Didnt exactly get off to the best of starts

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8350720.stm

good news about the ashes returning to free to air tv in 2017 though

less than eight years to go now!

England win the first T20 international on Duckworth/Lewis by ONE run

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8356420.stm

Back to normal

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8360598.stm

An awesome win today in the 2nd ODI, Jonathan Trott's 84 and Collingwood's unbeaten 105 help England to beat South Africa by 7 wickets with 4 overs to spare

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/england/8373186.stm

Trott is doing what Pieterson did when he came into the team. Shame KP has been off form for a long time. Our SA's could create an awesome top order in ODI's and just as good middle order in Test Matches...

very impressive win, 6 wickets in tact and 4 overs to spare

Great team performance - comortable win, making it now six straight ODI wins (?) against the world's number one ranked team.

Good to see we have another quality South African batsman and Collingwood can still bat superbly.

Ater the thrashing by South Africa on Friday, we're well on course for a comfortable win today. South Africa all out for 119 and Anderson getting 5-23. Currently 31-0 in reply. I like how if we don't lose more than one wicket, we'll win with only South Africans batting in the match.

Great stuff from England. We seem to do exceptionally well when Jimmy is on form...

KP is in next anyway, so even if we lose a wicket, it will be another SA.

That was arguably one of the best bowling displays i've seen from England in years, brilliant.

We're going along nicely in reply too, should wrap up an easy win soon.

Found this on the BBC's match ticker

England win by 7 wickets

We now lead the ODI series 2-1 with 1 match to play

Great start for England in the first test.

55-2 after 21 overs.

Not a great day for England then so it turns out.

Kallis is still a class act unfortunately for us.

A draw is the best we can hope for now

South Africa took their time with their batting, so a win for us is very unlikely now. 418 is not exactly a remarkable score for a first innings though, so their chances of victory are largely dependent on how we beat tomorrow. Looks like we're doing alright at the moment with our South Africans at the crease...

Graeme Swann is class.

I second that

Flipping Smith as always trying to spoil England and Swann's fun. Would have been great to see Swann get a century - superb innings all the same.

Clear lead for South Africa but it could have been so much worse.

I was checking the bbc scorecard at about 200 for 6, the typical England fan reaction with all the comments & e-mails they were receiving, but unlike many other people I didn't think it was all over when we went to 6 down. I do think it's a bit of a disease we have, we turn on the team at the first sign of trouble. It wasn't a great batting performance but our tail can score some runs, as they've shown today. The team doesn't end with Ian Bell.

Anyway, excellent performance from Swann, and the pressure is now on South Africa.

Added pressure, Ashwell Prince out in the second over, played on...

Prince out in the first over.

2-1

Only saw a bit of the game today, KP unlucky to drag the ball onto his stumps for 40. Bell seemed to have a death wish, he tried a ridiculous paddle sweep early on which nearly saw for him.

Good start. 2 wickets in the first hour. Harris and Smith bowled by Anderson and Onions.

44-3.

Kallis out. b Broad, c Cook.

46-3.

Its worrying now, the 5th wichet partnership is nearing 100

After that great start to the day. Typical.

South Africa v South Africa at the moment...

2 South African's are doing pretty well...

205-5. Trott out for 69 off 212 balls... apparently an awesome catch by de Villiers.

Such a shame also Pietersen had to get out carelessly instead of going on and getting a century. Great batting from both though.

Still got Collingwood and Bell at the crease, then Prior, Broad, Swann and Onions. So we should really draw this match...

Got to keep 2 wickets for the last 38 balls, we may just escape with a draw here.

Hey ho, a Geordie and a Mackem save England

That really was a poor collapse.

But nevermind. Remember what happened in the rest of the series the last time we drew a Test with one wicket remaining...

A very interesting match, pleased we managed to escape with a draw - although it should have been much more comfortable than that. It's good that we have a lot of fighting spirit in the lower order now, this draw and the Cardiff draw against the Aussies show that you can never assume we've lost the match, even when we get down to 8 or 9.

Of course, had to have the obligatory Bell failure and the obligatory Pietersen moment of controversy. He (KP) just can't make things easy, can he? Bell won't be dropped for the next match, but surely he can't have too many chances left. Yet another superb, stabilizing innings from Collingwood - he's certainly doing his job in the middle of the order. It's not the first time he's saved a game for us in this way.

I agree about Bell - he has been poor for some time.

What the hell was KP thinking of? How many times do we have to watch him put personal glory ahead of the team?

Bell can't help being poor. KP needs to grow up - and quickly!

I think Bell will be dropped for the next test. Probably go back to 5 bowlers with either Luke Wright or Sidebottom coming in. Wright obviously can help out in the batting order too, but if it's Sidebottom and Broad pushes up to 7, he and Swann will be key to the batting lineup.

Well, I wasn't concentrating on the cricket today so i didn't really register what went on... but for once it doesn't seem like he was going for the glory shot. It was just a stupid run, but it's not like he would have got headlines for himself if he'd made it. It was just rash, not self-indulgent.

If you're being very kind to Pietersen, you might say that he believed England had a shot at winning the match, as long as he kept the score ticking over.

Boycott was making the point, that the England selectors can't just change their mind about Bell after one match. They brought him back, so they must think he is good enough to play for England. If they are going to change their mind after one match, then why did they bring him back in the first place? They need to stick by their decisions, at least give him one more chance.

Did they bring him back? He played in the last 2 Ashes Tests... He also played in the tour matches before this Test I think, so he's polayed a fair bit and not done a lot.

I don't think it was personal glory - just a stupid run and poor communication. He should know better, but yet again we're saying this after he was our top scorer and helped dig us out of a very bad situation. He should get the credit for this, but if only he could both bat really well and avoid one of his moments of madness!

I think Bell should get another chance. He has scored a couple of fifites since his return to the team in fairness to him. Who is in contention to replace him that deserves his place more?

Wrong thread

Yella = idiot

I've moved it now

Second Test, 26th December, Durban.

South Africa currently 12-2 from 10 overs, with Smith and Kallis at the crease

So much for the good start, its now 142-2

175-5 now. Nice little comeback.

SA all out for 343. We made bloody hardwork of their tail end.

Lets stop fucking about and get some runs up on the board

Which they have done, Strauss hit a quickfire 54 and Cook looks strong too, im also loving seeing Trott winding up the SA bowlers before nearly every ball

England 103-1 at the close of play, very satisfied with that

Looks like we're in a solid position. As Exiled said, made hard work of the tail, but we'd have definitely taken 343 at one stage yesterday. Then we make a solid start - shame Strauss got out after a quick fifty, but hopefully Trott can continue winding up the South African bowlers and Cook can push on and get some runs for once.

If the others all get out for quick 50s, we'll be laughing