Ashes 2021-22.

[Arthur Crabtree]

ECB board sharing a £2.1m yearly bonus, apparently.

[bigfluffylemon]

Ugh. Some good bowling had Australia under a little pressure, then Robinson bowls a few half bungers at 120kph and all the pressure has gone.

[bigfluffylemon]

Why no leg slip for Leach v the left handers?

[yuppie]

England are back in it, bowling against 2 inexperienced batters now.

The door is open, they really need to go through it this time.

[bigfluffylemon]

It's like deja vu all over again. England's bowlers almost get them into the game, but they can't dismiss the tail and they put on enough to put the seal on it.

[bigfluffylemon]

JIMMY!

4-28 off 22 overs. Take a bow, sir.

[bigfluffylemon]

You'd have taken 267 all out for Australia in the first innings, both before play and even after England's first innings, I think. Bowlers have done the best they can.

England are technically in the game, but will have to bat much better than they have yet in the series to actually have a hope of winning. I don't see it happening.

[andy]

31-4! Ducking dreadful

[Arthur Crabtree]

Top order doing what they do best.

Haseeb might be due a rest.

[alfie]

Ah well unfortunately that last hour has undone all the good work of the bowlers - and it was a really fine effort : with a little more luck they'd have had Australia out for a good deal less : would you believe Harris (honest though his innings was ) played and missed 19 times in his 76 ? And he wasn't the only one.

But at minus 51 and four down already Joe Root must be feeling like Sisyphus...

Nevertheless I have really enjoyed today. Good hard Test Cricket ; and even the demolition of the England second innings was more down to some truly terrific Australian bowling than just the ineptitude of the England top order. Cummins - although wicketless so far - and Starc were awesome. Honestly if you couldn't get a thrill out of watching that you really don't love cricket.

Still desperately hoping for the remainder of the bats to scrape some sort of a lead and make a game of it - on a pitch which is far from easy to bat on and will likely get worse. But I am not confident : and even if they can manage to set a target it is going to be a huge task for Anderson at 39 to back up so quickly - and with Robinson possibly a bit the worse for wear after his dropped c&b fall and Wood likely weary hard to see how they could defend one. At least they showed the fight we wanted to see today. They're just outgunned , I'm afraid.

[mikesiva]

Is Buttler really the best wicketkeeper in England today?

That missed stumping off Leach was school boy error standard.

[alfie]

Is Buttler really the best wicketkeeper in England today?

That missed stumping off Leach was school boy error standard.

Slightly harsh , Mike : it turned and bounced a lot - wasn't really that easy. But no , he's not a class keeper. Lacks footwork which is one reason why he's always diving around - which can make his catches look better and his drops harder. One stumping in 36 Tests probably speaks for itself a bit...

[Gingerfinch]

We've been planning two years for this? Sounds like a cunning Baldrick plan!

As for Buttler. It must be a case of being matey with the right people? Also, there are arguably bigger issues, like the top three.

[GarlicJam]

What a day of test cricket. Very good effort from the bowlers and in the field for England.

The bowlers must be so despondent looking at the state of play, after doing so well for the majority of the day, all the good work is undone.

However, it was a spellbinding period of bowling from Australia. A perfect spell, really.

[sussexpob]

Fair play to the bowlers...they don't deserve this batting support. Got England vaguely back in the match, only for it to be snubbed out in a whirlwind. Australia will, I expect, have sealed the deal by the time I wake up tomorrow ....

May as well pilot in a few players for the last game and give them a try out. Not that it will happen.