So how long to the Matches usually last? Is this a long weekend sort of deal?
It’s fun reading the play by play from you guys.
Is the Aussie/Brit game the only game (is this like a superbowl?) or is it like the World Cup where a bunch of teams have come to play? If so, who will the winner play?
Come on Australia 
Hi Gary Kelly
Spend Sixpence??? why do that when you can lend it to the English and charge interest 
David
Test cricket is played in a series or either three or five matches usually between just two countries. There are about 9 or 10 countries with test match status. Games last five days and play is for 30 hours. There is a ranking system based on home and away form against all test-playing countries but beating number one is always a big thing. Australia has been number one for most of the last 10 or 15 years. The only teams to oust them in that time would have been the West Indies in the early 90s and India occasionally. England haven’t beaten Australia in a series for about 20 years. This one is anticipated to be the most competitive in that period.
Cricket is a big deal wherever it is played but especially on the Indian sub-continent where cricketers are treated like film stars. There are over a billion Indians alone and most seem to love cricket.
Australia and England have been playing eachother in test cricket since 1877. They play for a trophy known as the Ashes.
That’s lesson one; I’ll leave it to someone else to explain further.
Good lesson!
That answered most of my questions.
Go, England!!!
(I’ve always tended to root for the underdog)
Why oh why did I have to post that Flanders and Swann song? 
Because it’s jolly well true, that’s why! The Ozzies have been practicing, dammit.
Don’t despair yet, Gary. There could be plenty of twists and turns in this match yet. Even a modest batting revival this English morning would leave the match fairly evenly poised.
The wicket was clearly substandard and apparently a sudden dry spell seriously hampered preparation. Obviously, if the pitch settles down into a flat track, the game will be decided on the second innings. If it stays the same or deteriorates further, it will be harder for England to get back into the match. Either way, I don’t think this match will be a very good indicator of how the series will go.
Translate: “We’re gonna win! We’re gonna win! Nyahh nyahh.”
I thought Womblers was being very gracious and sportsmanlike.
Then I remembered he’s an Ozzie! 
I hope it goes the full 5 days though. There’s nothing worse than a Test that’s all over in 3 days, particularly after one’s endured a winter full of boring cra*p like football and have been looking forward to sunshine and the sound of willow on leather.
For those interested, Test Match Special (which is to us as British as cricket) is on the air here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive/live/live_sportsextra_int.asx
Blowers is nattering at the mo.
So, come on, what’s the latest update???
Tom
Just bumping waiting for somone to fill us in on the latest.
Tom
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/4706335.stm
There you go.
You will have to wait for Gary, Martin or Wombat to translate this into simple terms.I have not got a clue what it’s all about.
Slan,
D. 
Thanks. I’m not certain but I think it means that England is getting its butt kicked.
Tom
I had that bit figured out, I just don’t know how hard the kicking is 
Slan,
D.
A quote from the above BBC link: "And they may come to regret the miss by Pietersen, who spilled an untaxing chance low to him at extra cover just before tea when Clarke was still getting his eye in. "
Oh… of course… Clarke was getting his eye in…
WHAT?! 
Is there any language translator out there that can help with this?
THe only thing I can figure out is the explanation of why Peitersen spilled his chance: his tea low level light was on. He must have spilled his tea.
Maybe it means it took him too long to figure out the spin of the ball being pitched, (do they use “pitched?”), and by the time he got going he was out?? Probably way off base.
Speaking of “getting his eye in” does anyone know what they call a clumsy opthomolagist?
An Eye dropper.
Tom
We are merely lulling the Ozzies into a sense of false security. There are still 3 more days of play to go, dontcha know. We’ll skittle 'em out early tomorrow, and then spend 2 and a half days at the crease showing 'em how to bat properly.
Thanks, I think. What is the “skittle 'em out” reference to?
It means we might be sorry that Pietersen dropped a catch that any five year-old could’ve held ("spilled an untaxing chance) while he was fielding at extra cover (“at extra cover”), just before tea. And the Pratt dropped Clarke before the Aussie was settled in.
To get one’s eye in… to become accustomed to conditions. In this case, to get used to the bowling, the pace (speed of the ball), how the ball bounces off the pitch, where the fielders are, and actually being able to hit the ball. It takes a while, and for the first few overs a batsman is a bit tentative about going for his shots “until his eye is in.” Which of course is when he’ll make mistakes, like being caught at extra cover. Except when bloody Pietersen is daydreaming out there. 
It means that our bowlers will be knocking the stumps over like ten-pins. “Skittles” is, uhm, ten-pin bowling over here. Sort of. There’s an indoor version of 10-pin bowling played in pubs, which is called skittles. I don’t spose that helped much either!