Durhamfootman wrote:they won't want to lose, imo
might be academic........game is England's hands not theirs
Not necessarily. If anyone has a decision to be made it will be Australia, although that will be well into tomorrow. Their first goal is to bat out today. Fail to do that, and and England win is all but assured (with the usual caveat that you can never assume anything about this England side's batting reliability, I doubt that even they would fail to chase a target of less than 150 on this pitch without Starc in the attack).
On the other hand, if Australia are still batting and have wickets in hand late in the morning session tomorrow, they will have a choice. Declare and offer England 200-250 to chase in around 2 sessions, and back themselves to get the wickets in 2 sessions (and we know that could happen) with the prospect of a loss, or bat on into the afternoon and kill the game off?
I think they'll declare early, make the target just about gettable enough for England to have a sniff of chasing it, and go for the win. After all, they already hold the Ashes, whether they lose or draw this game is largely irrelevant. But a win keeps that whitewash on the table...
Of course, as you say, this could easily be academic if Australia don't bat well today.