by Marcus Berkmann
Friday, August 3, 2001 When was the last time you looked forward to a day's Test cricket so keenly? It's amazing, really: Ashes Tests are by far the most popular in England and, for years now, by far the most miserable for English supporters to watch. In many ways they're the perfect game for our time: nasty, brutish and rather longer than you'd expect. Not unlike Gilchrist's innings today, in fact.

Perhaps the worst thing is the hope. That glimmer of better things is what keeps us all watching. Then worse things happen as usual and yet we keep on watching. Are we all mad?

Thursday, August 2, 2001
An interesting morning's play: possibly even too interesting. Much is talked of luck in cricket, and England could probably count themselves lucky to lose a wicket to a rotten umpiring decision as late as the second ball of the match. Whingeing Pom? Afraid so.

But then the smugness and arrogance of these Australians is close to intolerable. Example: Steve Waugh said he'd have bowled anyway if he had won the toss. Of course he would have. Who would dare suggest otherwise? But are the England players as angry about this as the rest of us? And if not, why not?

Marcus Berkmann is the back-page columnist for Wisden Cricket Monthly and the author of Rain Men, a book about being a regular but inept club cricketer

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