A lot was written about Ashley Giles dropping Ponting. There's no denying that this was an important moment, but anyone who knows cricket would know that everybody drops catches at some point and in our position we thought Gilo made a really good attempt at it. We now know that it meant Ponting would go on to make another century.

The fourth day saw some excellent innings from Gilchrist and Clarke, and an incredible feat of bowling from Hoggard, who finished with 7-102 off 41 overs on a pitch not really suited to his brand of bowling. At 70-1 overnight, we were in a strong position to kick on and gain the positive result we needed after Brisbane. But, what a difference a day makes. . .

That night everyone went out for dinner as usual. I ate with an old Australian friend, Brett Saxon, who I played with for Merrion in Dublin in the 1990s. It was great to catch up with an old friend over a glass of wine and some tucker. One of the things I've enjoyed most has been bumping into and catching up with old friends who've either moved out here, are on holiday, or played cricket in Ireland for a few years and went home. In Brisbane, my girlfriend Francesca found herself sitting beside an old schoolmate of mine, Dan Mantle, who went to Pres Bray and played for North Wicklow. I also came across another Merrion man, Alan Treacy, as well as my old Trinity College captain Toby Cohen. Having seen so many friends who are engrossed in the series, you really get an idea of how much interest there is.

We played Shane Warne . . . the one bowler who could change the game around . . . so well until that final and infamous day. Everyone now knows that Australia pulled off an amazing six wicket win, a win which some of the Aussie players afterwards told me they didn't even think really possible at the start of the day.

Two particular points were critical in the way things unfolded. Firstly, Australia stopped England scoring, so the game was never running away from them. Secondly, the manner and timing of our first three wickets were just what the Australians wanted to get them going. Strauss was unlucky to be given out and Warne got his first wicket. Bell was run out after looking comfortable, and then KP was bowled round his legs sweeping. Warne was only getting going and we'd gone from 70-1 to 75-4 with the Aussies not having done anything exceptional.

I watched this unfold from the gym with Liam Plunkett. It was alarming how quickly the game was changing. We immediately made our way back to the changing room to support the team. Cricketers are a superstitious lot and the top superstition is the 'not allowed to leave your seat because we'll lose a wicket' rule. Unfortunately it didn't seem to work for us, and despite some excellent defensive work by Collingwood and the lower order we capitulated. We still believed that we could save the game and if we got a few early wickets, maybe even pull off a win.

But after losing Hayden and Langer early, Hussey continued his form and took them home. It's always gutwrenching to lose a game in which you've had the upper hand but because this was such a big game it was doubly so. I have never before seen two more contrasting dressing rooms. The Aussies were elated and ours was silent. This just showed how much the game meant in terms of the series: 2-0 down is going to be difficult to come back from.

A lot was written in the press, most of it negative, and most of it a vast over-reaction. The words 'debacle' and 'shambles' were used to describe our performance but while we didn't play as well as we could have one can only give credit to the Australians team effort in pulling off the victory. When a great bowler like Warne and a great team like Australia get going it's very hard to stop them. The way I look at this is that a day like the last day at Adelaide are why sport, and especially cricket, can be so unpredictable and compelling.

We arrived in Western Australia a few days ago and I've also got to play my first few games of the tour . . . one against the Prime Minister's XI where I made 36 runs before being run out. We've completed the first day of a two-day game against WA. Which reminds me I better sign off now because I'm batting tomorrow. . .