The King of Spain...

All said and done, he really is a rubbish bowler, isn't he? Giles is the sort of bowler Ganguly used to thrive on in the late 90s. Gentle left arm offie with no variation coming over the wicket and pitching a foot or two outside off. Give me a break... I mean, even Boycott's mum could have hit him out of the attack. Which makes the Aussie discomfort against him all the more hilarious. Especially after they said they were going to make sure he was dropped before the fifth test.

I didn't realize how much fun it would be to see Australia being ground into the dust. There's still more than half the game to go and lots of time to turn things around, but it's really been great so far. There is no such thing as too much schandenfreude. It's hard to imagine what's possibly gone wrong with the team. The only guess I can hazard at this stage is that they wilt in the face of all out aggression from the opposition. India did it to an extent a couple of years ago down under when the batsman absolutely pulverized the Aussie bowling attack. For the first time, one could see just the merest hint of doubt creeping into Steve Waugh's face... but they held firm and drew the series. Now, against England's fierce bowling attack (with the exception of Hoggard who looks like he'd have trouble extracting movement out of a feather in a typhoon), the famed batting lineup is looking quite vulnerable. In all their years of world domination, I don't think the Aussies had faced a genuine pace attack and Harmison and Co. are providing them with just that. Here's to hoping more sadistic pleasures lie ahead in this series.