1. Wonder Mike
Mike Hussey is now exceeding the achievements of his Bradmanesque first year in Test cricket. Six successive Ashes scores over 50 - three of them centuries - and a seemingly insatiable appetite for runs. England only have two ways of getting him out: caught behind the wicket off Graeme Swann and caught in the deep off a tall quick. Unfortunately both methods have come at terrible cost, with the pull shot accounting for an astonishing percentage of his runs and Graeme Swann getting taken apart in a way we've not seen in his Test career to date. At this point we are contractually obliged to point out once again that Australia almost left him out.

2. Milestones
We've talked before about Shane Watson's ability to get out just after he reaches 50. He's equally vulnerable just before he reaches 100. Could be a statistical quirk, although evidence is mounting. Could be a desperation to succeed. Or it could be an egotistical character more concerned with his own personal milestones than the team's. I don't know which to plump for. Oh, and his bat-waving nonsense after being correctly given out lbw by umpires human and technological was embarrassing. Batted beautifully until then, mind.

3. Trem-endous
A highlight in a match containing precious few of them has been the performance of Chris Tremlett who just has the air of a chap who belongs at this level. He's certainly leapfrogged Steven Finn in the beanpole fast bowler stakes, combining as he does the Middlesex man's wicket-taking threat with Stuart Broad's frugality. The other commendable thing about Tremlett's eight wickets here is the fact that all eight have been top-seven players. No tailend freebies for the Trembler: 11 of the 13 wickets he took against India in 2007 were also top-seven batsmen. In a fledgling, four-Test career, a list of victims including Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman (three times), Dhoni, Watson, Haddin, Clarke (twice) and Hussey is none too shabby.

4. Battered
What was Kevin Pietersen playing at? Apart from, obviously, a ball he clearly shouldn't have been. We largely excused England's batsmen from blame for their first-innings capitulation, preferring to focus on the outlandish brilliance of Johnson and the quiet effectiveness of Harris. There can be no such excuses made today. After the bowlers just about kept England in the game, four of the top five played loose shots outside the off stump - with Pietersen easily the chief offender - and Cook was back when he should have been forward. Just about the only thing England did right was deciding against a review when Cook was given out.

5. The Watchmen
Another chance to clamber up onto a favourite hobby horse. What is the point of a nightwatchman? I genuinely do not understand the logic behind sending a bowler out to do a batsman's job. Some scenarios: he gets out straight away, forcing the proper batsman to come in anyway; he gets through to the close, but then hangs around like a bad smell the following morning, sucking life and momentum out of the innings; he gets through to the close, but falls early the following morning to give the opposition a lift. None are particularly good for the batting side. The alternative - that the nightwatchman survives and then plays some entertaining shots and makes a serious contribution the following morning - happens once a decade. It's a fundamentally flawed idea, sends a terrible message to the opposition and is, ultimately, rather a cowardly act. All that said, if you must deploy one, then get him to do it properly. James Anderson turned down a long single from the fifth ball of the final over of the day. There was something inevitable about what followed.

Dave Tickner