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| Some spare time for a walk in the park |
Walking to the WACA ground this morning, I almost succeeded in convincing myself that England's remaining batsmen would show some fight and hold out at least until lunch. Maybe the in-form Ian Bell would even hit a quickfire hundred to cheer the spirits (at this stage I'd actually have taken a really dull 50).
But as soon as play resumed, England's capitulation continued apace and - embarrassingly - it was all over before the first drinks interval. This meant that the cost of cricket per minute for the average spectator in the ground today was in the region of one Aussie dollar (or an eighth of a pint of beer).
This time Ryan Harris assumed the mantle of chief destroyer, taking a superb 6 for 47. Plentiful assistance was again provided by England's batsmen who continued to perfect an unhelpful tendency to miss balls aimed at their wickets (and yes, non-cricket fans, you guessed right that this is fairly fundamental). Some balls hit the pads, others simply knocked the stumps clean out of the ground - in the case of Jimmy Anderson's dismissal, almost impaling Aussie wicketkeeper Brad Haddin on the fourth cartwheel. Which would have been unfortunate, as even the Barmy Army doesn't dislike Mr Haddin quite that much.
In summary, England were completely stuffed in this game. This continues a sequence of complete stuffings at the WACA which dates back to the early eighties. All by huge margins. Maybe we were entitled to believe this match might be different given the apparent form and momentum of both sides going into this match. But in the end it was not to be, as Australia came back from the living dead to produce a really top class performance - one made all the more remarkable by the fact that three of their top line batsmen (Hughes, Ponting and Clarke) barely contributed a run.
So, where do England go from here? Further reflections will follow in the next day or so. Meanwhile Day 5 of this Test will be spent on the beach.
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