It's never right to judge players on how they play when they first reach the crease: many (like Ponting and Bell) struggle to get their feet moving... some (like Langer and Pietersen) throw the bat a bit in the hope of finding some touch and timing... and most look far worse than they actually are. Read's shot MAY have looked worse than anything any of the others have done... but on another day he might have got away with it and gone on to settle and do a job for the team - perhaps much as Shane Warne routinely does.

The previous innings (where he ran out of partners) would be a far more sensible basis for judgement... and whilst he may not have looked special... he did his job: if Symonds gets a lifeline for 'doing a job' whilst looking appalling in the partnership with Hayden then Read should get a lifeline for batting effectively and running out of partners in the second England innings.

For what it's worth I think the entire focus of criticism of Read's batting has been misguided for several years now: in his last run with England he WAS showing decent composure and an ability to stick around.. and I had high hopes that he'd go back to county cricket and concentrate on developing this attritional strength... but instead of that he was appears to have come under pressure to go away and show that he can throw the bat and rack up runs - so now, rather as Ramps a decade ago, he's caught between doing what's right (digging in) and getting dropped (which happened last time) and attempting something mad (throwing the bat against the second new ball with McGrath and Lee bowling their best spells of the series) and just hoping he gets away with it (in the sure knowledge that the odds are against that, and that he's going to be pilloried if it doesn't work).Not really: the 7-8-9 should be able to help a senior colleague to carry on cashing in when the top six gets through the second new ball.... so they should be capable of batting through a whole session against a tired attack and old ball... but that's a very different matter from being odds-on to survive a fresh McGrath and Lee taking a new ball and getting it to swing both ways and nip off the seam in ways that most top order openers would find challenging!Had I been a selector ahead of the series I'd have been arguing for taking Ramps as an experienced, older hand in the form of his life and with an excellent record (avergae nearly 50) in Australia. I'd have played Pietersen, Ramps, Bell and Joyce / Collingwood at 3-4-5-6 (relying on Pietersen and Ramps for some occasional bowling). Read would have played at 7 and my initial plan would have been to play Harmison, Hoggard, Anderson / Lewis and Panesar as a 4-man attack... though I'd have removed Harmison from that equasion for the first two Tests after witnessing his dire form in the warm-up games.

I was for Strauss as captain all along... and stand by that call: the guy needs to go away and work on his footwork (especially on getting into line when playing off the back foot) but he always did come across, to me, as top captaincy material... more patient in reserach and preparation and more capable of thinking on his feet than the big Lancastrian.