It's a text based forum so I don't know if you're having little digs at me or not, so I'll just let it go.
It's too early to pick form for the Ashes just as it's too early to say who is going to win the NatWest series. There's only been a handfull of games and you can't write a side like Australia off that easy. You might think it's arrogance but it's not - it's confidence. The confidence that winning the last two cricket world cups gives, the confidence that ending the year as the top ranked ODI side for however long they've managed it gives. That's all.
I didn't think that 266 would be enough but the Oz bowlers lifted their game and I think that the English batsman didn't play very well - as is evidenced by Darren Gough being getting the highest English score. I also thought that England looked poor in the field, lots of mistakes and in the previous games they were very sharp - no mistakes and that AWESOME catch that Collingwood got Hayden with, oustanding.
Long way to go yet - lets hope there's a lot of good cricket to come

[/quote] I agree TP, our batsmen were not good it was probabaly a bad decision to put the aussies in first - lets hope for a competative rest of series and test series. Sky sports said that the previous highest 10th wicket partnership against Australia was by Angus Fraser & Phil Tufnell ! I would have liked to have seen that asked on question of sport !