I am going stir-crazy without my sports!

[Walter Hale 4]

Cricket at the Melbourne Cricket Ground , Day 1 of the third test and a familiar tone, England batting first, managing only 185 runs !

The Aussies was off to a flyer but then , a hiccup with controversial aussie David Warner out for 38 runs, caught by Zack Crawley , bowled James Anderson. Australia score is 61 runs at the end of day 1.

Can England come up with something close to miraculous tomorrow - Bowl Australia out for a similar low score or... will it be the mother of all thrashings ?

[Walter Hale 4]

Day 2 and England has bowled out Australia for (by australia standards) low score of 267 runs.

Good fightback by the POM's I have to say. Credit to the bowlers and fielding today.

So, England trail Australia by 82 runs and their batters face a tricky one hour session right NOW.

For some crazy reason, i find myself cheering England in this test as i want to see a far more competitive series than this. Far Out londonflash

But their batters must, and need, to step up NOW AND TOMORROW and achieve a huge score, maybe 480 runs.
I honestly cannot see that happening.

[Walter Hale 4]

Ah Hell, Zak Crawley and the very next batter Dawid Malan both removed , out for a first-ball duck both times by Mitch Starc. Not the start England needed !

When are these batters going to step up, in this and the remaining two tests ?

[carolynlm]

It has been a great match so far......the Aussies are on a roll again....Starc on a hat trick....poor old Joe Root, you've got to feel sorry for him, but he is doing what he can...the others seem to have given up.

[carolynlm]

have to also say, the lady singing God Save The Queen did an awful job......why do they have to take the notes to a high level at the end...the guy did the same with Advance Australia Fair....

[londonflash]

Oh dear, having performed quite well with the ball, another batting collapse sees England in trouble again. Awful!

[carolynlm]

watching England with the ball, I knew it wouldn't be long before Australia would have them out again....looks like it might only be a 3 day test. Having said that, my daughter was telling me that the COVID rules in Sydney are a lot stricter than Melbourne. We will have to wait and see how the testing goes for the Sydney Test. The 5th test in Hobart instead of Perth might be a COVID testing nightmare as well.

[Walter Hale 4]

The Ashes: England and Australia return negative tests before third day of third Test -

Players from both England and Australia all returned negative Covid-19 PCR tests before the start of the third day of the third Ashes Test.

The families of both sets of players also undertook PCR tests and they too have come back negative.

On Monday, the start of play in Melbourne was delayed by 30 minutes after some England support staff and family members tested positive.

There are six confirmed cases in the wider touring group.

England ended day two on 31-4 in the second innings, trailing Australia by 51 runs.

Play resumes at the MCG at 23:30 GMT.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/59770507

[Walter Hale 4]

There's a very strong chance England will get bowled out without Australia having to bat again

Not a good sign and endorsement for Test Cricket let alone the Ashes.

Test Cricket itself is under siege from other forms of the game such as the Big Bash league.

[Walter Hale 4]

UPDATE

All Over Red Rover after just one hour and twenty minutes of play on day three

England has been bowled out for a measly 68 runs.

Australia wins by an innings and 14 runs!!!

And baring in mind the aussies themselvis achieved a low score of 267 runs!

Australia retains and rules the Ashes !!!

It was indeed the mother of all thrashings. but lets be honest, this is not a good endorsement for Test Cricket, by any stretch of the imagination.

[carolynlm]

I was thinking we may have 11 Englishmen seeking asylum in Australia or permanent residency.....the English press are going to be brutal. Was very happy to see Botham slouching in his chair though.

[londonflash]

First of all, congratulations to the Aussies - hugely deserved.

Shambolic from England, terribly embarrassing. Woeful with the bat, just shockingly bad. Not once did we get over 300 runs in an innings. A number of those batsmen shouldn't get anywhere near the side again.

Like you both said, not a great endorsement for test cricket. Sadly, the longer form of the game has been marginalised in England in favour of limited overs cricket.

This is the outcome.

[Walter Hale 4]

The fourth test in Sydney has ended in a draw.

Credit to England who showed some fight -

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/59925558

[londonflash]

Better from England, a bit of grit at last. At least it won't be a whitewash now.

[Walter Hale 4]

Congrats to the Canada team on winning the Tennis A.T.P Cup held at Sydney Olympic Park. They defeated Spain.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/shapovalov-carreno-busta-atp-cup-2022-final

[carolynlm]

Better from England, a bit of grit at last. At least it won't be a whitewash now.

It was a great game LF, from start to finish.....watching the Poms on the sideline during the last over was nerve racking....Stokes hiding his face in his T Shirt.....no whitewash, but I think cricket was the winner here.

[Walter Hale 4]

Oh no ! young Emma Raducanu has played an absolute shocker losing 0-6,1-6, to Elena Rybakina in the Sydney Tennis just moments ago.
The 19 year old US Open champion needs to get her mojo working for next week's Australian Open.

[Walter Hale 4]

Cricket Ashes - Day 1 of the Day/Night fifth and final test being played in Hobart, AU.

England winning the toss, chosen to bowl ....And... surprise, surprise ... who would've thought they'd be kicking Australia's butt dismissing three batters for just 12 runs ???!!
Australia, from that point on , have staged a face-saving recovery with Travis Head scoring 101 runs from 113 deliveries before he was dismissed!

At the end of day/night 1, Australia is 6/241. Can they go on and score a respectable 300 or over?

[Walter Hale 4]

UPDATE moments ago, Australia was bowled out for 303 runs , in their first innings. England has set themselves up with very good chance to win the test... if... their batters can put together a good competitive score, who would've thought.

[Walter Hale 4]

Day/Night 3 is underway and England looks like they're about to get their backsides kicked - yet again. Game could be over by the end today's play.

One more point - this pitch/ wicket they're playing in Hobart is very much a Bowler's pitch. That's why on this particular test , batters are being dismissed a lot earlier and scores are low , for both teams.

[Walter Hale 4]

It's all over. Australia with a decisive win just moments ago, in Hobart after almost three days of play

They've won the series 4 Nil and one other test (Sydney) was draw.

But this test was low-scoring test, for both sides as i said before, very much a bowlers paradise.

I guess one way to look at it was every run scored was worth two, under those conditions.

Good write-up here in case anyone's interested:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/live/cricket/57164874

[londonflash]

I thought England had a real chance when I turned on at 68-0.

How wrong was I?

Another epic batting collapse during this calamity of a tour.

Fair play to the Aussies again. Didn't bat particularly well as a unit, but against England they didn't have to.

Lots of work to do to fix the problems facing England's red ball team.

[Walter Hale 4]

I thought England had a real chance when I turned on at 68-0.

How wrong was I?

Another epic batting collapse during this calamity of a tour.

Fair play to the Aussies again. Didn't bat particularly well as a unit, but against England they didn't have to.

Lots of work to do to fix the problems facing England's red ball team.

yeah, that was quite a collapse.

After they fought in Sydney where the 4th test finished in a draw, this test must gone down as anti-climatic, certainly disappointing for any England fan, over in three days
And disappointing to all supporters of Test cricket too, because they'd expected a more competitive contest, and England- at least in their batting department, just haven't mustered that for any sustained period. Well played Australia. Next will be three games limited overs series with New Zealand .

[londonflash]

I thought England had a real chance when I turned on at 68-0.

How wrong was I?

Another epic batting collapse during this calamity of a tour.

Fair play to the Aussies again. Didn't bat particularly well as a unit, but against England they didn't have to.

Lots of work to do to fix the problems facing England's red ball team.

yeah, that was quite a collapse.

After they fought in Sydney where the 4th test finished in a draw, this test must gone down as anti-climatic, certainly disappointing for any England fan, over in three days
And disappointing to all supporters of Test cricket too, because they'd expected a more competitive contest, and England- at least in their batting department, just haven't mustered that for any sustained period. Well played Australia. Next will be three games limited overs series with New Zealand .

We've lost heavily in Australia a lot recently (2010 -2011 the glorious exception) but I've never seen us as toothless and feeble as on this tour.

Even when we've been in a good position, like this morning, it's been thrown away. 68-0 to 124 all out is unacceptable, as is failing to post a score of over 300 in an innings.

Australia didn't even have to be at their best to embarrass England.

[Walter Hale 4]

Australian Open tennis day/night 2 and a long 5 setter, 4 hour win for Andy Murray . Not quite the start you want for your opening round match. Murray has been a four time runners up here.

Also a very good win for Emma Raducanu vs Sloan Stephens - the 2017 U.S. Open winner.
Emma has played very little tennis since winning the U.S Open because of covid 19. Scoreline was a bit odd however, given that both are U.S. Open champions.

Unfortunately Emma's rival, Leyleh Fernandez lost today in two sets. Am sad about it as i was hoping for rematch of last years U.S. Open - the Battle of the 19 year olds - would have been a great match-up for the tournament. It wasn't to be.

leyleh fernadez (canada) 2048x1510.jpg