What's impressive about England's performance in The Ashes so far is the way they

[Burney]

How can a side that has managed 400 from the first innings not be favourites (or at very least not nailed on to draw).

Apologies for the probable stupidity or naivety of the question.

Nothing stupid about it. It would normally be a commanding position. However. in part because they've scored so quickly and in part because they collapsed so quickly, they haven't actually taken that much time out of the game in scoring 400. That means that, if Australia score equally fast (as they are), they could take a lead by the end of day three that would put England under severe pressure with two days left in the game. And, given England's propensity for collapse, that puts them under threat.

[PSRB]

Nothing stupid about it. It would normally be a commanding position. However. in part because they've scored so quickly and in part because they collapsed so quickly, they haven't actually taken that much time out of the game in scoring 400. That means that, if Australia score equally fast (as they are), they could take a lead by the end of day three that would put England under severe pressure with two days left in the game. And, given England's propensity for collapse, that puts them under threat.

Lets not forget that England made 551 in Adelaide in the 06/07 series and still managed to lose

[Burney]

Lets not forget that England made 551 in Adelaide in the 06/07 series and still managed to lose

Yeah. That was special even by our standards.