Fifth Ashes Test, The Oval, day two:
LIVE TEXT COMMENTARY (all times BST)
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By Mark Mitchener
ENGLAND FIRST INNINGS
From Rachel, “hard at work”, TMS inbox: "Right… I’m all set for another hard day pretending to work! Why oh why can’t we have a radio in the office Watching the highlights on TV last night I was amazed at how much the pitch was cutting up. Should we have played Monty after all"1022: Interesting report in the Daily Telegraph this morning which claims that Andrew Flintoff will have major knee surgery after the final Test which will keep him sidelined for nine months (despite having been named in the ODI and T20 squads to face Ireland and Australia after the Ashes series concludes). An ECB spokesman is quoted as saying: “We are making no further comment on his medical condition. We are leaving him to concentrate on the task at hand, which is on the field. As we have said previously an operation remains an option at the end of the series. He will be reassessed at the end of this current match.” If the surgery report is true, I’d have thought Freddie would be hoping to be back sooner than nine months - after all, the Indian Premier League starts on 12 March next year…
From Jenks, via text on 81111: "Ben Dirs said it all. Australia only have to bowl line and length to get England all out. It’s like ‘Brian Lara Cricket’ [presumably a computer game], eventually you find a spot that if you always bowl at a certain place, you will get a wicket"1017: Rounding up a couple of other things you may have missed from yesterday evening if you were dashing home after a hard day in front of your keyboard, there’s theTMS Podcastfor Aggers and Geoff Boycott’s verdict, plus you can also listen to Tuffers’ chat with Stephen Fry on the BBC Sport website.1012: I’m not sure whether you’ve readBen Dirs’ blog from day one at The Oval- it seems “The Bell Debate” is raging as much as it ever has in the past couple of years. Does Bell deserve praise for scoring 72, or is it a disappointment that once more, he hasn’t gone on to make a really big score1005: Morning, everyone. It’s eyes down for day two of the fifth, final, climactic, deciding, epic (insert adjective of choice) Test at The Oval. Match situation is that England are 307-8, having lost a wicket in the last over of play yesterday, so we’ll have half an over from Peter Siddle when play starts at 1100 BST.