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A loss is a loss. No big deal. I will not act like a Pom and make heaps of excuses, rather I will say that Butcher batted very well indeed. It seems nowadays that a superhuman effort is required to beat the rampaging Australian side. V.V.S Laxman won the Indian series for them off his own bat. If not for him (and some remarkable umpiring) that would have been a 3-0 win. Remember we have won 19 of our last 22 tests.
I do not think Gilly stuffed up the declaration. At the time I thought it was a bold but good decision. All it would have taken was Butcher to get out under 80-odd and it would have been 4-0 Australia. Brett Lee did nothing to impress this match, I doubt he will play at the Oval. The Poms have selected Phillip Clive Roderick Tufnell, so it must be a real turner; lets hope Funky Miller gets a cap.
England did well, no doubt. Despite this, Australia HAS won the Ashes and will probably win he 5th test.