Live Blogs / Ed Hawkins / 28 November 2010 /

A fully rested Ed Hawkins was back on the sofa to take you through the final day of action from the Gabba. Email him "here":mailto:hawkeyeview@hotmail.co.uk and following him on Twitter "here":https://twitter.com/cricketbetting.

CLOSE Aus 107-1 - Match drawn
Australia have reacted to this stalemate by adding Ryan Harris and Doug Bollinger to the squad for the Adelaide Test, which starts on Friday. They certainly need more bowling options because the overwhelming sense after this game was that they do not look like taking 20 wickets.

England, we know about. On flat pitches they always struggle but they at least bowled with more menace and control. A series win looks more likely for Andrew Strauss' side than it did five days ago.

Adelaide could well be another draw - the wicket is very flat - and the likes of Alastair Cook, whose unbeaten 235 is the highest Test score by any batsman at the Gabba, and first double-century by a visiting batsman at the ground, should go well again.

06.00 Aus 86-1
There are 18 overs left today folks, though I'm sure the teams will call it off before then. Apparently another four overs will do it. England and Australia are both in the region of [350.00]. If you don't mind I'm going to grab some shut-eye and return later with a wrap of where we're at.

05.54 Aus 83-1
This former Aussie batsman Michael Slater's view on selection. It is difficult not to agree. "You don't want a turnstile effect with players coming and going because you can't create any foundations for a successful team. Australia have been losing more matches than winning but the selectors haven't been making any changes. I don't expect any changes because they have sat on their hands for the last year and a half."

05.50 Aus 72-1
Australia will name their squad for the Adelaide Test, which starts Friday (Thursday night). They have problems but all of their own making. The Xavier Doherty pick was ridiculous. He surely won't survive. Nathan Hauritz, who has a respectable Test record, must come back. Mitchell Johnson is expected to make way for Doug Bollinger. Johnson has looked dreadful. He scored a duck and failed to take a wicket for the first time in his Test career. Still, doesn't that stat mean he deserves another chance? Marcus North is also under threat from Usman Khawaja.

05.40 Aus 55-1
Stuart Broad needs 2 wkts to become first left-handed batsman to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wkts in Tests for England.

05.26 Aus 37-1
My betting.betfair colleague Michael Vaughan is always worth listening to. Here are some of his thoughts. "I would like us to get at Ponting, get him out cheaply and make life very difficult for the Australian captain. Australia admitted they would target Andrew Strauss and he got a hundred, England have never said that publicly but I guarantee they have said it in the dressing room."

05.15 Aus 30-1
England, Broad in particular, are testing out Ponting with the short ball. He really doesn't look comfortable at all. It was West Indies who first exposed this apparent weakness and Punter's detractors say it is a sign that his eyes have gone. Broad dealt him a nasty blow on the finger before tea and Ponting looks as though he is trying to protect it. Graeme Swann coming on now.

05.04 Aus 16-1
I suppose England will reckon a cheap dismissal of Ricky Ponting here will do Australia the world of harm. Ponting is likely to come under fire from the Australia media anyway, but if they also question his batting form, then it is a double boost for the tourists.

TEA 04.42 Aus 11-1
When one of your bowlers has taken a hat-trick and two your batsmen have made centuries, in the process breaking the record for the highest partnership at the venue, and look nailed-on for a draw, it is some achievement to still manage humiliation. That is the situation Australia find themselves in.

04.34 Aus 5-1
That's one 'psychological blow' that England can take to Adelaide. England into [38.00]. Ricky Ponting is the new man. Now if they can get him quickly...

WICKET 04.33 Aus 5-1
S Katich c Strauss b Broad 4

04.23 Aus 2-0
Three slips for England then as they look to produce something extraordinary. A more attacking field might help. The wicket looks so flat, though. Wonder how many overs they'll give it before calling it a day?

04.00 Eng 517-1d
Australia need 297 in 4o overs. The match odds market is not too impressed. England [50.00].

03.34 Eng 493-1
Shane Warne says England should get a lead of 280 and then declare, reckoning that Australia are so demoralised they could struggle. A fair shout. Thing is, Warne is a rarity because he thinks like a gambler. He knows about the chances of being made to look foolish/a hero and weighs it up. Strauss does not think like Warne. Remember those ridiculously delayed decs in the Caribbean?

03.15 Eng 466-1
The first toy has been thrown from the Ponting pram. Alastair Cook chipped into the hands of the Aussie skipper at at short cover but because he did not celebrate the catch or make it clear he had held on to the very low chance, the umps doubted he had held it cleanly. Upstairs it went and Ponting was denied. Cue much whining and gesturing. If you look at it, he's contradicted himself. If it meant so much Rick why didn't you celebrate it?

03.00 Eng 444-1
Must do better: England have passed 400 in first innings only twice in their last 10 Tests. There a bit like a Morris Minor in a cold snap. They take a while to get going.

02.40 Eng 439-1
Rested my eyes there for a bit. Much required. My number crunching was out by a bit earlier. Only to the tune of 100 runs. They say sleep deprivation does that to a person.

LUNCH 02.00 Eng -1
Double ton for Cook. A really fine effort. And one that will cement his position in the side for the next 10 years. They'll make him skipper, too, after Strauss, for sure. However, the best bit of this ladnmark is his celebration, or rather lack of it. Respectful, modest, contained. Not like that clown Mike Hussey, who almost tried to mount Brad Haddin and wailed like a banshee when he notched a ton. Trott, also a ton man, however, rather let the side down. He's kissed the helmet, leapt in the air and mimed rocking off a baby. Dear, oh dear.

01.49 Eng 430-1
There is a lot of nonsense being talked on commentary, and around the world for that matter, about England sticking in Australia for a spell this evening to do 'psychological damage'. Sirloin of Beef is an admirer of the plan, so first up we know it's dubious. It's a load of bravado and mumbo-jumbo that Australia would be 'affected for the rest of the series' if they lost a couple of wickets. So what? It has no impact whatsoever. If I produced a second Test tip on England on the basis that the Aussies were mentally fragile after closing on 36-2 at the end of day five at the Gabba, you would think I was mad. A better plan would be to do physiological damage. The second Test starts on Friday. Make the Australians suffer by keeping them out there all day. Far more humiliating, too.

01.29 Eng 409-1
England are [40.00] to back. We suspect it could be half that if they declared, giving themselves 30 or so overs to take an unlikely 10 wickets. A few coins on the trade - just for fun and to keep the interest going - is the suggestion.

01.25 Eng 406-1
This is humiliating for Australia. Not even a semblance of fight. Where's the famous Australian never-say-die attitude? They have dropped four catches in this innings, Mitchell Johnson can barely hit the cut bit and Brad Haddin seems incapable of keeping to the spinners. Eight byes in the last two balls.

01.13 Eng 375-1
According to TMS scorer Malcolm Ashton, the last time England's 1-2-3 scored tons in the same innings was 1924 v SA at Lord's - Hobbs, Sutcliffe and Woolley

01.00 Eng 364-1
Michael Clarke has dropped a dolly at slip of Jonathan Trott. That was Australia's chance. Trott has 75. Question: when was the last time three English batsmen scored a century in the same innings in an Ashes Test Down Under?

00.46 Eng 347-1
Scenario 2: England victory
Feeling suddenly emboldened, and casting aside his cautious captain persona, Andrew Strauss declares in 40 overs' time with England leading by 342 (based on current run rate of 3), leaving them around 36 overs to skittle Australia. Steven Finn, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, with remarkable accuracy, manage to hit the cracks on the pitch time after time, sending the hosts scurrying to ignominy.

00.28 Eng 340-1
150 for Alastair Cook. His third score of 150 or more. This would have to his most important.

00.22 Eng 329-1
Scenario 1: Australia victory.
The most likely if it is not a draw. A Peter Siddle hat-trick would help but otherwise Australia need to get on a roll and conversely there needs to be a sense of panic in the England dressing room. Wickets have fallen in clusters in this Test but they would need to fall so quickly that England had only a lead of 300 or fewer. Then Australia could have a go at rocketing to an unlikely win.

00.09 End 320-1
The dreary prognosis for a result will not not stop us coming up with potential winning scenarios. I'll set about dreaming them up now.

00.07 Eng 320-1
England will not try to win. Of that we can be sure. Andrew Strauss has never been a gambler and this is not the time to start. Of course, he could give Australia 20 or 30 overs - a token attempt to put them under pressure - but it's got draw written all over it.

23.56 Eng 310-1
It's not quite fasten your seat belts time. More a case of 'mind how you go'. England are on course for a draw at the Gabba. They have some work to do though, with 92 overs left and a lead of 89. The only potential wager is one on Australia at [28.00] ion the hope they claim a couple of quick wickets, opening the possibility of a trade. England are [60.00]. The draw is [1.04]

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