Ashes 1.2: England Take a Second Look

Players seem to have more faith in Technology than the on-field umpire. England certainly do. They lost both their challenges in a session and a bit more of cricket. Players in general don't seem to be knowledgeable about the limits of the technology in use. When you challenge, its not whether the batsman is out or not out, rather its whether the technology will provide enough evidence to over turn the original decision. Players seem too eager to challenge, discounting the limited evidence technology can capture.

Australia are slightly ahead if you just look at the scoreboard. However, the way they batted it was pretty obvious reclaiming the Ashes was going to be extremely tough. While with England you could sense the batsmen were capable of much better, with Australia no such thoughts entered the mind. Ponting continues to be horribly out of form, which puts Michael Clarke under pressure - something he has a knack of not handling, and North isn't due for a 100 until sometime after the Ashes

After a nerve induced performance on day one, England seemed to have taken a step back, deep breath and played Australia on current form. England should win from this point on.