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What a great start for Bailess as coach of England.The Cricket World Cup put the poms at allmost there historical all time low.looks like that was the shakeup they needed.Maby this horror 3rd and 4th test in this Ashes might be our shakeup.
There is so many good young Cricketers in Australia waiting there chance at International level,bring them on.Just have to say on England Captain Allister Cooke,well done to you.Been under extreme pressure for a while now and the selectors faith in you has paid off.

Good post. Yes, England deserve our congratulations. Cook has done well. Sadly, the England selectors almost wrecked him by playing him in one day cricket, which is typical of our age. Just quickly on Broad too, we probably won't see those bowling figures in our life time again; hats off to the man

Stokes also has come of age in this series.

As for Australia there are probably 3 batting spots up for grabs for the summer test series. Bancroft,Khawaja,Burns,Maddinson and Head will all be hoping for a good start to the Shield season.

Finally kudos to Michael Clarke on a great career. It wasnt supposed to finish like this but fairy tales rarely happen in sport. Still many more positives than negatives and his finest hour was his courageous public response to the death of Phil Hughes.

mikeh....Stokes did bowl beautifully in the conditions, but come of age?.....the guy had only taken two wickets up till then.....pretty sure after the last Ashes visit to OZ the fella got dropped very soon after due to poor form........lets see how well he goes on those Dubai death beds or on the subcontinent......but have to admit he did make that Duke talk in that last innings.....

the Aussies struggled with the seam/swing just as much as the English struggled with the pace and bounce in 2013......reckon could see the same fear in the Aussie batsmen faces as there was in the English faces when Johnson was steaming in bowling at 150 km plus in 2013....horses for courses I guess......perhaps Australia should play all their games down in Hobart from now on.....especially before the next ashes trip to the UK in 2018/19

Freeze -- they could have quite easily played Yorkshire and Durham, both of whom have good attacks and spicy pitches, but they could not be bothered; it is a much easier life batting on roads against Kent in south east England.

ArkRoyal wrote: Freeze -- they could have quite easily played Yorkshire and Durham, both of whom have good attacks and spicy pitches, but they could not be bothered; it is a much easier life batting on roads against Kent in south east England.

Probably down to the Aussie arrogance after their 5 -0 win in 2013 more than being not bothered ark......hopefully lessons will be learnt......the riches of Ausie cricketers and senior management should probsbly be redirected into building an Academy for swing in Tassie.....and spin in Alice Springs.....to help replicate playing cricket in the UK and on the sub continent.....that should cover all bases for future generations of Aussie bowlers and batsmen......

good to see the bowlers get a look in for a change in a cricket match though....to many times the bowlers look crap due to flat decks, small boundaries and field restrictions.....

It always amuses me about ex players who want to heap scorn on the current team when their own record in England is open to question. For example how many series wins did Ricky Ponting have as a captain in England? oh yes that's right.

Mike -- true on Ponting. I seem to remember a time when, on a tour of England, they were going to drop the man for poor form.

Jim Maxwell on the radio the other night said the Brisbane Courier Mail,never mentioned Broads name once in the last Aussie ashes series..Called him the tall lanky medium pacer as one example.Thats all over not walking in the last English tour.Why hes still booed down under.Being booed in cricket is part of the game.
Maby in this case the last laugh is the loudest of all.Broad is responsible for Clarks premature retirement with his devastating first innings bowling effort.

It is a pity indeed about the antics -- and that is describbing it nicely -- of some Australians in regards to the so-called 'walking' controversy. Such people seem painfully unaware that, Border and co went on about it because it was a bad decision by the umpire and did not to highlight Broad's decision to not 'walk'. We know that Border and others could not criticise Broad for one simple reason: they never 'walked' themselves. Apparently, the refusal to 'walk' has a long history in Australia owing to the poor standard of umpiring in the Sheffield Shield. This tendency of 'poor umpiring' can be seen at test level in 1970-71, when the Englishman received few if any lbw decisions. Some how I can't see the Courier Mail of that time, and certainly not today's version, complaining on behalf of Ray Illingworth's team. We should be pleased for Broad because, looking back to the disaster out here, he bowlled with heart and effectiveness; and, overall, proved to be the one player whom left Australia having enhanced his reputation.