Aljazeera launches children's channel

Indeed, why not?

As Justin Langer's aspirations of a 500 lead before winning the Fifth Test disappear beneath the covers, here are some useful links at the Met Office:

• Rainfall radar map
• Satellite image (visual)
• Satellite image (infrared)

That's a nifty little low pressure down in the Bay of Biscay...

With Australia squandering anywhere up to 37 overs of playing time in the gloom of Friday afternoon in Kennington, it is becoming more and more likely that England are three days away from reclaiming the Ashes. If only Geoff Boycott and Chris Tavare were about thirty years younger, then we call this Test a draw and declare England home and hosed right now.

The BBC's childrens digital TV channel CBBC has a daily news program called "Newsround" which presents the news of the day in a manner that is aimed at children. I can only evaluate their work from what I see on BBC Online's Newsround website, but I quite like what I've seen so far.

Ton-up star Andy: you can shut it now Warne
- Headline, The Sun, London, 9.9.05

Warned: Shane turns on his magic
- Headline, The Advertiser, Adelaide, 9.9.05

It's a sign of the times that 319 runs in a day can be considered a disappointing effort from England. Despite a great knock from Andrew Strauss and a pretty darn good one from Andrew Flintoff, I think Australia have their noses in front right now, although this is almost singularly due to the genius of Shane Warne.

I'm a big user of Google products, slowly gravitating towards using my gmail account as my primary email address, and still trying to get my teeth around Google Talk. Nonetheless, I find the speed of their growth these days somewhat disquieting. Here's the latest press release from Google. You have to believe if that once Vint Cerf comes on board, Al Gore himself can't be far behind...

CERF'S UP AT GOOGLE

Vint Cerf, a Founding Father of the Internet, Joins Google as Chief Internet Evangelist

England must stick their necks out and go for the jugular
(Peter Roebuck/Sydney Morning Herald, 8.9.05)

Do you think Roebuck is advocating mass suicide with that heading?

Has there been a bigger buzz about a five-day Test match than the one starting at The Oval in just under an hour? It's a bit like Grand Final Fever. Some of the British media are comparing this to Wembley 1966. Maybe I could modestly offer a mention of Upton Park 2003...

The cricket will have my undivided attention from about half an hour after the start of play. Two points for now:

Just a reminder to all those people who stumble upon my website while googling for "SBS Ashes Website" - the SBS Ashes Website is at www20.sbs.com.au/theashes (yes, www20), and about an hour before the start of each day's play, one of their studio commentators (either Dean Jones, Greg Matthews, or anchorperson Simon Hill) will be present in the live forum, and this is the place to leave questions for them.