The Ashes

Much as I hate to spoil the banter, but have you seen the first innings result

Yes.I was hoping nobody else had noticed.

England all out for an embarressing 102. Aus well ahead already and things looking pretty woeful. Why is being an England supporter (in almost any sport) such bloody hard work?I am off to the beer festival at Earls Court to drown my sorrows. Blondes and brunes, fruity and malty, dark, light and everything in-between. At least this happy coincidence of timing will make my "drowning" relatively interesting.

England are not so much looking down the barrel of a gun as frantically sucking on that barrel in the hope that it will explode in a brain splattering act of mercy.Play continues tomorrow but if Aus haven't wrapped this up, very probably with some sort of record breaking margin of victory, within a couple of hours I will boil my feet in a tub of bubbling lard whilst singing Waltzing Matilda and playing a didgeridoo.Waltzing Matilda - WikipediaDidgeridoo - Wikipedia1 - 1 in the series is a certainty now. Most England fans are too shellshocked to look ahead to the final and deciding game. So I'll leave it at that for now.

Hello Sportsfans!! My ever burgeoning army of EvC cricket followers (yes all 1* of you) how are we? Excited? Yep thought so.Yes today in glorious London, but five minutes from my house, at the mighty Kennington Oval cricket ground the 2009 Ashes decider began.I would be able to all but hear the crowd from my bedroom in sunny Brixton (Hurrah!) but I have spent all of today at London Bridge far from the action (boo! - work sucks sometimes). However I did manage to spend a sizable chunk of that time in the pub watching the match (so hurrah! again). Such are lifes little ups and downs.So to the game...... A solid opening from England spoilt by an Aussie fightback later in the day. England ended up on 307 for 8 wickets down. All in all honours even but Aus have the momentum going into day 2.1 - 1 in the series. England need to win this game to take the ashes. Aus just need to draw the game to keep hold of them. England will need to do better than they have done today if they are going to win this game.More tomorrow.Free highlights here http://www.five.tv/programmes/sport/cricket-on-fiveEdited by Straggler, : Add linkEdited by Straggler, : * Changed 0 to 1 as a result of AZPaul post Message 90

This game is like a pendulum. Just when one side seems like it is on top and is going to take a match winning lead the other side steps up and reverses the whole nature of the game. Great test cricket. Ebb and flow.Today, I am delighted to report, it was England's turn to take the initiative. An amazing bowling performance put England in with a real chance of taking this game.Then the Aussies got some late wickets and cast the seed of doubt back in the minds of the previously deliriously happy poms.England still on top (230 ahead with 3 wickets down). Us England fans are hopeful but nervous. Tomorrow is absolutely crucial.

It's been such a topsy-turvy series, hasn't it? And this test is just the cherry.

Yep. Good stuff. Not as tense as 2005. But intriguing in it's own way.My Aus friends keep on pointing out to me that 2007 may well as not have happened (Aus won 5-0 in Australia for those not in the know) as far as we are concerned in this country.I keep pointing out to them that this is absolutely true.

To those interested here are the current test team rankings. As you can see Aus are top and England are a fairly dismal 5th. I was amazed to see that the once mighty West Indians (who were dynamic and invincible when I was a kid) are barely competing in the top flight of the game these days. I supported the WI as a kid (well they were the best....) and lived in the Carribean for a bit. I am a little saddened to see how tragically the game seems to have fallen by the wayside in that part of the world in recent times.1 Australia
2 South Africa
3 Sri Lanka
4 India
5 England
6 Pakistan
7 New Zealand
8 West Indies
9 BangladeshHow exactly these rankings are worked out is a bit of a mathematical mystery. But there they are.Edited by Straggler, : No reason given.

The countries that have teams seem an interesting mix to me. Perhpas not historically, but recently. Do you know if a cricket match between Pakistan and India is ever held? If so, do they and their fans comport themselves well, a la the Olympics being above politics, or do flared tempers rise to scuffles and riots?

Great question!! As I understand it riots and bloodshed have been a serious consideration in the past!! Passions run high to say the least. Religious, cultural and historical issues all come to the fore with the cricket teams providing the focus. Throw in a cricket crazy population of millions and the line between over-zealous sporting allegiance and diplomatic incident becomes very blurry. Actually playing in one of these games must be terrifying!!

Indeed. Not having felt any of the enmity felt between people of those two countries, were I in that situation, I'd probably feel a kinship to the opposing team's players, perhaps even more than I would feel to the fans of my own country. The stress alone would be enough to push some over the edge, I would guess.

I think it is fair to say that members of both teams would be quite content to play for a draw rather than actually risk losing. I suspect this monumental fear of losing would account for the large number of draws between these two nations when they have actually played.But I understand things are somewhat better in more recent years.

And I suppose I'm chopped liver?Do you not have a working "1" on your keyboard?Have you consumed such quantities as to have lost your math abilities?Abused? Neglected? Cast aside like so much refuse? Such is the lot of an American Cricketeer in the eyes of the Motherland?Oh, the rejection, the dismissal, the dispair, the pain. Oblivion come onto me ... take me ... I am lost to all the heavens! Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.