Paul Smith's autobiography "Wasted?" is a good read. When he was at Warwickshire he came home one day and found Keith Pipers car parked outside his house....Piper was inside doing his missus. Better than the John Terry and Wayne Bridge story. There's also a story in there about Smith joining the Mile High club with a girl in the toilets on a plane on the way to a Warwickshire pre season tour. I always liked Smith....could have been worth a shot with England, a bit of a Flintoffesque player, his effectiveness was better than his averages suggested, he was fast and got important wickets, and he could change a game in half an hour of batting.

So what's the strategy for tonight then? I'd try to rattle up another hundred quickly with Bell and Pietersen, and then declare. Even if they get over 400 (a day and a half) we could rattle off the rest in an hour or two.

I'd have a thrash for an hour..

Kinky.

The Aussie look absolutely shocking. England are just Embarrassing them, big time. And best of all there s no sign of rain! 600 is up.

Not much for the quicks yet.
Let's see what Swann can do.

Vital last wckt taken by KP i'd keep the old ball for few more overs and let Swann get at North and co.

IMO Strauss is going to regret that wasted hour this morning if the weather closes in.

Maybe, but IMV he should be regretting some of his cautious field settings, something that he's been guilty of before.

Awesome.

Night boys & girls

Brilliant.
What a team performance, all the key men came to the party.
Men against boys.
Looks like Strauss' decision to bat on was totally vindicated.
Bring on Perth.

well that makes it incredibly hard for them to win the Ashes back now. They need to win two from three against a side that they have only bowled out once so far....

Magnificent.

Superb Post 'lunch' pic from KP plixi.com/p/61469705

Superb Post 'lunch' pic from KP plixi.com/p/61469705

Quality performance this is an Aussie side full of genuine fear and i'm loving it ,just gutted for Broad.