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I'm off to Adelaide tomorrow and I'm still packing so this is going to be brief.
Warnie got his 700th wicket.

Shane Warne proved again there's no better show-stopper in cricket by turning a milestone into another bag of wickets at a packed MCG.

Warne became the first man in history to take 700 wickets, when he bowled England opener Andrew Strauss, who was the first victim in a haul of 5-39.

Warne's performance orchestrated another England collapse and proved good his prediction of two days ago, when he forecast one more bag before retirement.

England folded meekly for 159 after winning the toss and batting.
Australia was 2-48 at stumps, having lost Justin Langer (27) and nightwatchman Brett Lee (duck) in successive balls to England captain Andrew Flintoff.

I'm guessing he finishes with 714 in his career. Why? I dunno, it's just my wild guess.
Austraalia looked mighty wobbly this morning, but in the afternoon, 'Roy' Symonds and Hayden righted the ship and put Austarlia ahead by 213 runs.

The Queensland team-mates came together with Australia on 5 for 84 before lunch after the quick dismissals of Ricky Ponting (7), Michael Hussey (6) and Michael Clarke (5).

Their big-hitting stand finally ended nearing stumps, when Hayden walked on 153 after being caught behind off paceman Sajid Mahmood (2-67).

Mahmood then added the wicket of Adam Gilchrist, caught at second slip for 1 in his next over, to claim his first scalps in Ashes cricket.

Australia went to stumps on 7 for 372 with Symonds carrying his bat on 154 not out after recording his first Test century on the game's biggest stage.

Shane Warne was 4 not out and Australia had an overall lead of 213 runs in the first innings.

Earlier Symonds had reached his milestone with a huge six back over bowler Paul Collingwood's head after tea.

Symonds - often derided as not being a Test-quality player - threw both arms above his head and roared in delight as the ball disappeared into the stands.

England saw the game slip away from them after taking quick wickets to put Australia on the back foot in the morning session.

You'll take that any day. It's hard to se England come back and win this one from here. They could easily get bowled out for less than 250. They've got to be pretty down after day 2.

The Big Useless

I used to like Randy Johnson when he pitched for other teams, far away from New York. He was easy to root for; even in that 2001 World Series where a bloop single won it for the Diamondbacks, I was a little happy for the gangly ornery pituatary-case pitcher.

Nonetheless, it's been a bunch of disappointing Octobers for the Yankees since, and to see Randy Johnson contribute to the October futilities of the last years was actually quite difficult. The guy was supposed to make a big difference. Instead he sort of just sputtered blue-smoke and backfired along like an old engine where a head-gasket is about to blow.

The trade itself was pretty upsetting. Adding to the aggravation today is that the Yankees traded away Dionar Navarro and Javier Vazquez to get Randy. Navarro would actually be a very useful piece right now; and Javier Vazquez's uninspiring subsequent years would have basically duplicated the RJ effort.

The 'Big Unit' may have won 34 games in his 2 seasons with the Yanks but he's also posted a 6.92 ERA in the post season - you know, the seaosn that actually counts for bragging rights? I've already made my big rant about him, so I'm pretty glad to hear the Yankees are looking to move him.

If the New York Yankees are serious about trading Randy Johnson, the Arizona Diamondbacks would love to have him back. Arizona confirmed its talks with New York about the Big Unit, who won four Cy Young Awards with the Diamondbacks from 1999-2004, but thus far the Yankees' asking price has been too high.

"There's no activity at this point," Diamondbacks general partner Jeff Moorad said Tuesday. "The Diamondbacks as an organization have a tremendous amount of respect for Randy, yet also recognize he's under contract to the Yankees. If there's ever an opportunity that made sense to reacquire him, we'd be at the head of the line."

The San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants also have talked with New York about Johnson, a baseball official who had been briefed on the talks said, speaking on condition of anonymity because no deal had been agreed to.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman declined comment on Johnson, and Padres GM Kevin Towers didn't return messages seeking comment.

Getting anything for Johnson would be a bonus. The Yankees would shed years and millions in their payroll. Hopefully it should work like the Sheffield deal where they got 1 good prospect and 2 reasonable prospects; adding depth would be good. If they could actually score a serviceable backup catcher or a firstbaseman, would simply be awesome.