Live Blogs / Ed Hawkins / 04 January 2011 /

Ed Hawkins returns to his well-worn sofa to take you through the action of a pivotal day from the SCG. Join in with the fun by following him on Twitter here

LUNCH 01.35 Eng 277-5, trail by three
'Hope it's not soup for lunch, they'll be all covered in it,' says Chris Speake as Wayward Micthell Johnson brings the session to an end with a typically crap over. It sums up our dilemma. Australia should be backable at [7.00] with a new ball and the side's almost at parity. Wickets could fall in a cluster. But we can't trust Australians. Not surprising for a convict colony. If you can stomach them letting you down, then have a nibble. I'll be heading off to bed now but will return in the morning with analysis of the day's play and what it all means going forward.

01.16 Eng 254-5
The new ball is one over away from Australia. They are [6.00] to back at the moment. Ordinarily we would reckon that was worth taking because a bowling side's chances of wickets increase with a cherry. But this Australia side are not to be trusted. They wasted the new ball yesterday and they were wayward this morning when conditions were pretty useful. So your guess is as good as mine as to whether they will make the odds pay. England are [1.70] and the draw is [3.95]. Nasser Hussain reckons Johnson should be given the nut. Did he not read today's Top 5 (see 23.54)?

01.07 Eng 251-5
Ian Bell is rather quiet. Normally he comes in and bats brilliantly for the first 20 minutes. He has five and has been in for almost 40 minutes. He is [2.00] for a 50. Australia have a new ball due in three overs. Last-chance saloon for them one would have thought.

00.53 Eng 236-5
I have pink socks on today, although I must admit I had forgotten it was the Jane McGrath day at the SCG. It's down to my washing machine being on the blink. Glenn McGrath is doing some comms work now on Sky. he sounds such a nice chap. Surely all those stories about sledging can't be true?

00.35 Eng 227-5
Collingwood lasted 41 balls. He looks as though he's gone, bless him. That must be a bit of a worry for England with the World Cup coming up, too. Beer got the wicket. Beer leads to Colly's ruin, t's enough to drive you to drink, XXXX etcetera.

WICKET 00.30 Aus 226-5
P Collingwood c Hilfenhaus b Beer 13

00.22 Eng 222-4
Third 100 of the series for Cook, his 16th Test hundred and fourth v Australia. Some Australian players refuse to applaud him. I suppose that is reference to yesterday when he was reprieved of a no ball.

00.17 Eng 221-4
'As clear as a poo in the arctic,' says my flatmate to describe the replay showing Phil Hughes claiming a catch that wasn't. That's really poor from Hughes. It bounced well before him at short leg and is particularly unedifying given Cook is on 99. Michael Beer still waiting for his first Test wicket. Sirloin of Beef calls it 'cheating'.

00.00 Eng 209-4
Feel a little foolish for putting some faith in Australia keeping England relatively quiet this morning. they have bowled poorly, Mitchell Johnson - touching four an over - in particular. England's run rate in the last 10 overs is 3.3. We needed to keep them down to 2.5 for our session bet which looks as wayward as Mitch himself. Ho-hum.

23.54 Eng 207-4
The Top 5 Things A Wayward Johnson Should Not Be Allowed To Do
5 Play darts
4 Drive a car
3 Be an air traffic controller
2 Walk near a cliff edge
1 Be a Test bowler

23.45 Eng 202-4
That statue of Steve Waugh - just shown on Sky - made him look as tho he was suffering from an eating disorder. Meanwhile, Mitchell Johnson continues to bowl utter dross. Coming upo: The Top 5 Things A Wayward Johnson Should Not Be Allowed To Do.

23.35 Aus 189-4
Australia have won their last seven Tests at Sydney and in those seven matches, an average of 338 overs have been enough to produce a result. In terms of the Test Match End market that means we could be looking at a finish on the evening of day four. Currently that is available at [6.80] to back. The favourite is the evening of day five at [2.30].

23.24 Eng 183-4
Peter Siddle teaches Hilfenhaus a lesson there. It was a beautifully pitched up delivery, allowing it to get the shape to beat Anderson's bat. Paul Collingwood is the new man. He is under pressure and one would expect this to be his penultimate Test innings. The wicket of Anderson is ok as far as the lay of session runs is concerned. Collingwood is not the quickest scorer around and if Australia continue to get bend, then scoring could be tricky. At least tricky enough to consider trading out.

WICKET 23.20 Eng 181-4
J Anderson b Siddle 7

23.18 Eng 181-3
Filth from Hilf. Australia too short this morning. They have got pitch the ball up - as I type Anderson gets on the front foot and drives through cover for four - consistently. There is movement out there. In fact, it may be worth giving Mitchell Johnson a go. Wayward yes, but he is the only Australia bowler who is capable of really hurting England.

23.05 Eng 168-3
The [1.40] for 90 or more to lay has gone but [1.78] is available which is still a decent bet.

23.03 Eng 168-3
England bowled 36 overs in the first session yesterday. If Australia manage about the same, England could be a lay at around [1.40] for 90 runs or more.. That would be a run rate of 2.5 per over. England's rate in this innings is 3.44 but with Alastair Cook and James Anderson at the crease, it would be a surprise if they were capable of such speed. Seam and swing first up will help keep the runs down, too.

22.53 Eng 167-3
England trail by 113 as we resume on day three. Quite nicely poised, folks. Australia, of course, must get at least two breakthroughs in this first session. James Anderson, the nightwatchman, should be one of them. The problem for the hosts is that these are the situations where they have consistently failed. We are on them at [3.60] after putting faith in them to make the new ball work yesterday. They wasted it and are now [4.60]. That is not a bad price with work to do for England and if you haven't had a bet yet in this Test it might be worth a nibble. The pitch could crumble at the SCG in the fourth innings, making life difficult for a chase.

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