What a days cricket - wish I could have watched it. Shame Jones didn't get any runs but he didn't need to at that stage. I really want him to do well.

Not convinced we can get 20 wickets on this surface though, without Panesar.

Are they the same team who played the last test? Where have all the good batsmen come from?

I'm going to stay up tonight to watch it. It's the only day I can really manage it.

Hopefully we'll carry on where we left off this morning.

I think I might subscribe to Skysports tonight and do likewise!

Well, a shock defeat for England when a draw seemed certain.

Typical of this year really. The Ashes are returning to Australia for definite now, I feel.

They'll probably pick Panesar for the next test but you can't help feeling that it's too late. They should have picked him ahead of Giles or Anderson.

To put £10 on Australia, you will get back 10p.
To put £10 on a draw, you will get back £5,000.
To put £10 on England, you will get back an emergency treatment course.

[England's odds are really something like 900-1]

England need to make 3 changes for the next test match- Mahmood for Anderson, Panesar for Giles, and Read for Jones. I'd give Harmison another match because on his day he's a match winner, and that's our only chance of beating the Aussies.

Hurrah! Monty got his chance and boy did he take it... Shame we lost a couple of wickets before close of play though.

I reckon we might win this test (touch wood, thought that about the last one after Day 1 ) but we still have no chance of winning the series.

Thank God for Panesar, although from what I read everyone played pretty well, hopefully we can win this test now!

What gets me is why did Panesar not get in to the top 3 on Sports personality?

I think it's because he wasn't picked for the first two tests of The Ashes, which of course he should have been.

Not a good day for England, in fact I think 3-0 and The Ashes lost is looming now. Bad selection in the series, and Flintoff's captaincy hasn't helped. What was wrong with Andrew Strauss as captain?

Me and my big mouth....

What a terrible day.

Monty and Steve did fantastically well as our final pair to get a decent partnership going and Hoggard getting Langer out first ball was superb!! It all went a bit downhill after that unfortunately.

Lots of questions need to be asked:

1. Why wasn't Monty in from the start?
2. Why did England go on this tour totally unprepared?
3. Why pick Geraint Jones over Chris Read?

And the list goes on and on, threw the wickets away needlessly in Perth and now the Ashes are heading back to Australia.

My suggestion is that after this inevitable defeat, give some of the fringe players a run out in Melbourne and Sydney to warm them up for the summer Tests against West Indies and India. Also draw a line under Geraint Jones's Test career for now and bring in Chris Read for the World Cup and the summer Tests

Read had demonstrated that his batting was more than capable. How far do you go down the line of picking people just because they were in the Ashes winning team? You might as well bring back Boycott, Gower, and Botham! Jones has to go, and given Cook's lack of impact, I would give Joyce a go in the next test unless Cook can do something special in the final innings.

Freddie has made a pig's ear of the captaincy, the sooner Vaughan comes back the better

Agreed Jones (as in Geraint) has to go, surely the selectors can't tolerate this anymore.

England are dangerously close to being whitewashed unless they can get their act together for the inevitable 2 dead rubbers and on current form that seems very unlikely

Australia regain the Ashes

Geraint Jones out for another duck, he has got to go now no more chances

Reid in for the two dead rubbers please

Sorry, but I have always rated Chris Read above Geraint Jones, and there is no excuse now to keep Jones, who is abysmal.

Chris Read and Monty Panesar should never have been dropped in place of Jones and Giles. What had they done wrong to lose their places? Andrew Strauss should have continued as captain, and they should have picked Gloucestershire's Jon Lewis instead of James Anderson and Saj Mahmood who are too inexperienced to play Australia in their own backyard. Also there's no doubt about it, England miss the likes of Vaughan, Trescothick, and Simon Jones. I will be pleasantly surprised if we don't lose this series 5-0.

I was just about to post a message here but you've pretty much said all I wanted to say...

So I'll just say, I agree.