[Archived] The Ashes

[philipl]

At least Ben Dirs is on superb form.

Nice drift there from Hauritz, England disintegrating like a badly-packed kebab... drinks...

1158 - 55-4 Prior follows a wide on from Siddle and guides the ball through point for four. Deary me, Prior with an outrageous stroke, flashing wildly outside off, and missing. A little bit inappropriate in the circumstances that, like high-fiving the priest after receiving Communion at church.

1154 - 51-4 Hauritz drops short and Prior cuts elegantly against the spin to take England passed fifty, three for the shot.

1150 - 47-4 The gloom in my office has now given way to laughter. They're laughing now, England, your own fans are laughing at you, and that's far more tragic than being booed and hissed at.

[ffan]

Prior gone. 1 - 0 Australia. Oh dear Strauss. Oh dear England.

Fair play to Hauritz and Ponting though.

[T4E]

There is such a difference in quality i don't see the point in playing Australia. Another 5 nil whitewash will do young English players no favours, we should be playing Scotland, Wales, Holland if would be more competitive to watch

Don't be so bloody ridiculous. If anything there's been more plus points in this test than there was in the 1st test in 05. Long way to go, but certain players need to start seeing the bigger picture.

[DeadlyDirk]

There is such a difference in quality i don't see the point in playing Australia. Another 5 nil whitewash will do young English players no favours, we should be playing Scotland, Wales, Holland if would be more competitive to watch

What are you talking about?

There isn't a great deal of difference in quality between the two teams, both teams strength is their batting while the bowling attacks are not great.

We are getting hammered right now and deserve to lose the first test but most of it comes down to shot selection and nothing else, how many England players have been out to a genuine good ball? 1 or 2?

Iceman, the reason why KP gets so much stick compared to the others is simply due to his talent. If Cook for example was as naturally talented as KP then I'm sure he'd be in for a lot more abuse. The thing is with KP when he gets his eye in it should take something special to get him out and stop him getting a big score, he shouldn't simply throw away his wicket trying to be fancy. It's all well and good saying 'that's the way he plays', but he's too good for an excuse like that, he needs to stop playing the pretty aggressive innings and trying to dominate the bowling every single innings, he needs to play the situation and start playing the innings that win England test matches.

[neekoy]

Oh come on..

Let's not get hysterical..

England are a good team. 2-3 of England's players would walk into the Aussie line-up, without a doubt.

Rubbish. On what I have seen from England since 2005, there is not one player who would be fit to wear the green and gold (unless KP goes back to his native country).

Flintoff in 2005 form without a doubt, Flintoff now? Not a chance. Especially when we finally have a specialist 6 that is carving it up both home and abroad.

Anyone comparing the Australian team of two years ago to this one is crazy, we have just seen the two greatest bowlers, the greatest wicketkeeper and the greatest opening pairing ever to play cricket retire.

They have been brought back a peg but are still lightyears of ability higher the England and anyone that says, they are pretty close, just luck, just bad decisions, just just just, has got their hand on it.

EDIT: @DeadlyDirk, you are watching this game right? You do realise that England are 5 down and are still over 100 runs away from the first innings total? I don't really think you could actually get further away in circket.

[dave birch]

What are you talking about?

There isn't a great deal of difference in quality between the two teams, both teams strength is their batting while the bowling attacks are not great.

Sorry DD, one team has bowled out the other, and has that team 5 down in the second innings; the other team only got 6 out, and one of those was he was going the slog.

Having said that, my money is still on the draw. I think Flintoff has enough about him to stay there for a while and collingwood is a good enough bat

[DeadlyDirk]

Sorry DD, one team has bowled out the other, and has that team 5 down in the second innings; the other team only got 6 out, and one of those was he was going the slog.

Having said that, my money is still on the draw. I think Flintoff has enough about him to stay there for a while and collingwood is a good enough bat

Like I said though, how many of the english batsmen got out to really good balls, a couple maybe, most of them got themselves out playing silly shots, pure shot selection.

With the exception of Cook all the english batsmen got starts and got their eye in, then they threw their wickets away when the going got a bit tougher.

Australia just showed a lot more will and determination when they batted, none of them wanted to give their wicket away cheaply.

They've bowled slightly better than we did, or perhaps more correctly their fielding positions and bowling plans have been better, we haven't quite shown the initiative or tried something different with our field placings yet.

As for our second innings we've brought it on ourselves after our poor showing in the first innings and now there is tremendous pressure on us, again though some silly shots have been our downfall, not because of some fantastic deliveries. In my opinion they are looking better than us because we are making them, we can play a hell of a lot better than this, hopefully we can prove that in the second test.

If it was up to me I'd be dropping Broad Panesar to bring in Onions and Harmison to freshen up the bowling attack, drop one of the batters to show that their places are not safe, perhaps Bopara although he has been excellent until now, perhaps he just isn't good enough to face Australia?

[AussieinUk]

Rubbish. On what I have seen from England since 2005, there is not one player who would be fit to wear the green and gold (unless KP goes back to his native country).

Flintoff in 2005 form without a doubt, Flintoff now? Not a chance. Especially when we finally have a specialist 6 that is carving it up both home and abroad.

Anyone comparing the Australian team of two years ago to this one is crazy, we have just seen the two greatest bowlers, the greatest wicketkeeper and the greatest opening pairing ever to play cricket retire.

They have been brought back a peg but are still lightyears of ability higher the England and anyone that says, they are pretty close, just luck, just bad decisions, just just just, has got their hand on it.

Who's comparing the team from two years ago Neekoy? Not I.

I am fully aware of the transition that we have been through.. Losing the likes of Hayden, Langer, Martyn, Gilchrist, Gillespie, Kasper, McGrath, Warne and MacGill hasn't been easy and the signs are there, but we are still very inexpirenced..

KP would walk in and yes, I would play Flintoff.. His bowling ability and knack of 'scalping' key wickets is totally understated. Get Freddy playing in a (continually) successful team and IMV the results would speak for themselves. I would also add Swann to the list.. Ritzy has played well, but we (Aust) haven't seen the full potential of Swann and the damage he could cause on the right pitch.

Don't get me wrong, I am very much a passionate Aust supporter, but I am not blinked to just Australian talent.

This series has a long way to go, so don't be to over-confident.

I guess we will see as the series goes on

EDIT: Double posting

[dave birch]

I found this little gem on the BBC cricket messageboard:

"If Hauritz gets two more - not entirely unlikely - he would have got more wickets in this match than the entire English team put together. Frightening, isn't it?"

This is a guy who isn't rated in Australia.

DD, Good ball or bad ball, if you lose your wicket, what does it matter.

If I had any control, Warnie would still be playing.

[DeadlyDirk]

I found this little gem on the BBC cricket messageboard:

"If Hauritz gets two more - not entirely unlikely - he would have got more wickets in this match than the entire English team put together. Frightening, isn't it?"

This is a guy who isn't rated in Australia.

DD, Good ball or bad ball, if you lose your wicket, what does it matter.

If I had any control, Warnie would still be playing.

If you get out to good balls then fair enough, next time maybe you'll score some runs and win a test match and potentially the series, keep getting out to bad balls all the time and you'll win (Please don't use that word again) all. I think that's how much it matters.

Competley agree about Warne though, he had to go sometime and it would have been a bit of a slap in the face to recall someone who isn't even playing these days haha but no doubt he'd have us out by now!!

Still a long way to go in this, you never know we could even scrape a draw here and it doesn't mean the end of the world if we don't.

Who won the first test in 2005??

EDIT:

Oh good it's started to reverse, that'll help!

[T4E]

Correct Dave - the scoreboard doesn't state how unlucky you were, just that you got out. Having said that, DD has a decent enough point - England haven't been skittled or blown away by the Aus attack. With the bat your boys have been different class, and thats the real worry.

It's interestingly poised now. Aus have been the better side for almost all 4 1/2 days - but, if somehow Fred leads us to a draw here, who comes out of this game and into the second test in greater spirits?

Fascinating stuff test cricket. Those that prefer the shorter forms of the game just aren't meant for this sport. Doesn't get any better than this.

[dave birch]

I

Competley agree about Warne though, he had to go sometime and it would have been a bit of a slap in the face to recall someone who isn't even playing these days haha but no doubt he'd have us out by now!!

Who won the first test in 2005??

Two points.

1. Warnie had plenty of overs in the IPL recently and I don't think anyone in Australia would have objected.

2. Who won the first test in the last series?

T4E, that's my take on it too, Fred needs to hang in there, if he does, then my prediction will become reality.

I would still think that the Aussies will be in a better frame of mind, having bowled out England at least once.

Must admit, I'm disappointed with Johnson, I'd have thought that he'd have been a bit better.

Finally, the short version of the game is for those that can't concentrate for a few hours.

[AussieinUk]

Fascinating stuff test cricket. Those that prefer the shorter forms of the game just aren't meant for this sport. Doesn't get any better than this.

Cant get better than test cricket.

[dave birch]

I should have finished with :

I'm off to bed, so that the remaining wickets can fall......

[AussieinUk]

Must admit, I'm disappointed with Johnson, I'd have thought that he'd have been a bit better.

Midge will come good.. He is like a train.. needs to build on rolling momentum. I expect him to fire in the next few tests

I should have finished with :

I'm off to bed, so that the remaining wickets can fall......

Jinx

[DeadlyDirk]

Two points.

1. Warnie had plenty of overs in the IPL recently and I don't think anyone in Australia would have objected.

2. Who won the first test in the last series?

T4E, that's my take on it too, Fred needs to hang in there, if he does, then my prediction will become reality.

I would still think that the Aussies will be in a better frame of mind, having bowled out England at least once.

Must admit, I'm disappointed with Johnson, I'd have thought that he'd have been a bit better.

Finally, the short version of the game is for those that can't concentrate for a few hours.

Didn't even realise Warne had been playing in the IPL, don't really follow it a great deal. Either way I'm glad from an England point of view that he isn't playing. Guess they are just honouring his retirement.

Australia won the first test in the last series, my point was in 2005 Australia also did and then went on to lose the Ashes, which shows that the first test doesn't always have a huge say on the final outcome.

I still think we are going to struggle to save this one, my hopes are more with Colly knuckling down rather than Flintoff, still see the big man getting out to a silly shot somewhere, very much hope I am wrong though.

[T4E]

Fred gone, edged to Punter at second slip off Johnson. Good catch, bad stroke.

That'll be that. Would've been a travesty if Aus hadn't won this, so fair enough.

[AussieinUk]

Johnson with a great inswinger on Broad that was very close..

[ffan]

Survive without a loss of wickets till tea and England have a chance amazingly enough.

Sorry Stuart, I jinxed it

[DeadlyDirk]

Come on England, one big last push!

[Iceman]

England dont deserve to draw this game, if they somehow manage it.

[DeadlyDirk]

England dont deserve to draw this game, if they somehow manage it.

Perhaps but it's hard to see us winning it from here. I guess I'd settle for a draw.

[Iceman]

Perhaps but it's hard to see us winning it from here. I guess I'd settle for a draw.

Swann and Collingwood doing well, to hold things up. Some fight being shown. I like Collingwood, very gritty player

[ffan]

Swann and Collingwood doing well, to hold things up. Some fight being shown. I like Collingwood, very gritty player

Too late though. New ball will be taken soon.

[AussieinUk]

Draw on the cards methinks..