The Ashes, baby!

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Indeed it has been quite engrossing. Good cricket all round I think - nothing wrong with the bowling at all, but conditions clearly favouring the batsmen thus far. If the pitch starts to turn any more however, England could still have a chance of pulling something out of the hat ... but they need some wickets pretty soon I should think. Jimmy Anderson has once again impressed me, and of course Panesar (damn him) as ever looks dangerous, as does Freddy.

I was a little surprised at the pessimism expressed after the end of play by people such as Jonathan Agnew and David Gower - Australia is not the team it once was, and have always been susceptible to collapse if the attack turns savage. A bit of extra spin, a bit of aggro from the quicks and who knows? There's still plenty of life in this match yet.