Wonderful victory to savour. Wss never in doubt although when Clarke and Khawaja looked well set and both went past 50 I admit I did have a brief moment of "surely they can't..........can they?" Great captaincy by Cook to put himself at leg slip to get Clarke out. I wonder whether they'd do better by reversing their batting order! Their 10th wicket partnerships are looking a lot better than their opening partnerships anyway! 😆 Pattinson certainly looks more like a batsman than a 10 or 11. Very relieved to get that last wicket right at the end and not have to wait overnight for it. Bresenan bowled well enough to keep his place and the side should remain unchanged aside from a possible replacement if Pietersen doesn't recover in time. Morgan would probably be next in line although James Taylor is also being talked about. Hope they don't go for Bopara though he's also injured.
6th defeat in a row for Australia. The last time they lost 7 in a row was 1888. Let's equal that at Old Trafford! Still feels bizarre to say we've won 4 consecutive Ashes tests. 3 of them by ridiculously large margins too.
Also:
Watson gets out lbw in 30 per cent of his dismissals. No batsman to play as many as Watson’s 43 Tests equals that figure.
Watson also gets out between 30 and 60 in 35 per cent of his innings. No regular batsman in Test history comes close to such a proportion of innings that offer so much yet, ultimately, deliver so little.
He has faced 100 balls in an innings just 19 times in his career and only twice gone beyond 200. Watson’s former opening partner Simon Katich, a more durable but less explosive batsman, provides a powerful contrast. Katich stayed for more than 100 deliveries on 36 occasions and went past 200 eight times in just a handful more innings than Watson.
As for the golf, great round from Mickelson and fantastic comback after the heartbreak of the US Open. Feel sad for Westwood but guess it's never meant to be. So many chances over the years but just never quite good enough to close out a major. Destined to go down alongside Montgomery as one of the greatest never to win a major.
Congrats to Froome. No British Tour de France winners ever and now 2 in a row.
