Merry Christmas to all

[marcymarc24]

Hold your horses! An England win could still still be on here! If early wickets fall and Kallis can be accounted for we should win. South Africa's middle order don't seem to have the experience to cope with a run chase/block on the last day.

I predict an England win by 210 runs!

To keep this thread running related I did 5.2 miles today

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Let me put it a little more bluntly... England have South Africa on the ropes; they are absolutely in the box seat and have a string of wins behind them. SA need a Durban 4th innings record to win from there and are already 1 down with a big mountain to climb. If England can't finish them off now, then they certainly won't beat Australia next July... Of course they can win - and they'd better give a bloody good account of themselves or the Ashes tour will be another one-sided affair, and no-one wants that except for maybe a few flat-headed moronic blood-sport-types. No, I think SA will collapse in the middle order and England will win by 100+ runs.

To keep this running related I'll mention Paula Radcliffe.

[marcymarc24]

The pitch still seems very docile though after the ball gets old, Giles will have a lot of work to after the quickies have an initial spell.

To keep this post running related I will mention a left calf strain I got today.

[Sweder]

Pollock and de Villiers look well set, although I fancy our chances with the new ball. Harmison is off form; if he comes back in the New Years test this could be horribly one-sided. We'll need Jones and Flintoff to step up, although to be fair most key wickets this innings have fallen to rank deliveries.

The main purpose of my post, however, is to let you know that I'm still off training waiting for my chest to clear.

[Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man]

Aaaaaah, how agonising ... just two wickets to get and the whole thing is ruined by bad light. A moral victory for England though, it must be said.

The point of this post though is to tell I've been taking glucosamine for some arthritis in my knee. Works a treat, too.

[Sweder]

You live by the dirty black cloud, you die by the dirty black cloud . . . bad weather has saved England's bacon on more than one occasion, so it would be churlish to wail and gnash one's teeth at the outcome in Durban.

Interesting to observe the psycological effects of this game. SA will feel they should have won in three days; England that they should have completed one of the greatest turn-arounds in test history. SA may look at it as a bravura rearguard action by their tail; England may reflect on their failure to apply a timely coup de grace.

All will be revealed in the New Year when, incidentally, I expect to return to my training schedule. 1/2 in Spain at the end of January and all that . . .

Pip pip!

[William_Shakespeare]

You live by the dirty black cloud, you die by the dirty black cloud . . . England may reflect on their failure to apply a timely coup de grace.

Aye, Summer's lease hath all too short a date.

[Sweder]

Hey Bardy, why no running related post, dude?
The raw nerve of some people!

[William_Shakespeare]

The course of true love never did run smooth.

(A Midsummer Night's Dream Run, a personal favourite.)

[Sweder]

Nice one, Bill.