I'm still not quite sure how, but somehow England escaped with a draw from the first Ashes Test against Australia, closing out the fifth day on 252-9, 13 runs ahead of the Aussie total and with no time left for the tourists to bat.

Talk about getting out of jail. Ricky Ponting must have thought he had the match won when England were five wickets down and still facing a massive 137-run deficit in the morning sessions.

Make no mistake about it, England were outplayed comprehensively but Paul Collingwood led a memorable  rearguard action and when he was gone, the rest of the tailenders finished the job.

The key now for England will be to learn from the mistakes that got them into this mess. Australia, while they'll be devastated at not winning this, must surely go into the second Test believing that they are the better side.

What's your prediction now? Can England still win this Ashes series?

PHOTO: England's Graeme Swann is hit by a bouncer bowled by Australia's Peter Siddle during the first Ashes cricket test in Cardiff, Wales July 12, 2009. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

For a third day in row England's demoralised bowlers wheeled away with all the luck of someone who's just walked across the path a black cat and smashed a mirror while walking under a ladder.

In all honesty they didn't deserve any fortune after another day's abject bowling display and signs from Strauss early on that it was a damage limitation exercise by time wasting with field placings and underbowling key bowlers.

Australia eventually put England out of their own misery, a cricketing version of shooting a lame horse if you like, by declaring on 674 for 6, once wicket keeper Brad Haddin completed his balmy century and holed out on the attack to Ravi Bopara in the deep.

Marcus North by that point had already joined Ponting, Katich and Haddin on the Cardiff honours board, further undermining pre-series reports that he was no more than a solid county professional, much like the much maligned spinner Nathan Hauritz who took more wickets in England's first innings than Swann and Panesar combined in Australia's.

The declaration, which gave Australia a 239 -run first innings lead, was inspired from Ponting, leaving England a tricky 30 minute period to negotiate before tea or as it happened before the rains came.

England's frail top order failed to repel the burning heat emanating from the Australian fast bowlers as both Alistair Cook and Ravi Bopara missed straight deliveries and succumbed lbw to Johnson and Hilfenhaus respectively, leaving England teetering on 20 for 2 before play was finally suspended for the day.

England will need to regroup overnight and come again in the morning, but we've been saying that for the last three days.

Psychologically and physically the joyless 180 overs England have spent in the field will have left them flushed and weak and a dominant Australia will be scenting victory before tea on the final day.

Andrew Strauss will need to show his hand with a captain's innings, supported by a show of concentration and obduracy from Pietersen, Collingwood and Prior, if England are to save this test match.

More concerns for England: the amount of turn the pitch showed at times during the fourth day, though England's bowlers failed take advantage of it, and that there are only three rest days between now and the second test, leaving drained bowlers little time to refuel.

It's the last chance saloon for England's batsmen but the can they hold during a final day showdown?

PHOTO: Australian captain Ricky Ponting gestures from the pavilion as he declares at 674 runs for 6 in their first innings during the first Ashes cricket test against England in Cardiff, Wales July 11, 2009. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

What an extraordinary first day of Test match cricket, even by Ashes standards. A day that ebbed and flowed, that tormented and teased both sets of supporters and ultimately left us with the question: where does the balance of this match lie?

As Kev notes, lunch for England would have been the equivalent of trying to digest tarmac, a disconcerting affair to say the least. Having won the toss and electing to bat England were reduced to 92-3 by a persevering if unspectacular Australian attack, which left the Barmy Army cowering behind their beer snakes fearing the worst.

Tea would have been sweeter -- "two more sugars please" -- after Pietersen and Collingwood put on a hundred runs for the loss of no wickets. If Pietersen batting is like watching an artist paint a masterpiece, then watching Collingwood is like sitting through a blacksmith beating a horseshoe into shape.

Then came an astonishing final session. Collingwood played at one outside off as unconvincingly as he'd hit a boundary a few balls earlier, and was snaffled by Haddin behind the timbers.

Shortly after, the least impressive bowler Nathan Hauritz took the wicket of England's best batsmen Kevin Pietersen, who played shot that would've had Geoffrey Boycott charging for him with his stick of rhubarb, and England were again teetering on the brink at 241-5.

Cue the Prior and Flintoff show. In a blink of an eye the pendulum had swung again as the bruise brothers rocketed England to 327 with a series of blazing cover drives and thumping pull shots through midwicket, and suddenly it looked as though England would finish close to 400 with 5 wickets in hand and the game, if not in the bag, then at the till ready for packing.

But back came Australia again with the redoubtable Peter Siddle removing Flintoff and Prior in a crazy last 15 minutes to leave England 336-7 at stumps.

So where does the balance of power lie? I think Australia will be the happier of the two sides. Their bowling on the whole was ordinary, yet they managed to winkle out seven England wickets and keep them to under 350.

However, England, despite cursing the fact that five out of seven batsmen conspired to give their wickets away, will be happy with what they have seen in the pitch, despite being 25 or 30 runs short and 2 wickets down from where they would like to be.

Much will depend on how long England can bat for tomorrow.

If England can get a score of 450 they'll be cock-a-hoop and Aussies will feel the game slipping away. However 3 quick wickets for Australia and they'll rightly feel in the ascendancy.

One final point. Check out the foot marks that are already appearing outside the left-hander's off stump (3 of Australia's top 4 batsmen are left handed).

It's hard to tell how and if a pitch is going to deteriorate, but having opted to play two spinners, England will be heartened by what they've seen, which could aid them in defending a below par score.

Where do you think the balance of power lies?

PHOTO: England's Andrew Flintoff looks over at Australian wicket keeper Brad Haddin during the first Ashes  test in Cardiff, Wales, July 8, 2009. REUTERS/Andrew Winning

The build-up to Friday's second Wimbledon semi-final was all about Briton Andy Murray but the man of the hour was the fearless American Andy Roddick.

Sat on a packed and sunny Centre Court, the prospect of Murray's party being gate-crashed did not take long to dawn on a crowd who did not seem sure who they should be cheering for.

Roddick never stopped playing like a man on a mission, contesting every point while Murray's more subtle, patient approach was not coming to fruition as many had predicted.

Murray produced glimpses of magic and he stood up bravely to return many of Roddick's meteoric serves, which hit a staggering speed of 143MPH, but his own first serve let him down too often and the passing shots he regularly makes went amiss.

On paper, this was a match Murray was meant to win, but in reality the world number three was outplayed by sixth seed Roddick whose recent good form has coincided with a much fitter physique.

At 22-years-old, a grand slam semi-final still represents progress for Murray and the defeat will by no means damage his confidence or reputation -- British fans will just have to wait a little longer for a homegrown Wimbledon finalist. After all it has been 71 years already.

However, tennis fans will not begrudge Roddick, a former world number one and the 2003 U.S. Open champion, another chance to renew his rivalry with defending champion and overwhelming favourite Roger Federer in Sunday's final.

If Roddick serves like he did on Friday, he has a chance, don't you reckon?

ANDY 1: Andy Roddick seems scarcely able to believe his won over Andy Murray in their semi-final at Wimbledon, July 3, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

ANDY 2: Murray's expression says it all. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Andy Murray's brutal straight sets victory over Juan Carlos Ferrero took him through to the semi-finals at Wimbledon for the first time in his career on Wednesday but while the centre court fans and the Henman Hill mob did their Mexican waves one man was singularly unimpressed by the Murraymania.

Murray himself is doing his best to let the media frenzy pass him by. He may have received notes of encouragement from the Queen, Sean Connery and Cliff Richard, and he knows he will be all over the front and back pages of the newspapers again on Thursday, but to say the Scot is staying cool would be a massive understatement. Here's what he said after the 7-5 6-3 6-2 win over Ferrero:

"It doesn't make any difference the way you perform, the hype. If you spend the whole time, if you work in the media and spend a lot of time reading the papers, watching everything on the TV, getting said all the things that are getting said on the radio, then you get caught up in it.

If you ignore it you don't realize it's happening. You don't take anything that's being said about you. You know, I don't read it because 90% of the stuff's gonna be pretty much untrue anyway."

Ouch.

Murray didn't sound too impressed to hear that Kate Winslet had been in the crowd either, although he did concede it might be good for the sport.

"I think it's good for tennis any time you get, you know, big stars or celebrities coming to watch. It makes it, I guess, cooler for kids and stuff, which is important in this country."

PHOTO: Andy Murray returns the ball to Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain during their quarter-final at Wimbledon, July 1, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

All professional sportsmen talk about how important their supporters are but when it comes to the British and Irish Lions there really is a special bond.

Defying the credit crunch, up to 30,000 fans are expected to travel to South Africa to follow the Lions in their three-test series against the world champions.

Those fans, who spend most of their time in opposition as they follow England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland, are, like the players, united in one cause for a few weeks every four years.

They are united in colours too, as the red shirt of the Lions -- which adidas say will be by far their biggest seller of the year -- is everywhere.

The players appreciate the efforts made by the supporters and, unlike in most other modern professional sports, are not afraid to mingle with them.

Most of the Lions were out and about on Thursday and Friday, signing autographs, posing for photographs and, get this footballers, actually chatting about the sport they share a passion for.

When a police car slowed down as it approached a knot of fans surrounding Wales centre Jamie Roberts on Thursday it was merely to shout "what will the score be?" followed by a dismissive laugh when the fans suggested a 3-0 sweep for the tourists.

Hotels, food outlets and particularly bar owners are delighted to have the red army in town, and Lions forwards coach Warren Gatland, who knows a thing or two about rugby fanatics as a New Zealand hooker, is similarly appreciative.

"It is an honour and a privilege to be a part of the Lions and seeing the fans all around the town really brings that home," Gatland said on Friday.

Lions and England prop Phil Vickery agreed. "It's different and it's special, though it's still hard to get used to Welshmen, Irishmen and Scotsmen shaking my hand and wishing me good luck," he said.

"But the whole thing is good for rugby and good for South Africa. It really is a showpiece for the game."

PHOTO: British and Irish Lions players Adam Jones and Alun Wyn Jones play in the Indian Ocean ahead of the first test in Durban, June 18, 2009. REUTERS/Rogan Ward

As Wimbledon closed its new retractable roof over Centre Court for the first time in a drizzly southwest London on Sunday, the gap between the haves and have-nots grew wider.

Spectators and organisers hailed the new innovation, which will ensure Centre Court ticket holders will never again go away without seeing a match, but the rest of the soggy Wimbledon grounds provided a stark reminder of what it will be like for the majority of players and fans who walk through the All England Club gates next month.

Until this year, there was not much a player such as world number 100 Sergio Roitman would have in common with the likes of Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon. Except when it rained that is. No matter who you were, if it rained you were stuck in the locker room.

Not anymore. The chosen few lucky enough to be scheduled on 15,000 capacity-Centre Court will never again have to wonder exactly when the rain gods will let up. But since Wimbledon has another 18-odd courts that are used during the two-week long championships, the majority of players who make up the 128-strong singles draw will be left high and dry -- or in this case soaking wet -- when the heavens open.

Andre Agassi, who was given the honour of being one of the first players to test the conditions under the new multi-million dollar structure, dismissed suggestions that the roof would create a class divide.

"From a players perspective you could argue that those scheduled on centre court have a distinct advantage but you could also argue that those who have been scheduled on Centre Court have earned the right to have that opportunity," the American told reporters.

While the roof will ensure television viewers will also be guaranteed daily live action, Wimbledon organisers would do well to invest in a pair of earplugs as they will undoubtedly be on the receiving of some harsh criticism from those left out in the cold.

IN SYNC: Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf during their mixed doubles match against Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters under the newly completed Centre Court roof at Wimbledon in London May 17, 2009. REUTERS/Kieran Doherty