Nat West final

I spent a somewhat sleepy Sunday watching the replay of the Nat West final between Australia and England. Not knowing the result before the match, I bit my nails down to the quick in the thrilling finish. Despite the fact that the match was a tie, I think England came out with a mental edge over the Aussies. Australia, and Ricky Ponting in particular, looked shattered by the end - and at several times during the match showed a degree of petulance and frustration. Matthew Hayden gave Simon Jones a dose of verbal diarrhoea while Ricky Ponting looked as grumpy as Steve Waugh when caught behind for 7. The most worrying thing for England would be the way in which the top order was dismissed. As David Gower pointed out during the match and Vic Marks pointed out after, the dismissals of Trescothick, Strauss and Flintoff were utterly predictable - nibbling at a wide one with no foot movement, beaten by pace from a full ball and a hard-handed push at a ball wide of off stump.