on here 😀

boo, light offered, wimps

thems the rules… if you can see shadows then you can take the light… any team would've done the same in this position.

any team would've done the same in this position.

That'll be Ponting playing within the spirit of the game then 😉

I'm off to watch Barry Trotter now, so don't take my silence for the next few hours as some sort of aussie sulk 🙄 tomorrow's a new day and I feel confident we can fight back from here and make a contest. My 50 squid is still safe Lanesra! 😀

trailmonkey – Member

any team would've done the same in this position.

That'll be Ponting playing within the spirit of the game then

+1 😀

And Psychle – what do you mean, what slope? How can you be a cricket follower and not know about the substantial gradient at the home of cricket? 😉

I'm amused that Australia bowled 'excellently' at Sofia Gardens, but the only reason we've got any wickets is because you gave them us! Granted, we gave you a couple, but at least we were gracious enough to credit you aussies a highly intelligent bowling attack. No such credit when the boot is on the other foot eh? I guess that's the spirit of the game though 😉

Could it be this all over again?

Admittedly this isn't a great England side, but then most of the Aussies are mediocre themselves. That leaves two sides relatively evenly matched, but with a lot to prove – fascinating…

oh dear, didn't enforce the follow on. Playing with fire there. 😛

BBC Sport's Oliver Brett on Twitter: "Asked Dean Jones what he thought of Strauss' decision: 'When you're bleeding from every orifice it's time to put the sword in and he didn't'."

my thoughts exactly. 🙁
Should have made 'em have another go!

???!
Aussies down to 2 bowlers. Great batting pitch. Perfect batting weather. No decision to be made!

Well Australia will now have to make more in the 4th innings than they ever have before in order to win…

At least the Aussie batsman can take some heart from this English innings, ball isn't doing much etc… though I don't honestly give us much hope of chasing this down 😆 Plenty of time though, so who knows, miracles do happen eh? 😀

Not much hope of chasing it down but plenty of hope of hanging on for a draw pom style with the assistance of rain, unnecessary physios etc 😉

When are Steve Waugh and Glenn McGrath's kids going to be of playing age?

Not much hope of chasing it down but plenty of hope of hanging on for a draw pom style with the assistance of rain, unnecessary physios etc

But that would hardly be within the spirit of the game, and we all know how Ricky feels about that…

😆 at Ricky with zokes

When are Steve Waugh and Glenn McGrath's kids going to be of playing age?

Which one is the Daddy?

3.9 RR… at this rate we'll have this total knocked over by lunch tomorrow, too easy! 😀

Gotta be optimistic right? 😆

2 wickets in 45 minutes, at this rate you'll be out before tea 🙂

ha ha… too true 😀 bloody Koertzen, some consistancy might've been nice! 👿 but when things are going against you as a team, they just keep on going against you don't they? 🙄

Crikey, reckon tuffers has been at the bong this morning. Rolf Harris impressions!

Tuffers cricket song

Ricky! 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆

I'm sure Poontang will find something to moan about. I mean, how dare Broad get him to play on?

I'm sure Poontang

Nice… a tad childish don't you think? 🙄 Cricket's a gentlemans game guv'ner, it has courtesy and manners 😀

I think Punter (and Australia) will have good reason to be a bit miffed at 3 of our wickets today, the cricket gods certainly seem to be against us! Katich out off a clear no-ball, Hughes out off a suspect catch (exactly the same really as the one Koertzen referred yesterday 🙄 ) and now Hussey out without actually edging it (though maybe a tough one to call…) bloody hell…

Anyone else hear that lunchtime interview with Rolf Harris?

Anyone else agree that Rolf had clearly had a few sherberts beforehand? 🙂

Psycle, you may have written;

the cricket gods certainly seem to be against us! Katich out off a clear no-ball, Hughes out off a suspect catch (exactly the same really as the one Koertzen refered yesterday ) and now Hussey out without actually edging it (though maybe a tough one to call…) bloody hell…

But what it sounds like is

Whine, whinge, whine, whinge, whine, whine, if I was back home….whine, whinge

😉

yeah yeah yeah… as they say, it ain't over till the fat lady sings, both in this test and the next 3 😀

128-5 now! Over by stumps tonight, I reckon.

The fat lady's doing her vocal exercises in the dressing room!

I dont think the cricket gods had anything to do with North's middle stump 🙂