MELBOURNE & IT'S ALL OVER.

As predicted, England wrapped up another big win against the hapless Aussies, although there were, perhaps, a few more runs scored than might have been expected.

Andrew Strauss, the captain of England, now joins a select group of such men who have been triumphant in series at home and abroad against 'the old enemy' and there will be much rejoicing in the camp tonight.

But beware. In order to cement their victory, England must avoid losing, and that means they must win, at Sydney. That this is well within their powers is clear, but they must avoid complacency against a wounded

adversary made more desperate by their current humiliation.

WHINGEING SCOT.

I see that Alex Ferguson is off again, whingeing about the referee in last night's game against Birmingham. The fact is, he may well be right, it certainly looked to me, on the TV highlights, that there was an element of handball involved in Birmingham's equaliser, but does Sir Alex not realise that this is all part of 'the beautiful game' ?

Of course he does and I've yet to hear him say a word when his own players are guilty of similar acts. Football is now a high-pressured game in which cheating is the norm and winning is all; criticising referees is simply part of the background pressure that men like Ferguson try to apply in the hope that they'll get more favourable treatment than their opponents.

I have news for you, Sir Alex; the more you whinge, the less sympathy you'll receive. Have you never heard of the "boy who cried 'Wolf !'" ?

MELBOURNE DAY 3

England's tail wagged pretty pathetically but it didn't really matter. The Australian top order, except for Shane Watson, failed again and the end will probably come well before lunch tomorrow.

What will the Aussie selectors do next ? Ricky Ponting's career must be over and, if he has any sense, he'll resign before he's sacked. Who will take his place is anyone's guess as the main contender, Michael Clarke, is probably for the 'chop' as well. The Australians haven't been in this much disarray for decades.

MELBOURNE DAY 2

The bandwagon rolls on and England, with their South African born batsmen to the fore, are slowly grinding Australia into the dust.

Yet again, the Australian bowlers had a pretty poor day and it can now only be a matter of time before England secure the Ashes. Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, lost his temper and 40% of his match fee, which surely shows the pressure on him and his team.

Barring a miraculous turn-a-round, England will be breaking out the 'Champers' sometime on Wednesday. 

MELBOURNE MELTDOWN !

Just a week after trouncing England at Perth, the Australians have returned to form. Total meltdown by their batsmen followed by total lack of success from their bowlers.

Not being prepared to pay the silly money 'SKY' demands for watching its sports channels, I haven't seen the events of today in all their glory but it seems from the reports that the Aussie batsmen were pretty dire; that 6 of them were caught at the wicket certainly suggests some 'fencing outside the off-stump' though maybe some better England bowling also played its part. Regardless, 98 is hardly a total that Australians will have enjoyed seeing and Ricky Ponting's reign as captain must now be at an end, after yet another failure.

That England's openers were able to put on 157 without being parted indicates lack of penetration from the Australian bowlers and a lack of any real venom in the pitch. For England to do anything other than win from this point is well nigh impossible - sometime early on day 4 the Ashes should be safe. 

SPORTS' PERSONALITY - THE END

How does Katherine Jenkins figure in this ? She might be a good singer, but her presence has little to do with sport. Additionally, her voice is destroyed by the microphone amplification that makes it extremely hard to understand what she is singing. Regardless, she is superfluous.

The final result is simply nonsensical. I don't dispute that McCoy has been a very successful jockey for many years, but what did he do in 2010 to justify being THE 'Sports Personality' of the year ? The same has to be said of Phil Taylor, the runner-up, although whether or not darts is even a sport could also be a question.

Jessica Ennis should feel cheated, but then, after last year's ridiculous result (won by Ryan Giggs) I suppose we should expect such things. In my book, Jess is still the best we have, by far, and the one who will still be doing us proud in 2012 on a stage that is far superior to those on which McCoy and Taylor ever compete.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT ?

Lifetime Achievement award to D Beckham ?

Let's be clear. This man kicks a ball around, essentially, he plays a child's game, tolerably well. He is not the greatest player in the world and never has been; he is not even good enough to have been included in the best 22 picked by a selection of world class coaches quite recently.

Beckham has played as a member of a team and been rewarded with stupid amounts of money. As captain, meaningless though the term is in modern football, of his national team, he has gained a following and esteem that is simply not justified by his actual performances.

His speech at the awards' ceremony, touching and sincere as it no doubt was, was also a little stomach churning. What price him turning up as a political representative of some sort, sometime soon ?

Lifetime Achievement ? Shouldn't we wait until he's had a life ?