SECOND TEST, DAY ONE

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Panesar - inexplicably omitted again.

0835: Pietersen's breezy innings has turned a solid start into a cracking day for England after the early bombshell that the tourists were, astonishingly, unchanged.
The nerves at the start were understandable with the players all too aware of how crucial today was. If England had messed up today, the fight for the Ashes could have been all over. At 56 for two at lunch, England were on the brink.
So great credit must go to Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood for doggedly turning the situation around, however flat the pitch.
But the final word has to go to Pietersen's insane shot from the penultimate ball.
Sometimes, it's just your day.
If that ill-judged pull shot had gone straight into Glenn McGrath's hands, Pietersen would have been on the end of all sorts of flak, and a good deal of it would have come from here.
All of England hopes it's still his day tomorrow... DT

0520: Good old-fashioned Test cricket in Adelaide, and credit to Bell and Collingwood. The more the game goes on, the more it seems both sides may have boobed by not selecting better spinning options.

A couple of people in our Mailbox reckon the draw is the bet, and it's easy to see why, with 20 wickets looking like a very tough ask for either bowling attack here. DT

0223: England's pig-headedness already looks like costing them dear. Stuart Clark may have picked up a couple of wickets and has certainly bowled very well, but both dismissals owed more to awful batting than great bowling.
The only bowler who has really looked threatening is Shane Warne.
If England can improve on a hugely disappointing first session, Australia may yet rue the decision to pick only one front-line spinner.
England will definitely regret not picking one at all. DT

0005: Well, at least that's something. England now need at least 500 runs to compensate for having a four-man bowling attack with a specialist number-eight batsman. DT

1148: During the last Ashes Test, I used Albert Einstein's oft-quoted definition of insanity - doing the same theing over and over again and expecting different results - to light-heartedly suggest Andrew Strauss might want his head examined.

But after England unbelievably announced an unchanged line-up for the second Test, the question needs to be asked of Duncan Fletcher and the whole set-up.

It's good to see my suggestion that England should not field two spinners has been followed, but dismaying in the extreme to see it's Ashley Giles with his Test average on the wrong side of 40 who has got the nod. Giles is now officially the world's first specialist number-eight batsman.

If England lose the toss, this Ashes series is over as a contest. Dave Tickner