TOPIC:

Great research about England's bowling load and I like your suggestion about a change in the batting order if we can survive the first hour without loss, PremHang.
However, I'd send Mitch Marsh in at No.3 instead of Travis Head, mainly so that we have a right-hander/left-hander combination.
It would be nice to see Mitch dispatch a few deliveries from the surly Joe Root into the crowd.
I have a feeling that rain will have a big say today, so that might save one side or the other.
I expect the England camp will whinge either way. 

The rain definitely helped England this time. Another hours play and the target would have been less than 200.
The England bowlers now have a chance to regroup and if they can get a breakthrough early on day 5 would still be favoured to win IMO.

So finally we saw a bit of the old David Warner. Can he and Khuwaja go on with it? What's the weather forecast boys?

Showers in the morning then less likely after lunch. Should be enough time for an outcome either way

anything around 250 on day 5 has always been near impossible 
even with all 10 wickets
there has to be some sort of intent
 

I wish Kawaja would stop wasting reviews every time he is given out.
 

The new ball that they got given on a platter late yesterday in place of the one that looked like a dog had been playing with it is doing the job for them this morning.
I guess they won't whinge about that

Another limp finish for Australia on Day 5 losing 10/199.
All to play for, a chance at being the first Australian side to win an Ashes Series in England for 22 years and predictably fell in a heap, no doubt the lingering lasting effects of a recent (well 2 years ago now) former coach to blame!
So at the end of the day despite all the hoohaa from certain sections (well one anyway) this McDonald/Cummins regime so far in its only 2 Test Series against decent current Test playing sides (India & Eng, we are yet to play NZ) has not won either!
With an ageing line up of Warner (37), Khawaja (37), Smith (34), Head (30), Marsh (32), Carey (32), Starc (33), Cummins (30), Hazlewood (32), Lyon (35) and back ups Boland (34), Neser (33), Harris (31) all over 30 and their best cricketing days behind them I can sense a 1984 feel about this Australian Test side....

The floodgates as expected, well n truly opened as the day went on. Golden opportunity missed to chase down that big total.....but 334 isn't to be sneezed at either....too many starts, not enough finishes. 

Obviously Cummin's captaincy will be given some heat....and rightly so....would like to think the selectors as well, will be put under the pump......Woakes was instrumental in Eng 2-2 fightback....morally a 3-2 fightback TBH.. Neser  is Australia's Woakes  like for like, in terms of bowling style and batting prowess. Neser deserved a game, to show his wares, but unfortunately didn't get a go.

Uzzie being the leading run scorer has gone some way to erasing his past UK failures.....Murphy for me, in the 2 games he played, was the shining light of this UK tour... can bowl under pressure and  bat under pressure too.
The rest had fleeting moments, just not enough consistency across the series.

Not sure who the next skipper would be if Cummin's stands down, Head is a technical spud against spin, and will struggle if pitches aren't flat and bouncy. Marsh showed glimpses, but Aust can't play Green and Marsh in the same side, and Green is ultimately the future. Carey faltered after Lord's, succumbed to the crowd and media attention....is that a sign of mental fragility?....if so, then not captain material.

Cheers for the R&P banter, happy to admit they arent what Aust needs long term, but a realist in knowing, of the 2, only Cummins will be replaced....too good a bowler to be worrying about tactics etc. 

As for Eng, if they think they uphold the spirit of cricket and are only interested in entertaining then results, they are full of moral horseshite. In this test alone through bullying umps for ball changes and reviewing dropped catches. Over the course of the  series Eng hypocritical whinging and moaning has been pathetic to say the least. 

Congrats to Broad on a fantastic career.....Eng will miss him badly and TBH thank fark he is gone.

Probably fitting that this team have not broken the drought of series wins in England since 2001 as of this current team I reckon only Smith and Cummins would get into that Steve Waugh team of the early 2000s.

The day was a microcosm of the series really, promising starts but nobody hung in to see the job through. I didn't really expect that Australia would chase down the runs but once they were 3 down and needing 120, they should at least have been able to hold on for the draw and the series win.

Instead they were bowled out by a group of aging, creaking pace bowlers with lots of overs under their belt and a spinner who came out of retirement, stumbling around the place with a dodgy groin. The Australians never showed Moeen any respect but he kept getting wickets. That was the ultimate humiliation for the aging creaking batting line up

Only the most one eyed Australian fan would claim that retention of the ashes was anything but hollow in this series. England played far more enterprising cricket and but for a few stuff ups early in the series and the Manchester weather would have won this in a canter.

That ball change for England yesterday was the tin hat on what I thought was a dreadful performance by Wilson and Dharmasena in this match. I would have preferred a couple of English umpires rather than these incompetents.

This is going to be a tough few years for Australian cricket. The team will be totally different for the next ashes series in 18 months and unless the selectors can pull some rabbits out of the hat, it could be rather a long summer.