Shouting from the Hop

It ddn't take too long for England to lose today, about 90 minutes apparently. Kevin Pieterson (left) went to the fourth ball of the morning, and with it any forlorn hope that England could salvage a draw.

Jones and Giles hung around a while, but eventually they were all out for 370, and lost by 277 runs.

The result could have been worse; the first three days were pretty appalling from England's perspective, and a massive loss was avoided. In fact, the defeat is by less than the team lost by four years ago (384 runs).

Brisbane does seem to have massive wins to one team or the other - three of the biggest eleven winning margins by runs have been at the Gabba, with England holding the record win when defeating Australia by 675 runs back in the days of Larwood and Bowes. And last year, the West Indies got whipped by a lot more than Engand did this year at Brisbane! And one of the biggest innings victories on record was also in Brisbane.

So on to the next match - the second test starts on Friday at The Adelaide Oval. I forecast a draw here, as the pitch tends to be a little slower for both pacemen and spinners. Hopefully, the confidence that the batters gained in the second innings will allow England to compete, and with Monty Panesar back in the team (a must!), at least the threat of taking wickets will improve. England need to have confidence, as without that, they will just be anihilated by the Aussie pressure machine.