fourth test, day three

0723: It's a dark day indeed when an unbeaten 26 from Chris Read is the only highlight for England, but that's about the size of it. Woeful England have been horribly outclassed here, and it now looks increasingly likely that Glenn McGrath's prediction will come horribly, painfully true. DT

0430: Even that pointless 350 now looks well beyond England in Melbourne. Is it wrong that I no longer really care? There's a big part of me that hopes England are put out of their misery tonight. DT

0314: I don't know what Ian Bell has done to upset Rudi Koertzen. It was almost inevitable after turning down so many clear-cut leg-befores that someone would eventually get a bad 'un from him. The fact it was Bell, the only previous player to be given out lbw in the match, does seem rather unfair. DT

0123: This has been a bad old tour for England, but there's some good news at last. Monty Panesar has beaten Fidel Castro into second place in the much-coveted "Beard of the Year" award. The Archbishop of Canterbury was third. DT

0034: England have actually polished the innings off pretty well there, but they now face a massive deficit. The pitch is definitely pretty good to bat on now, as Warne has shown this morning. But the new ball should swing for Brett Lee, and England will have to bat unbelievably well to get back into this game. A score around 450 is needed just to make this competitive. And it's hard to see it happening. Much more likely is England bat tenaciously and admirably, taking a day-and-a-half to score a largely pointless 350. Cook will probably get a very worthy 100 off 280 balls, Strauss will get a bad decision, Bell will look good before playing a bad shot, and I'll die a little inside. Dave Tickner