…clearly putting David Beckham on to open the batting was a masterstroke. His captain’s innings of 6-4 6-2 set the scene for an outstanding morning’s play, with perfect tens from plucky not-Englishman Andrew Murray and old not-Englishman Greg Rusedski in the high dive helping to tip the balance, leading to a score of 5 under par at lunch. Potato-human hybrid Wayne Rooney knocked out Ian Thorpe early in the second trimester, and by tea only the sultana of spin Mark Webber stood between England and a podium finish. Victory was secured as Ben Ainslie, riding Mr Frisk, triple-salchowed through the winning black into the top pocket.
On other pages:
- p94, Why cricket should be a listed sporting event so that everyone can watch it for free, by John Major.
- p95, Why I downgraded test cricket to a group B event in 1996 so that Sky could buy it, by John Major.
Seriously, the Ashes series has been outstanding, and hugely nerve-wracking. By lunchtime today – Flintoff out for 8 – I thought England had blown it. I’m amazed I got anything done today at work. I bunked off early to watch the finish, which was pretty farcical and very English: a couple of bouncers at the start of the Australian innings led the umpires scurrying to the crease to check the light. Off they went, 4-0, bad light stopped play. Then fifteen minutes of hanging around until the rules allowed them to call it off.
Any coverage of this in the US? Just the usual look-at-the-funny-English-and-their-five-day-long-draw?
Avaragado's blog 
Coverage in the US
They don’t cover outside the local town in the US, let alone a parochial “sport” from 5000 miles away. Although if there was a spectacular crash or maybe a player catching fire it might get a mention somewhere.