England v Australia - 28th June - Edgbaston

[Occasional Fan]

Hmm. Twenty two runs from the last eight overs, if I have it right, and about that long since the last boundary. Ponting back in the hutch. England seem to have things fairly well contained at the moment, with Australia 95-3 from 21 overs. How's it looking to those of you with a TV? And is anyone else finding the BBC audio feed online very unstable in the last couple of days? I am losing the feed every few overs at the moment.

[Victor Frankenstein]

Originally Posted by Beny

Will somebody shut Ian Botham up. He's insulted Hayden enough already. First he had a go at him for being upset when Jones hit him in the chest after the delivary- Hayden had every right to go off his nut. Now he's calling hayden a 'winger' for shaking his head after he got out. Hayden always shakes his head after he goes out but it's generaly self critism rather than winging.

most of us would love for him to shut up too my god, hayden shaking his head after getting out, like 99.99% of batsmen! he should be fined his match fee and banned for life, what a disgrace to the game! ... botham's a tool.

I can understand hayden throwing a wobbly, jones did say sorry and it appeared to be accidental, but heat of the moment and all that, hopefully they'll have a beer together after the game and leave it there.

Score has slowed down a lot and we're bowling well in general, but it's a day/nighter so england can only realistically chase around 180 at best so unless harmison comes on and gets a hat trick i'll be shocked by an england victory. Why we bother playing day/nighters in this country is a mystery to me. Those that love their stats, has anyone ever chased a proper total in a day/nighter in england? as i can't remember any, i don't mean the ones where the side batting first collapsed so the game is over before tea anyway, i mean proper first innings totals.

[Beny]

I can understand hayden throwing a wobbly, jones did say sorry and it appeared to be accidental, but heat of the moment and all that, hopefully they'll have a beer together after the game and leave it there.

Exactly, No body is going to hate Jones for the rest of his life now. It was an accident. But you can't blame Hayden for throwing a few choice words back...

Wish it was Flintoff and not Collingwood who stepped in. My money's on Haydos by I'd still pay to watch.

[Occasional Fan]

I understand your concern about day-nighters in the UK, VF. I've been to a couple in Cape Town and they were great shows - even including some good cricket. But it was definitely made pleasant for the spectators by the fact that it was 26C when the game finished about three hours after sunset. In England, the simple fact is that it can get a bit chilly in the evenings even in midsummer in the south of the country, and I'm not so sure I'd be volunteering to sit still in a potentially windy stand in Birmingham or Durham during the evening at any time of year without a sweater somewhere close to hand. I can see the commercial appeal - I guess there will be a number of people who turn up after work to watch an innings and a half who would not be able to get to a game at all if it were played during the day - but it doesn't quite appeal to me, and it certainly makes for a huge emphasis on calling the toss correctly (and, if you're Marcus Trescothick, reacting properly to winning it).

[Occasional Fan]

Just listening now to an argument against the use of technology: Pietersen's catch. General consensus seems to be that the pictures throw doubt on the catch, but the field umpires were happy with it. Present regulation is that catches are not referred because TV has been shown to be unreliable - but that doesn't stop the broadcasters showing umpteen replays. The technology debate will go on and on, I guess! Either way, all the radio commentators agree that Pietersen did well to get to the ball anyway. And he knows whether he got it or not.

[Victor Frankenstein]

doesn't help that vaughan is a useless tosser (hehe, i've been waiting for ages to say that without it being offensive )

unable to watch the game so i only have it on the radio but it seems pieterson just claimed a bit of a dodgy catch. I'm not convinced that in situations like that the catcher ever really knows if they've caught it 100% fairly, but it does seem we've got a few of these 'dodgy' catches this summer, i hope it isn't an indication of some of our newer players idea of sportsmanship.

Jones, Harmison and Flintoff bowling well.. test attack going well

[Victor Frankenstein]

bah that was in reply to the post above, the vaughan bit, damn your quick typing!

[Beny]

Pieterson took the catch easy. I was surprised there was any doubt.

[Occasional Fan]

It is a strange thing with TV replays sometimes that something can look absolutely clear first time through at full speed and then get completely unclear at replay speed. Same happens in rugby union sometimes.

[Occasional Fan]

Now 206-4 and a run rate above five. That is going to be pretty tough to chase under the floodlights.