The middle of the line

It’s been a long hard day trying to keep tabs on the fifth test.

After the first two wickets early in the morning, I had hoped that the end would come fairly quickly. As it went, the Australians dug in, especially Michael Hussey who took a well-earned century.

The wicket seemed to have become more solid, and it took run-outs to start to really take the toll on Australia, with Ponting and then M Clarke stretching just a little too far.

After that, it really was a matter of time, and yet that time dragged on. I have spent the last two hours flicking between the Fulham v Chelsea game and the cricket, and managing to miss the best action in both. Harmison, who had been neglected in the test so far, was the bowler who took some vital wickets, and along with Swann they finally broke the lower order down.

Flintoff and Cook were in the right place for some important catches, and in the end the Australians just could not reach the total.

A superb end to a tight series, and of course I’m happy to see England win back the Ashes. The Aussies put up a strong challenge, and at times in the last 24 hours it really did look like they could mount a record-breaking fourth innings challenge.