Records galore

LAST DAY
To lunch: Strauss had to decide whether to declare or allow Cook a crack at Lara's world record of 400. In the end - conservatively - he ordered him to go for a double hundred and Cook never looked likely to get out anywhere short of that figure. No declaration at lunch; apparently a figure of seven runs an over was reckoned to be beyond Australia and 439-1 was not big enough.

To tea: Records fell the way England wickets used to fall - regularly. Too many to list but it was the first time an England Test side had passed 500 with only one wicket down. Stauss declared close to tea at 517-1which seems to be another example of his extreme conservative nature but, remember, no wicket had fallen for six hours, the pitch was as true as those old time featherbeds and the England second wicket pair are unbeaten after 327 precious runs.

To close: Just time for Katich to get out and a relieved Ponting get to a 43-ball fifty before a draw was recorded. Uniquely both sides had got out of jail without major concerns before the flat bed of a track at Adelaide and, surely, another draw.

"I knew we'd beat 'em," says a text from Wagga Wagga where, one suspects, the world wide web has gone crook. Are they driving to Adelaide? Walking? Biking? Hitch hking?I ask Kate by text but there is no answer. Another mystery hung over from this placid first Test.

Jo king, Queen stat, says: Don't be surprised if England win in Adelaide. They have forced eight victories altogether, three since the Second World War. Don't you remember? All rounder Phil De Freitas was man of the match in 1994-5with a second innings 88. "For me batting, for me batting!" he kept saying.