And on the markets this Saturday morning: Dax are up, Dow closes on a record high, and Australia are 100-1 on to win the Ashes (source: Paddypower)
Having missed almost all of the second day's play due to AGMs and children (although I did happen to chance upon seeing the conclusion of the England innings), I'll refer instead to the comments of others.
We could all go insane wondering What If Monty Played In Brisbane And Adelaide? At least he didn't get Mister Cricket, whose Test career batting average has climbed to 85.35.
Still, I'm going to stick my neck out and say that Australia will take a first innings lead some time Friday afternoon.
My Midwinter-Midwinters: Monty Panesar 3 pts; Michael Hussey 2 pts; Steve Harmison 1 point.
Dax are up 45. Nasdaq closed up less than a point. The Nikkei is up 60. Centrebet have Australia $1.90 to win the Ashes on Monday, and $5.00 to win on Sunday.
Monty and Sajid are in the England team for the WACA. Unfortunately, Flintoff and Fletcher are still in charge.
No I'm not still in shock after Australia's remarkable victory in the Second Test last Tuesday, I simply haven't had the time to write about it over the past week.
But to keep the Midwinter-Midwinter tally up to date, the points for Adelaide Day Five were - Shane Warne 3 pts; Ricky Ponting 2 pts; Mike Hussey 1 pt.
Amusing little stoush hotting up between Cricket Australia and the Murdoch Media Monolith over intellectual property rights to Test highlights.
The Murdochariat are showing three minutes of video highlights each day on the Fox Sports website, despite Cricket Australia issuing a fatwa saying they are only allowed thirty seconds. Murdochistas at News Ltd assert that they are making "fair use" of the footage for reportage of a news event.
Australia - you know, the team that conceded 591 551 runs in the first innings - has won the Second Test.
More when I recover from the shock.
What's the chances of a sporting declaration by Freddie Flintoff some time on Tuesday afternoon? You probably know the answer as well as I. Shall we start woofing Paul Collingwood now?
Midwinter-Midwinter points for Day Four: Matthew Hoggard 3 pts; Michael Clarke 2 pts; Adam Gilchrist 1 pt.
I'll roundup all the audio roundups at the conclusion of the Test when I have time to listen to them.
My lack of updates over the weekend is not a sign of dismay over England's superb performance at the Adelaide Oval - my feelings about England are indeed quite the opposite. I've just been either too busy or too tired.
Australia suddenly looks brittle. Did I mention 2005 revisited?
Midwinter-Midwinter points for Saturday: Paul Collingwood 3 pts; Kevin Pietersen 2 pts; Stuart Clark 1 pt.
Midwinter-Midwinters for Sunday: Matthew Hoggard 3 pts; Ricky Ponting 2 pts; Michael Hussey 1 pt.
I think this Test is going to be a draw already.
Midwinter-Midwinter points for Day One: Paul Collingwood 3 pts, Ian Bell 2 pts, Kevin Pietersen 1 pt.
Please note: the official pronounciation of XSPF is "spif", even though it stands for "XML Shareable Playlist Format". About eighty minutes of poddage from the ABC, BBC, Guardian, CricInfo, Telegraph and Daily Mail.
First Test, Lords 2005: Australia defeated England by 239 runs. England won series 2-1.
First Test, Brisbane 2006-07: Australia defeated England by 277 runs. Is history about to repeat itself?
I doubt it. The yawning experience gap makes the difference this time, added to the intense hunger that the Australian team feels to regain the Ashes.
