4th Test - Australia kissing their Ashes goodby?

[MajGenl.Meade]

9th over: Australia 32-6 (Nevill 2, Johnson 1)

Some more smart leaves from Johnson, and a couple of singles, one from each batsman, and it's a reasonably uneventful over.

Apparently the 19 deliveries in which Broad took his five-fer is the equal-quickest in Test history. Australia’s Ernie Toshack is the other one, against India in 1947. Not only is ‘extras’ Australia’s top-scorer, but it’s responsible for 38% of their runs so far.

Amanda in Adelaide writes: “Watching the cricket while in the early stages of labour. Can guarantee none of the contractions have been as horrific as this Aussie order collapse. Midwives are recommending distraction and denial to ease the pain. How wise they are.”

[MajGenl.Meade]

18th over: Australia 56-9 (Hazlewood 4, Lyon 5)

“I am emailing from the US,” says Andy Hall. “Is 54-9 good?” That very much depends, Andy.

Finn has a leg before shout against Lyon, but that was going way down leg. They then take a single off a no-ball, meaning that "extras" have now rocketed ahead as the Australian top-scorer, on 14.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Australia all-out - all-out! - for 60 (sixty)

WICKET! Lyon c Stokes b Broad 8

Flashy from Lyon, who gets a thick edge over the slips and to the boundary. “That’s four more,” says Shane Warne, with adorable and admirable positivity. But that doesn’t last, as next ball he edges to Stokes in the gully and Australia are skittled, 20 minutes before lunch. Simply extraordinary.

[Lord Jim]

I see Meade is channeling his inner wes...

Rapid multiple posts that nobody can understand, on a topic nobody cares about....

[MajGenl.Meade]

Ah. You see the pattern, grasshopper!

[Daisy]

Great stuff.

Even better that England are 274-4 at stumps and Root is on 124.

[Gob]

I wish I'd put $50 on the Poms winning the Ashes, not just $10!!!!!

[Gob]

Root alone scored double the whole Aussie side score!!!!!!!

[Lord Jim]

So since the Australians have gotten creamed so bad, that means it's over, right?

[Gob]

Ermm no? Still another day's play to go. Or possibly, but unlikely, another two or three.

[Lord Jim]

Oh that's right I forgot...

Cricket is that thing where they keep playing even after one side has lost....

[Crackpot]

You forget the sole purpose of cricket is an excuse to take a day off and get drunk. No way does the having a "winner" interfere with that.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Oh that's right I forgot... Cricket is that thing where they keep playing even after one side has lost....

Ah so in baseball if one side is winning 4-0 in the top of the 5th, the game is automatically over? They don't bother with the rest of the 4.5 innings?

And here was me thinking that only applied to the Indians

[Daisy]

You forget the sole purpose of cricket is an excuse to take a day off and get drunk. No way does the having a "winner" interfere with that.

By god I think he's got it

[MajGenl.Meade]

LJ, this is what happens when one side has lost - the game is over

England regained the Ashes after wrapping up a spectacular victory over Australia on the third morning of the fourth Test at Trent Bridge.

The hosts took Australia's three remaining second-innings wickets in 39 minutes to win by an innings and 78 runs

.

See, the Australians used up both their allotted innings (that would be 20 "outs" to non-English speakers) and their total score was 78 runs less than England scored in their first innings.

So there's no need to play England's second innings - just pull stumps, thump a weeping Oz and go to the pub for more beer.

[Daisy]

A superb bowling display from the England team. The pitch was turning beautiful for them this morning to make short work of the tail end.

Even the hardest of hearts must have felt a little sorry for the Aussie captain Clarke when he choked on the tears as he paid tribute to the boys in his team.

Australia must do what England have done for the last eighteen months since the series down under, regroup and learn from this humiliating series and come back fresh and strong.

There's still another test to come, maybe they can salvage something from that.

[Gob]

And Clarke has quit!!!!

[Gob]

Wish I'd made it $50!!!

[wesw]

please explain "Clarke has quit!!)

[Gob]

Sure Wes.

AUSTRALIA will have a new Test captain to lead them out of an Ashes crisis, after an emotional Michael Clarke confirmed he would retire at the end of a series already claimed in emphatic circumstances by a resurgent England at Trent Bridge.

The Poms wrapped it up quickly on day three, with Mitchell Starc (0), Josh Hazlewood (0) and Nathan Lyon (4) all falling in the first hour.

Day three begun with reports that Michael Clarke was calling stumps on his career, and at the end of the day’s play he confirmed that his last Test would be at The Oval.

“I will have one more Test,” said Clarke.

“That will be the end of my career. I’m retiring from international cricket. I’ll have one last crack at The Oval but the time is right now.

Michael John Clarke (born 2 April 1981) is an Australian Test cricketer and current Australian cricket team Test captain.

Under his captaincy Australia defeated New Zealand in the final of the recent ICC Cricket World cup at the MCG. He was also the Australian ODI cricket captain until his retirement from ODI cricket after the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

His ODI shirt number of 23 was passed on to him by Shane Warne after his international retirement. Nicknamed "Pup", he is a right-handed middle-order batsman, an occasional left-arm orthodox spin bowler and also a slip catcher. He represents New South Wales at a domestic level. In January 2011, Clarke stood down as captain of the Australian Twenty20 cricket team to concentrate on his Test and ODI performance.

On 22 November 2012, Clarke scored a double century at the Adelaide Oval, making him the only Test batsman to ever achieve four double centuries in a calendar year. He won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy, thereby winning the Cricketer of the Year 2013 and also the Test Cricketer of the Year 2013.

He led Australia to a 5–0 whitewash of England in the 2013–14 Ashes series. He was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2010 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.[5] He was named Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for the year 2012 in 2013 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.[6]

After announcing he would retire from One Day cricket after the end of the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Clarke starred in the final against New Zealand top scoring with a score of 74 of 72 balls, as Australia won their 5th World Cup title. He was bowled when 9 runs were required to win and received a standing ovation from the 93,013 strong MCG crowd after his dismissal.

On August 8 2015, Clarke announced that he would retire from all forms of cricket after the 5th Ashes test after a difficult series for both his own performance, and with Australia losing the Ashes, which is his 4th successive Ashes loss in England (3rd as captain)