2013 Ashes

New ball taken. Game won or lost on this partnership for mine. New ball and Prior/Bell partnership. Either means quick runs or Australia getting into our miss firing tail 100 runs light

Prior gone now.

Six down, lead of 153.

Prior gone. With that Australia in the box seat. Need a miracle from our bowlers now. Starting with their batting. Step up Broady!

50 for Bell and he's passed 6,000 Test match runs. Not bad for a fella who so many have doubted over the years.

Needs to convert it into a big score though.

Prior gone. With that Australia in the box seat. Need a miracle from our bowlers now. Starting with their batting. Step up Broady!

Not over yet mate, oz in the box seat yeah but anything over 200 will test them..

Not over yet mate, oz in the box seat yeah but anything over 200 will test them..

100 more runs would be very nice. 60 or less than that Australia have the advantage for me. Pitch is very dry and its swinging  but there's not much stopping a batting side getting 250 chasing 4th.

Reason I say we need a miracle is because of the poor form of our lower order presently, the injury to Broad and the erratic nature of Finns bowling who leaks runs far too easily which is going to be a big problem with a smallish run chase.

Game still on a knife edge really, reflected in the bookies odds who have both teams as evens to win.

The longer we bat, the more runs we get the greater the chance for reverse swing with the older ball. Tense, tense match!

200+ would be a good score for England. I think that would be enough to bowl Australia out.

If England are batting tomorrow morning then they will win this test match.

Very few demons in this pitch. Broad needs to carry on and keep digging in. while he and Bell remain at the crease we are ahead of the game.

How the F**k wasn't that given out? Crazy!

Well left Broady!

Well left Broady!

Said the umpire as well! If you were Broad and you were 110% sure that was out...would you have walked? In the name of sportsmanship?! I'd like to think I would walk but I don't know how I would act if I was batting in a tight match in the Ashes series!

Said the umpire as well! If you were Broad and you were 110% sure that was out...would you have walked? In the name of sportsmanship?! I'd like to think I would walk but I don't know how I would act if I was batting in a tight match in the Ashes series!

Stand there me. We've had some shockers this match, Australia wasted their reviews on sh*t. Tough, umpires given him not out. Hilarious Haddin dropping the very next but one ball too. Two drops in 3 balls for him.

In a good position now. Still keep digging in though. Get past 300 lead. With 4 wickets left 50 runs is achievable and would test Australia to the limit.

I'm not sure it will finish today.. Pitch looks flat ish right now, Emgland will try to bat slow and long, 80 runs a session, roughly 310-320 by the end of play 7 or 8 down would be my prediction.

Bloody hell mr paddy power.. Nearly

Bell is F***ing fantastic. People talk about Trott and Cook being able to dig in and not giving their wickets away but nobody mentions Bell in the same breath, he's shown today that he can do just that. I would rate all three as bigger wickets than Pietersen's but he's always classed as the "key" wicket. Not for me.

Broad, I've slagged off on my occasions but he's done well today especially given the injury. The whole edge to Clarke thing was a joke. How the umpire didn't give it our is beyond me. Most people would of walked but to me it's not bad sportsmanship from Broad because as Nasser (I think it was anyway) said on commentary, Broad always waits for the umpire's decision. He never just walks. Still another shocking decision in a Test that has been riddled with them.

Great position we're in now. Should go on and win it. Hopefully a bit of cloud cover tomorrow as well so the ball does a bit more for us than it's done today for the Aussies.

Bell is always that guy I want out very quickly or he does what he has done today. He just stays there, builds a partnership and gets his team back in it. Quality player is the Sherminator.

Had a few close calls though in the process but you get that in cricket.

How Broad was given not out I've not got a clue. A bit of a spell on the sidelines for the umpires this match. They've been bad for both sides.

100 up for Bell.

50 up for Broad.

We could be looking at 400 here.

Broad gone. Not sure he hit it tbh.

Bell gone. Great knock. Balls talking this morning with the reverse swing. Hope the tail frustrate then now for half hour so we can have 20 mins before lunch at their openers.

311 to win then. Should be enough, I reckon.

Pitch had died here.

Longer Watson and Rogers are together, the more demotivated our bowlers are gonna get.

Swinging back into the Aussies favour this.