Well what a great first day for England. The one day players leading the way too. Another failure from Bell too

Mitchell Johnson looks ineffective on England pitches and without him Aus have no true strike bowler.

Could be closer than I thought possible 6 months ago

England just about shaded a first day that I thought was a bit spoiled by the dead pitch. Very interesting that the ODI players with recent experience of fearless cricket led the fight to the Aussies. It's hard to praise Root too highly and it was good to see Ballance get a fifty.
It's too early to write off Mitchell Johnson, though I wonder if his old doubts will resurface in unhelpful conditions and a hostile crowd. I very much doubt it; I would still be expecting some fireworks in this series.
Will be interesting to see how the land lies after the Australians have batted, especially if they knock over the England tail quickly.

Sadly didn't get to watch it yesterday!

I would of thought England would of bowled first as i originally thought it was a good day for bowling, but going by the Aussies possibly not!
England are looking good and lets hope it keeps up!

Jim, I know what you mean about Johnson, Sky team showede some interesting stats show about his wickets taken in tests. By far his most successful matches have been in Australia and South Africa, the rest of the world, including England, his stats are mediocre. He could of course run against that for this series!

Was funny to see Clark resort to using Warner to bowl to Root, it did not work but was great fun for the attending crowd.

Where is Edinburgh to defend Bell

I was listening to the cricket on the wireless yesterday and the atmosphere in the last hour was fantastic.

It took the 'Barmy Army' quite a while to get going (Understandable at £4 a pint) and then the old favourite "He bowls to the left, he bowls to the right...." was ringing around the ground Johnson is a confidence bowler, if he has a couple of bad sessions then it's going to play on his mind like it did in 10/11 Ashes.

The pitch looks like a cracker to bat on. I think a score of less than 400 would be below par.

As for Bell, a poor series against the Kiwis and not a great start yesterday. Should he be dropped? Guess it depends if we win this test.

Nice bit of wag in that tail! Good to see, but I can't imagine the Aussie batsmen will fear the England attack.

I hope Stokes has a good game with the ball.

Hitting the I 89 highway from White River Junction to Burlington Vermont

Frantically trying to catch up with Wimbledon, Ashes and other BBC propanda when not savouring this paradise on the shores of Lake Champlain over one of their craft beers. Not to mention the Ben and Jerry's tour en route But more later, as I drift, I will break off....*


Hands up, Bell is in a dark place internationally right now. In the past they've dropped him then reinstated him so I guess they'll stick with him as long as possible....so this test and the next max. probably. If his replacement is successful that might actually be the end of Bell's test career. Mentally it won't have helped to lose the vice-captaincy to Root.


Ah, up for breakfast and see a healthy 430 all out, a very acceptable statement of intent. That and 0-111 for Johnson who seems to be toiling. Bad luck on Oz to lose Harris last week though as he was as destructive as Johnson.

Also interesting to see the run rate difference - Oz have started unusually cautiously at less than 3 an over, pretty much as rare as Blighty achieving 4.3




*see what I did there

Building into a good match; the Australians noticeably more patient, but still losing wickets regularly, if not exactly quickly. With the rather ordinary England attack, I still predict an Australian 1st innings lead, but hopefully not involving the 600+ total of the last Cardiff Ashes match!

223-4, doubt we will see 600 from there, they don't have a great tail.

Looks like you are right, bockers!

Great to see the back of Haddin so soon...

In fact, good to see the end of the Australian innings! A useful 122-run lead. Better than England could possibly have hoped.

What a morning!

Let's see if we can get to lunch without losing a wicket....

Yes, I can remember when Haddin seemed to taunt us. I think he went through one series undefeated.

A useful lead especially as the pitch seems to be deteriorating. Would like to see a led of 400 though.

2 batsmen with something to prove. Can Bell and Lyth make amends after their first innings contributions?

Well, I hoped England would give a good account of themselves, but I never thought the fourth day of the first Ashes test would look like this!

Looking good

Looking even better....

Looking as good as it gets!

Fantastic game and even better result. Great to see Broad back with his aggressive wicket streaks.

The whole team seems to have re-invented itself and even Cook has shown some imagination tactically in his timing of calling on Moeen and Root for bowling duty. Bockers' taunt to Bell was the stroke of genius

All within 4 days too, a testament not only to a run of good weather but to the decent scoring rate - an inevitable knock-on from the shorter form.

In fairness it's never good for tourists to suffer injuries, as has befallen England in the past, so the loss of Haddin and worries over Starc are going to make them beatable.

The cheekiness/attitude of Root, Stokes, Wood, Buttler added to the older boys Broad and Anderson makes for a team which can stand up psychologically to an Aussie team which contains some who are now quite long in the tooth.

Assume you mean old man Harris?

A quite superb performance from all 11 players. Lyth and Bell had better 2nd innings with the bat, all the bowlers chipped in with wickets and Butler showed his keeping has come on no end.

My only worry is the form of Ballance. Hopefully he'll bat himself into form at Lords.

^^ Yep I did, this 5 hours behind thing did my brain in there. Or is it gluten.....

So, on to round 2...
Lords hasn't been a lucky Ashes venue for England, but as we know, it's all different now, isn't it?!
Haddin's omission and (it seems) Watson being dropped may strengthen the Aussies, bringing in keen new talent to invigorate the rather stolid team. Johnson should be more potent on any track livelier than Cardiff (that is ANY track!), and if Starc stays injury-free, the three Mitches might play a significant role in evening the series.
It looks as though Moeen will play, despite his side strain; Cook has been playing down the injury, insisting that Moeen has been protected as a precaution. Of course the fact that his potential replacement, Adil Rashid, has picked up a finger injury may have influenced the decision. Hopefully it won't be too great an issue at Lords.
Much has rightly been made of England's hugely refreshing, positive approach and I'm looking forward to seeing how the side copes with an Australian side that will be relentless in seeking to get back into this series. Will England revert to the bad old ways if they get a pasting? I genuinely think not, as the test defeat to New Zealand showed a welcome ability to remain upbeat and (crucially) sporting.
Aside from an England win, I most want to see consistency of performance and spirit.
Should be a great game, hopefully played joyfully.

Good analysis there Bockers.

I'm really looking forward this Test. Cook, Lyth and Ballance (plus your buddy Bell) all need to get runs. We can't always rely on Root et al to get them.

What's the story with Haddin?

I'm not sure bockers would appreciate the name change!

Based on past history, I believe that Haddin's daughter may be ill.

Frustrating here only being able to watch the text commentary but Australia are living up to form and showing strongly in this first session, with Rogers approaching yet another half-century.
Stellar performances needed from our players to withhold the Aussie fightback.



Perhaps spookily predicted..



Catching innit





Ooh see what I did there...

Sorry Jim



I blame the weather

Epidemic.

I meant Smith.




Edit: it was Rogers after all

Great day 1, hope Australia continues to shine.