Australia clutching at straws

Is there still a twist in the tale left in this Ashes series? Methinks not. Australia need to bowl England out, cheaply enough and quickly enough, and then have enough time to score the runs. And, crucially, the weather has to be kind enough. On the evidence so far this summer, neither England nor fate have given any concessions to the Aussies. But hey, what do I know? I remember the time when I had an argument with a friend that Viv Richards was miles ahead of Sanath Jayasuriya as a batsman - mind you, this was just after the 1996 World Cup when Jayasuriya was at the height of his powers, so such a comparison could be contemplated then, at least by those who didn't know much about the King. Anyway, I pointed to Jayasuriya's then mediocre test record and pointed to Richards' innings of 291 against England in his annus mirabilis of 1976. At the close of play of the test match going on (on the second day, I think), Jayasuriya was still batting. I couldn't believe my luck when me and my friend wagered on whether Jayasuriya could go on to make a triple-century. Now, this was the Colombo test of the 1997-98 series against India - I have never recovered from the ignominy. Regardless, yesterday was a bit of a lesson for the expert commentators (SBS/Channel 4), I thought. Dean Jones, Greg Matthews and Michael Slater were all going on and on about what kind of lead Australia would settle for, and at what point of time should they declare etc. There was one thing that bothered me - what if Flintoff or Harmison take a couple of quick wickets? Surely, that would slow them down a bit? In the end, it turned out far worse - Flintoff and Hoggard (not Harmison) ran through the middle and late order and Australia actually ended up six runs short! It has been that kind of a series for Australia. - NK