The first Ashes test came and went, all that hoopla...but i must confess it was fun!!!

Harmison's first ball...hahahahah, i did laugh...it is lack of practice and not bowling enough, also you could tell that with all the media pressure and expectations he curled...

I was most surprised when Engliand did not play Panesar, what a terrible decision, batsmen make runs, bowlers WIN matches, espcially someone like him, attacking, patient and above all HUNGRY

He believes spin bowling is an art, his approach shows that, his patience is diligent and he never gives up...hopefully he will get his chance the next test.. I am not going to vent on that cause as Beefy and other commentators already did...and perhaps bored lots of cricket fans

Australia, no doubt are the stronger side on paper as well as on field..but they CAN be troubled with methodical approach, which obviously England lacked...other than Flintoff everyone should take a hard look at their bowling...

Nasser Hussein talked a lot about the pitch and said it was not fair to England batsmen as the picth had cracked and was going to be surprise--my asss...and BTW who allowed commentators to walk on the pitch and put finger, pens, and what not inside the cracks, are there NO rules...?

Going back to Nasser's point: When Australia batted in their second innings, the pitch was cracked and balls were flying, however, the England bowlers did not exploit that enough and Australia applied themselves and got 201 on a much talked batterd pitch...

One good thing, England scored 300+ in their second innings, that shows that they can bat...Collingood showed great aplication and discipline and KP did what he does best: ATTCAK..

First innings hero, Bell, played the wrong line and was done by a wrong one...Flintoff was done by bounce and Cook by inexperience, nonetheless they managed 300+ which gives me some hope that the series is not going completely down the drain...

In all that melee, it seems Botham celebrated his B'day..commentators cracked on his drinking, his reputation preceeds him now, though I have never met or seen him, either drink or play live, I must say that he looks like a person who will tests your stamina in the bar...Cheers...

In 1993 when England had come to India (Brownwash)...Kambli made 2 double hundreds, I was fourtunate to watch one at the Wankhade, and in the same Test, Hick cracked 175 odd...during one of the lunch breaks in that Test, i was a kid then, we walked around passing time for the game to start and came across David Gower, I still have his autography, I think he is one of the best left-handers to play the game... made it look easy, it never looked he was batting, i always thought he is painting or doing some artsy thing like that...and this is all watching him on TV and on tapes...