What is going on?

[bellinghman]

So I wander off to see what the score is on the second day of the final Ashes Test match, expecting that England will have been dismissed, and that Australia will be building a decent reply.

Only to find out that England are batting, in their second innings. Australia have collapsed after lunch, almost far enough behind to deserve a follow on.

Is it me, or is the story of the Ashes this year basically one of which team collapses first?

Comments

[erikvolson.livejournal.com]

Isn't over yet, given how fast England gave up three wickets. But yes, it was odd to see the day start at England ~305-8 and end England ~50-3....

[liasbluestone.livejournal.com]

It has been a bizarre series, it's true.
One convincing win and one scraped draw each.

Inconsistency is what we expect of England, but it's mightily strange to see it in the Aussies too.

All things considered, they are still the better team, but they are not the Aussies we know of old.

All in all, we were damn lucky to get to bat first on this pitch. It'll be won or lost in the first session tomorrow, I think. If England can bat the first session out they'll probably post a big enough lead to win it. If they don't, Australia have got over 2 days to make the runs, so they can dig in and score as slowly as they have to.

Weather permitting, of course.