england have lost the ashes

Adam Gilchrist scored the second fastest Test century in history as Australia took total command of the third Ashes Test.
He reached his ton in 57 balls, one behind Viv Richards' 20-year record as Australia declared on 527-5, a lead of 556, on day three in Perth.
Michael Clarke and Mike Hussey also completed centuries as Australia looked in the box seat to regain the Ashes.
In reply, England were 19-1 at the close Andrew Strauss out for a duck.
England were set a mammoth 557 to win the Test, which would be the highest ever run chase if they were successful.
Or they need to try and bat out two and a bit days in a desperate attempt to keep the defence of their Ashes crown alive.
But England were up against it from the start of their reply with Andrew Strauss wondering what he had done to upset umpire Rudi Koertzen.
For the second time in this match, he had been on the wrong end of a dubious decision, and this time had to walk when he was given out lbw for a duck, when replays showed it was probably too high.
It was particularly annoying for England as the umpires had refused to give any lbw decisions in the Australia innings on the basis of height on a bouncy wicket.




Hussey hit a Test ton on his hoe ground the Waca


But nothing could take away from Gilchrist's amazing onslaught with the bat.
It was nothing short of amazing and from early on it was clear he was gunning for Richards' record, which was set against England in Antigua.
In one Panesar over he smashed 0-2-6-6-4-6, which was the first time 24 had been scored in an Ashes over.
But Gilchrist was not the only centurion for Australia, with Michael Hussey hitting his first Test ton on his home ground and Michael Clarke completing his fourth Test hundred.
And despite the bowling figures making ugly reading for England, they actually bowled pretty well for most of the day.
And early on in the match there were extremely unlucky not to take more wickets in a mixture of lbw shouts not being given as well as missed chances.
Hussey was one with fortune on his side as he survived numerous close calls before falling to Panesar for 103 on the stroke of tea.
He had earlier breathed a sigh of relief when a loud lbw appeal was turned down by umpire Aleem Dar early on in his innings and he was then completely flummoxed by a Hoggard inswinger which he hit in the air but the ball fell agonisingly wide of Alastair Cook at midwicket.
There was also a huge shout for a catch at silly point off Panesar but Hussey, on 15 at the time, did not walk and Rudi Koertzen deemed the ball had flicked his pads but replays showed there was probably a bit of bat in there too.
He had another life when he skied a shot while reaching his half-century but an advancing Geraint Jones could only get his finger tips to the ball.
Andrew Strauss also came close to dismissing him as Hussey edged the new ball but Strauss could not keep hold of it.
Before play began, England knew at the very least they needed to avoid defeat to keep alive their dreams of retaining the Ashes.
And the omens looked good when Steve Harmison struck in the sixth over of the morning session, captain Ricky Ponting edging a perfect length delivery behind to Jones for 75.
But for the rest of the session England were frustrated and the rub of the green was certainly with the hosts at the Waca.
Matthew Hayden was furious with himself when he departed eight runs short of his century, a great parried catch by Paul Collingwood off Monty Panesar seeing him off.
But before he fell Hayden had had the benefit of the doubt by Koertzen on an lbw shout and he had edged Hoggard but it fell just short of Jones. A thick inside edge also somehow missed his stumps and raced away for four.
After their hard work for little success in the morning session, England tried to continue in the afternoon but they began to toil in the heat, which was upwards of 37C.
And they were punished firstly by Clarke and Hussey who put on a record 151 runs for the fourth wicket and then by Clarke and Gilchrist who flayed the bowlers around the ground.
Panesar bowled 34 overs in the second innings and although he conceded 145 runs, he took the wickets Hayden, Hussey and Andrew Symonds to end with eight in the match.

what have umpires got against strauss they have gave him owt 3times with bad decisions

England's Alastair Cook hit a defiant first Ashes century but Australia still look set to regain the Ashes after wickets fell late on day four in Perth.

cook batted well but kp kept trying to run him owt lol

if england can just bat out the 1st session 2moz n not lose any wickets then we could get a draw or win

like a sed we jus gave it away, a thout the geriant jones shud b shot 4 gettin run oot lyk tht

ana it was disgraceful how he got out a club cricketer would of been ashamed of that

shit display hope we can just kill em in da last 2 tests and 1 dayers and BTW Whetzels mum is a shit lay.

we are rubbish in one day cricket tho n they are best in world so we dont gave much chance against aussies but new zealand are part of the series anall so we could beat them

Listen up whetzel where the fuck is your ambition ? you cant just write us off of the one dayers already. has it started yet ? we can. no we will win that one day series against the twats who only on how to say " good day m8" in there shitty accent almost as bad as a gerodie and aginst them cunts from newzeland

btw lovin yor hobbies n austrailia are the best one day team in the world we could get the odd win against them but they are a beta one day side so they should beat us i wud fancy our chances against new zealand but the one day form we have been in recently is abysmal

While there are suggestions in some of the Australian newspapers that the double retirement of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath will distract the team from completing its ambition of only the second 5-0 whitewash in Ashes history, it seems more likely that the reverse will be true.
The Tests in Melbourne and Sydney will be emotional experiences, but Warne and McGrath are simply too professional and too good to allow the cricket to become some sort of sideshow.
Indeed, while the retirement of Warne should have long-term benefits for England in that they must now start favourites to win the Ashes in 2009, in the short term these departures make the prospect of a whitewash in this series all the more likely, in my view.
Australia will be galvanised and will view 5-0 as a fitting manner in which to say goodbye to two bowlers who, operating in tandem, have taken over 200 more wickets than any other pair in Test history.
There is a very different mood in the England camp where, one has to be honest, there must be the feeling that whatever they produce here is unlikely to be enough. That assumption is based on the brief moments of supremacy England have enjoyed in this series, only for Australia ruthlessly to lift themselves and snuff them out.
As well as being Australia’s strength, that has also been England’s weakness here, and their inability to capitalise on the breaks they have made will be high on the list of failings when the inevitable inquest is officially opened at the end of the tour.
Andrew Flintoff has revealed that he has had two cortisone injections in his left ankle since the Perth Test, another clear sign of his continuing battle for full fitness. It also rules out any prospect of altering the balance of the team by introducing another batsman at number six and playing only four bowlers.

What surely will change is the wicket-keeper, with Chris Read taking the gloves from Geraint Jones.
How long he keeps them remains to be seen as the inclusion of two keepers in the one day squad betrays the uncertainty amongst the selectors about who the right man should be, but Read should now get the opportunity to stake his claim ahead of Paul Nixon.
For now, the one-day series seems a million miles away, and the England supporters who will make up a healthy number of the 100,000 people that will pack the MCG on Boxing Day will all be hoping for something a great deal better

even tho its ages away a wud lyk 2 c how the aussies dun in the next ashes