T1D4: Australia 602-9d (Ponting 196) & 202-1 (Langer 100*) v England 157 (Bell 50, McGrath 6-50) & 293-5 (C'wood 96, Pietersen 92*)

Ok. That was... like an improving curate's egg. Better in parts.

Some responsible batting by England, dragging them back from the depths of 36-2, particularly from KP, who did what he does best: consolidate, then start farming the bowling. Warne in particular got slapped through mid-on for several exquisite shots.

On the downside:

Strauss needs to either stop hooking or get a lot better at his shot selection: twice in two innings, straight down the throat of long/fine leg. 'Injuducious' doesn't begin to cover it.

Collingwood was doing so well, until he had a rush of blood to the head: charging Warne? Not the best move unless you are really seeing it like a football and you need to score runs. All he needed to do was Not Get Out. Muppet.

And as for the skipper? Freddie... Freddie. KP has his eye in: slapping him through mid-on when you're past 50 and seeing it well is one thing, hoicking him straight down Lander's throat when you've only just got in... quite another.

So, realistically? We're looking at Jones and Gilo 50s, an hour of Hoggy being his obdurate self, while KP sticks around for a double ton, and the forecast rain to turn up early...

For small values of 'realistically'.