first test, day four

Strauss fell hooking for the second time.

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0800: That's more like it.
England are still going to lose, and lose comfortably, but there are at least a few Reasons To Be Cheerful now.
One, McGrath's been rubbish. If he can't "back up" in the second innings of the first Test, what's he going to be like after three or four games in a month?
He was mesmerising in the first innings, but if he can't perform consistently, England might be able to get back into this series.
Two, Ricky Ponting has hurt his back while Australia batted on and pointlessly on. If that in any way hampers his batting, then it has to be another tick for England.
Three, Collingwood and especially Pietersen have evoked memories of last summer with their batting today. The whole England camp must be feeling better about life, and that means they can at least head to Adelaide with some positive thoughts.
Four, it might absolutely chuck it down tomorrow. Billy Bowden is predicting rain, and if England escape from Brisbane with a draw, Ponting will have some very nasty questions to answer.
It's still a long way off, but he must be starting to sweat at least, while England perform the rain dance. DT

0444: England win a session, which is some comfort I suppose.
It has to be asid, there have been more positives in the last couple of hours than the first three days combined. Collingwood and Pietersen are going along nicely, while the Australian pacemen are now finding it just as hard as England's bowlers to get anything out of this pitch.
Warne has once again shown the virtue of possessing a world-class spinner, nipping out two key wickets.
Still, if these two batsmen can get through the evening session unscathed and Billy Bowden's doom'laden prophecies of thunderstorms tomorrow come to pass, then there could yet be a story here... DT

0135: Albert Einstein once defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".
Is Andrew Strauss insane?
He actually played the shot better this time round, but given England's situation the fact is he has basically given his wicket away in a situation where runs are irrelevant.
And for the second time in the match, his poor shot selection has cost England two wickets after a solid start.
Whenever he bats from here on in the series, Strauss will be reminded about his hooking problems, and he needs to get it out of his mind in a hurry. Dave Tickner