Join the club, Australia

I didn't give any reports on the cricket after the previous one. That's because it was too depressing. England, thanks to the batting of the aforementioned Jimmy, Broad, Swann (and Monty I guess) ended up making 435, which looked competitive at the time. No-one made a century, but with everyone except Monty reaching double figures, that didn't seem to matter.

Then Australia batted. And the way they batted almost seemed deliberate, like they were trying to teach England a lesson. Katich, Ponting, North and Haddin all made centuries. Even Clarke's 83 was higher than any score an England player would make in the match. 674-6, leaving England in a position where all they could do was play for a draw.

That didn't start out well. Cook and Bopara both fell LBW before the rain came at tea on the fourth day. Bopara can consider himself a little unlucky, as the ball looked like it would have gone over the top of the stumps, but both were guilty of playing across the line when they should have been playing straight. That, essentially, is why Australia dominated the match: they batted straight and bowled straight and bided their time.

Rain washed out the rest of the fourth day, but there was to be no such respite on the fifth day: it was clear all the way through. And again, England started badly. Pietersen, castigated for playing a rash shot in the first innings, this time decided to play no shot at all and was bowled leaving a straight one. Strauss batted solidly for a while, but was undone when, after Hauritz produced a long-hop that he cut powerfully for four, the next ball was in almost exactly the same place. Strauss tried the shot again and ended up top-edging to the keeper.

When Prior fell a little later, the score was 70 for 5 and lunch seemed an awfully long way away, never mind the end of the day and safety. But Collingwood and Flintoff saw England through to lunch at 102 for 5, with Colly dropping anchor and Fred counterattacking. Flintoff was dismissed after lunch with the score on 127 for 6, but the partnership had lasted a crucial hour and a half.

Collingwood stuck in there, building useful partnerships with Broad, Swann and Anderson. Both Broad and Swann lasted just over an hour each, Swann receiving a barrage of fearful blows from Siddle just before tea, but recovered to smash the runs that brought England ever closer to forcing Australia to bat again. While Collingwood and Swann were still at the crease, optimism that we could save the game slowly began to build.

But then Swann departed, and those hopes got reset again. Anderson is a capable blocker - he has never been out for a duck in Tests, and currently holds a record 50 Test innings without a duck - but Australia had reached the tail. Yet England still pressed on. Collingwood had now been at the crease over five hours, his lone hand telling in comparison to England's other specialist batsmen. Eventually, tired from hours of concentration, he made his first mistake: and it proved to be his undoing as he was caught in the gully.

Monty came out to join Jimmy, two tail-enders together, with eleven and a half overs - and forty-five minutes - left to bat out. They were the last wicket pair: if one of them got out, it would be innings over and very probably game over The first priority was to force Australia to bat again. This would take two overs - and ten minutes - out for the change of innings. A few shots later, this was achieved, but there was still a long way to go. As Ponting put spin on at both ends to up the over rate, the overs part of the equation became less important and it all became about time. The cut-off for the end of the test was 6.50. Take off ten minutes for the change of innings, and Jimmy and Monty had to make it to 6.40 to be safe.

There were a couple of moments of gamesmanship as the batsmen called for drinks and a fresh pair of gloves, but as deplorable as it is, any side in this situation would have done the same. But with block after block, and the occasional four off the bad ball, England ate up the time until 6.40. Ponting shook hands with the batsmen, and the draw was called.

It was a great escape, and I'm very proud of the efforts of Colly and the lower order, but I can empathise with Australia. Not least because England have been in their situation shoes times before: against South Africa, Australia themselves, India, and the West Indies twice. So yeah, we certainly know how frustrating it is to dominate a game, and to come so close to winning, only to be denied by a wicket or two. On the other hand, it's nice to experience the elation those sides felt in those situations.

Can England learn from being let off the hook by this? Maybe. We saw how the Australians batted and bowled: with application and determination. I'd like to hope that, before the second test at Lord's begins on Thursday, England's batsmen will all be working on playing with a straight bat, and their bowlers on contingency plans for if it doesn't swing. Otherwise things might end up going the same way at Lord's.