Congrats, Jonny Trott!

'mon the new kid!

A little congratulations is in order for one Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott. He battled his way to a maiden Test hundred today, and what a time to do it. England were 39-3 when Trott came to the crease, but a big partnership with skipper Strauss, and some very handy ones down the order with Broad, Swann and Anderson took England to a lead of 546.

Trott was eventually caught in the gully for 119 but received a standing ovation as he trotted (excuse the pun) off the field. The cameras caught a glimpse of his parents in the crowd - slightly embarrassing for his Mother who was shedding multiple tears - but a lovely, touching moment nonetheless. Well done Johnny boy!

A seagull with a mission, and all change for England

Okay, so a lot can happen in a week.

This is the infamous Seagull that decided to uphold play in the match between the Aussies and the England Lions because he was hungry for a bail. Yes, a bail. Perhaps not the tastiest of choices, but a gull's gotta do what a gull's gotta do!

Back to more Cricketing matters, and England have made the tough, but probably the correct, decision to drop under performing batsman Ravi Bopara. Bopara has made just 105 runs in 7 innings in this year's Ashes, a tally that clearly isn't good enough for the England selectors to give Bops another chance.

Jonathan Trott will make his Test debut at the Oval in the deciding match of the Summer. The Warwickshire batsman has been his county's top scorer in all competitions this season, so one can't argue that he doesn't deserve the call-up.Oh, but look - he's a South African. Commeth the day when England find a decent batsman from ENGLAND.

It bewilders me how the England selectors continue to show so little faith in our home-grown talent. James Hildreth, Alex Gidman, Paul Horton. They're all out there. A name that has been bandied around recently is that of Surrey antique Mark Ramprakash. I think Andy Flower and the boys were ready to dip in and purchase a zimmerframe for Ramps, who 20 days short of being 40, would be England's oldest Test Cricketer since Geoffrey Boycott. Perhaps Bob Willis will be called out of retirement in time for the Oval decider.