England vs Australia 4th Test: 26-30 December
Day 1
England continued Christmas celebrations by crushing the Aussies at Melbourne on Day 1. I, surprised by the selection of Tim Bresnan, wasn't expecting this. England for Bressie over Finn, a mistake in my book. Prompted by the dismal performance of English batsmen, Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss picked Bresnan for a longer batting order. The batting should be stronger, not longer. When they fall, they do. True, the batsmen are good but falter under pressure. So work needs to be done on their mental attitude rather than tail-enders' batting. England already has Swann, Tremlett, no need for another bowler who can bat a bit. Tail-enders' usually only contribute when there is no pressure. And it isn't Finn's job to take wickets and score runs too. And my mates, you shall remember, Finn was the leading wicket-taker of the series before this Test.

Nevertheless, England seamers knocked up old rivals at the MCG in front of a near 90,000 witnesses on the Boxing Day. Jimmy Anderson, Chris Tremlett with assistance from Tim Bresnan have set the path for a 2-1 lead in the Ashes with one Test to go. Australia's 98 is their 2nd lowest total on this ground. Their lowest being 83 against India. This is also Australia's 4th score below 120 since 1990 in home Tests. Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss are now 4th on the list of opening pair with most century stands. They have had 10 so far. The ones above them are the pairs of Greenidge and Haynes, Hobbs and Sutcliffe, Hayden and Langer. They are tied with Chauhan and Gavaskar, Gambhir and Sehwag, Slater and Taylor for the 4th position. James Anderson is now the leading wicket-taker in the series with 16 wickets.

Paul Collingwood has saved England quite a few times but he also goes on a spree of runless matches. And England cannot afford that. However, finding a replacement isn't easy. Carberry and Morgan are in reckoning. I'd go for Carberry, looks determined.



Brief scores:

• Aus 98 in 42.5 overs
• Eng 157/0 in 47 overs (Cook 80, Strauss 64)