The Ashes 2013.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Play abandoned

England win the ashes

we havnt actually won the ashes. just retained them

[Cripps_orig]

I made a mistake through all the excitement I was feeling.

Anyway with this series over and done with, hopefully the lat 2 Tests wherever they are are more exciting. Put on a show for the crowds. Entertain the public.

Likes of Trott and Cook surely in last chance saloon. Bairstow and Root have been a bit shit. Broad isn't a good enough bowler. Onions surely has to come in.

Plenty of problem England can rectify in the next 2 Tests as the pressure is now off.

[Cripps_orig]

Clarke MOTM?

Maybe KP seeing as his century probably saved England.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Id play root as opener for rest of series before deciding if expereiemnt worked. his 180 came off when we had a lead of 230 to start with. when we are level or behind, he hasnt been brilliant but hopefully he gets better.

trott has this series as well before last chance saloon. cook has brilliant for so long he is allowed one bad series, but he has a couple of 50s so not too worrying.

bairstow isnt good enough so id give taylor a go in next matches, bairstow has had his chance and failed most of the time. give taylor a go.

broad needs to be dropped, he averages this series one wicket an innings. for the new ball bowler, thats not good enough. play tremlett instead

[Cripps_orig]

Cook is a poor captain. His snail pace batting has been criticised by more accomplished people than me. He needs to bat for the team, not for himself and his average.

He won't be dropped cos we have just retained the Ashes and he'll go to Australia as well but after that, if he hasn't improved its the end.

Onions is better and in form and having just checked, the next Test is at his home ground where he just picked up 9 wickets in a match for his pub team.

Never heard of this Taylor pubber but give him a go rather than get the failed Morgan and/or Bopara back in

[Ollie the Optimist]

Cook is a poor captain. His snail pace batting has been criticised by more accomplished people than me. He needs to bat for the team, not for himself and his average.

He won't be dropped cos we have just retained the Ashes and he'll go to Australia as well but after that, if he hasn't improved its the end.

Onions is better and in form and having just checked, the next Test is at his home ground where he just picked up 9 wickets in a match for his pub team.

Never heard of this Taylor pubber but give him a go rather than get the failed Morgan and/or Bopara back in

cook as batsman is superb and there is not question about dropping him on that point. he has 25 centuaries. dropping his as captain, well yes there could be an argument to that. but he hasnt lost a series as captain, hes retained the ashes in 3 matches, won a series in india for teh first time in 20 odd years so he clearly isnt as bad as some say.

i rate tremlett more then onions. last time v the aussies, he took 16 wickets in 3 tests. id play him first over onions. this was andersons home ground, he didnt do that well, nor did swan at his in first match. home ground means nothing to a certain extent

[Cripps_orig]

What Tremlett did years ago has no significance to now.

Listening to TMS, Onions is on form right now, picking up wickets this season with an average of under 30 with the ball.

Tremlett is going at 40s

[Ollie the Optimist]

What Tremlett did years ago has no significance to now.

Listening to TMS, Onions is on form right now, picking up wickets this season with an average of under 30 with the ball.

Tremlett is going at 40s

well it does. onions is bowling well but hes never really performed for england when he has played but is a good bowler. we'll agree to disagree here, i rate tremlett more and think he would scare the aussies the more and get more wickets. 16 in three matches agaisnt pretty much teh same team as playing now. i reckon he can do it again

[Cripps_orig]

Fair enough.

Whoever plays, hopefully we kick Aussie butt again.

Having grown up in the 90s and seeing us being destroyed time and time again, it's good to see it turn around.

Kind of gives me hope with the football. As bas as arsenal are ATM, in time we will rise again.

[Cripps_orig]

Moody and Willis saying Swann has been the difference between the 2 sides.

Agree or disagree?

Both have been a bit shit batting wise and fast bowling has been mediocre

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Er well, I'd say more than Swann has been the difference. Aussie's batting line-up in general has been crap, whereas it's England's top order that has been just as crap but the middle order has been much better, well, better anyway.

Also, no more Moody. :(

Blewitt is in the chair on Friday.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Moody and Willis saying Swann has been the difference between the 2 sides.

Agree or disagree?

Both have been a bit shit batting wise and fast bowling has been mediocre

To some extent I agree, Aussies don't have a spinner, England have a world class one who takes wickets. But Anderson has been instrumental in first two test wins, the Aussies just couldn't play him. Bell too. In England's two wins, Anderson and swan bowled superbly, but bell dug the batsman out of a massive hole twice to play a key part in winning the games.

So for me, the difference is the two bowlers being the best two in the world at what they do, and having middle order batsman who can stand up amd score match winning/saving tons. The Aussies have Clarke to do that, if he fails. They all fail

[Cripps_orig]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-23600037

:haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Monty the GHEL. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Fourth test today. In sunny Durham. :wacko:

Anyway, let's win the series. :bow:

Altough if I know England, they will probably slack off.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Batting masterclass with KP on at the moment.

Think it is actually for batting and not putting tape on bats. :whistle:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England win the toss and will bat first. Unchanged team. :faint:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Jackson Bird is in for Starc.

Australia's entire bowling line-up from the first test has changed now. :lol:

[Cripps_orig]

Onions England career :rose:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England: Alastair Cook (capt), Joe Root, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonny Bairstow, Matt Prior (wk), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson.

Australia: David Warner, Chris Rogers, Usman Khawaja, Michael Clarke (capt), Steve Smith, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Peter Siddle, Ryan Harris, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird.

[Cripps_orig]

8 runs off the first 6 overs :doh:

Cook 1 off 23 balls.

England already on the back foot cos of it.

How is this guy in the team?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Why do they do it? Get bogged down, then chase a wide one. :banghead:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

First boundary! :blink:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Aussies go to review.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

34-1, Root goes on review! Watson with the wicket.

16 off 52. :doh:

[Cripps_orig]

Time for Compton to come home?

[Cripps_orig]

Another shocker from the on field umpire

[LDG]

Our top order has been little bit shit this series.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Run rate 1.88. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Trott edges, dies before the slips though.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Trott has upped the run rate to 2.07. :bow:

[Cripps_orig]

Cook and Trott in the middle now.

That run rate won't get better

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England 57-1 at lunch.

[Cripps_orig]

57 runs in a session :haha:

Aussies won that one comfortably.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Test cricket :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England on 106-1.

Trott is going at a pretty good pace. :bow:

49 off 56! Cover drive. :cloud9:

Cook 34 off 126. :rose:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Now Trott is out, 107-2. Lyon with the wicket.

That was piss poor. :lol:

Still, decent amount of runs.

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

It was all going pretty well until you posted.

Coincidence or yet another case of the Maccy Mockers?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Probably the latter.

KP came in, tried whacking Lyon for six first ball. :lol:

Didn't work.

[Ollie the Optimist]

An all run four :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Cook on to 51.

KP's batting masterclass ends. 149-3, Lyon gets him. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

153-4, Bird gets one nipping back on Cook.

51 off 164. That is rather pointless.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England 155-4 at tea.

[Cripps_orig]

Another shocker from Cook but the clueless will just point out he's got another half century.

Fair play to Trott. Good innings from him and from KP.

Need Bell and Bairstow to step it up

[McNamara That Ghost...]

155-5, Bell gets out embarrassingly. :doh:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

189-6, Siddle gets Prior, on review.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bairsy goes to review...

[McNamara That Ghost...]

193-7, Bairsy goes for not much of a score. Lyon four-for.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

197-8, horrific from Broad.

England downing tools. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Aussies take the new ball, with six overs remaining.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Swann nearly hit his stumps, Hughes should have dived for that catch, well he did I suppose, after the ball had landed. Idiot.

[Cripps_orig]

Nick in London, TMS inbox: This is possibly the worse day of Test cricket I've ever watched from an England perspective. You can't play that negatively and expect to get anything from it. The pressure mounts, the fielders get on top of you and you get out. PLAY SOME SHOTS… My mum could do better with a rolled up rhubarb leave, never mind the actual stick.

Spot on.

Blocking and leaving helps no one but the fielding side.

Get nicks mum in ASAP. Can't be any worse than cook, root, Trott and Bairstow.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Swann giving it a good whack. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

214-9, off goes Swann for a quick 13.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Jimmy to get a 98. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Anderson with a four. :scarf:

218-9.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

And another! :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England close on 238-9. Jimmy on 16 from 9.

Burnley Lara. :bow:

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fDZUOGsOXw

Even though I like the system, I think I miss not having DRS.

Pratt :bow:

[LDG]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fDZUOGsOXw

Even though I like the system, I think I miss not having DRS.

Pratt :bow:

That was an awelsome vid :bow:

That delivery from Giles that bowled Martyn :bow:

And Harmy getting Kasprowicz :woohoo:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

The demo from Strauss, Nass and Warney on spin was brilliant.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England all out for 238, Bird bowls Anderson.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rogers and Warner opening.

Watson has been permanently moved from opening it seems. :rose:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

12-1, Broad bowls Warner!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

12-2, Khawaja goes for a duck! Broad with another wicket.

[Cripps_orig]

:haha:

2 horrific teams going at it

[McNamara That Ghost...]

So many drag ons. :lol:

Clarke was lucky.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England waste a review that doesn't even get to HawkEye on hitting the wicket. :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rogers given out, he goes to review.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

And Rogers is right too. Although you can never be sure with these umps.

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Why is there such a massive margin of error in cricket, when tennis goes to the millimetre?

It seems so overly cautious.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

:haha:

Oh this is going to be fun. Rogers given not out because the original decision was for being caught and he didn't hit it, umpire's call has appeared on the DRS review though as it would've been out on LBW had it been given out on that basis.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Why is there such a massive margin of error in cricket, when tennis goes to the millimetre?

It seems so overly cautious.

I guess because in Tennis, it's what has happened, where the ball has landed, whereas this is predicting where it would go after the ball has landed.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England players had a '1-1 at Newcastle' moment when the Umpire's Call image appeared. :haha:

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

I guess because in Tennis, it's what has happened, where the ball has landed, whereas this is predicting where it would go after the ball has landed.
Yeah fair point.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

49-3, Broad gets Clarke for 6!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Aussies 75-3 at lunch.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

76-4, Bresnan gets Smith! :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Watson in. He has his opening wicket partnership after all. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bunsen Burner of a pitch. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bresnan drops Watson off his own bowling.

Watson is trying to get out by the looks of it.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rogers gets his fifty. Although Swann dropped him for him to get that. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rogers plays a shot nearly chopping on to his stumps with both feet in the air. :lol:

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

:haha:

What on earth was Rogers doing?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rogers can't help himself but do something absurd.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Aussies 148-4 at tea, trailing by 90.

[Rors]

Time for a Watson from Watson after tea I think... :pray:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Watson moves on to 50!

[Rors]

Watson moves on to 50!


:faint:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rogers up to 89. Can't be long before he stands on his wicket or something.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rogers gave them a chance but it drops short. :lol:

Clarke having kittens.

[Rors]

Watson :lol: Just go away.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

205-5, stupid from Watson going after one down leg side. :haha:

Broad with the wicket.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Come on Rogers FFS.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rogers finally gets his maiden test century! :bow:

211-5.

[Rors]

Rogers makes a 100 :faint:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bad light stops play.

[Rors]

KP's square leg misfield :pal: :haha:

[Rors]

Watson :lol:

Conversion rate :pal:

[Cripps_orig]

Anderson isn't very good is he?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01dz5mh

Boycs. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

224-6, Swann gets Haddin. HawkEye didn't have the right angle for the delivery. :lol:

Eventually corrected itself though.

[Rors]

That will do for starters.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

233-7, Rogers goes for 110.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England take the new ball. :popcorn:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Aussies lead by two. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

245-8, Anderson gets Siddle!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

258-9, Anderson gets Lyon.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Aussies all out for 270, Broad gets five-for. Australia lead by 32.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

17-1, Harris bowls Root with a jaffa!

[Rors]

Maxwell (generally an excellent commentator btw) certainly liked that one on TMS..

[Cripps_orig]

Root :wave:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England 24-1 at lunch.

[Rors]

Not relevant for this thread, but as we're all here... Remember this?:

http://www.european-championship.com/category/Euro-Tips/Alan-Hansen-makes-impossible-Euro-2012-predictions-201206060003/

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Hansen. :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

42-2, Harris gets Cook. Chasing after a wide one. :faint:

[Rors]

There goes Cook. This now means I have to be hoping KP sticks around. Joy.

[Rors]

Chasing after a wide one. :faint:

:threaten: :banghead:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Strauss said it was uncharacteristic of Cook, though he has done it a couple of times in this series :doh:

[Rors]

Strauss has been absolutely terrible so far.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

49-3, Trott out from a short one. Harris again.

[Rors]

FFS

[Cripps_orig]

:haha:

[Ollie the Optimist]

Englands second all run four of the match :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England 123-3 at tea, KP and Bell both on 37.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bell on to 54. Well done to him.

[Rors]

Watson off injured mid-over.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Good review Aussies. :haha:

[Rors]

KP is back in the hutch.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

155-4, KP you berk.

[Ollie the Optimist]

pietersen can play so well then just throw it away. stupid shot.

bairstow has to play a massive innings here. if he fails again, i cant see him playing in the next test

[McNamara That Ghost...]

186-4, bad light stops play.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

And they are back on now. :haha:

[Ollie the Optimist]

umpires are a joke this series.

[Cripps_orig]

Bad light has to be the stupidest excuse of all time surely?

[Cripps_orig]

Bairstow gone for 28

[Cripps_orig]

Brennan comes out as night watchman :lol:

Bell 4 away from a century

[Rors]

Bell :bow: Never doubted him..........

[Cripps_orig]

Another century :bow:

[Cripps_orig]

233-5 at the close

Bell on 105. Hope he ges a big hundred which he hasn't done yet this series

[Cripps_orig]

Watching the highlights on 5.

Simon Hughes sure dies talk a lot of pointless crap in his tactics truck.

They tend t over think so much these days

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Oh KayPee. Awful.

What a pathetic light delay. Let them play on ffs. Cowardly umpires.


Come on BBC/Channel4 get your wallets out and bring the Ashes home!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Sky's cricket coverage. :bow:

Also, Australia take the second new ball.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

No reviews remaining for the Aussies.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

251-6, Harris batters Bell's stumps! Well, chopped on.

[Cripps_orig]

Bell goes early as expected.

He a bit shit the morning after the night before

[McNamara That Ghost...]

251-7, Harris obliterates Prior's stumps! On a hat-trick.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Broad survives it.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Think we needed a minimum of 280 here but can't see us getting it. Aussies to win this now

[McNamara That Ghost...]

275-8, Harris gets Broad with a short one. Six-for now.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bresnan cutting loose. :bow:

[LDG]

Think we needed a minimum of 280 here but can't see us getting it. Aussies to win this now

Seems like the pitch is a bitch today, so you never know.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Buffet bowling from Siddle.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bresnan is England's second top scorer of this innings. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

317-9, Harris gets Bresnan for his seventh wicket. :bow:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Smith. :haha:

Pathetic drop off Swann.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England all out for 330, Aussies need 299 to win.

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

England to win by 41.

[Cripps_orig]

300 to get and more than enough time to get it.

Aussies favourite if they bat well

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Broad bowls it to the boundary.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

All that reviewing for a delivery that pitched outside leg. :haha:

England. :doh:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Aussies 11-0 at lunch.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Down comes the rain.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Play resumes at 14:50.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rogers loops it in to the air, Broad goes chasing for it, nowhere near. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Rogers goes to review.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Hit his pads.

These umpires. :haha:

30-0.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Swann drops one, great effort though.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Third man runs surely has to annoy any fielding team.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Horrendous tackle by the hole on Warner's ankle.

Warner has hit boundaries galore.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Warner whacks Swann for six!

[Ollie the Optimist]

what has happened to england? superb in the first two matches, utter shit in the last two. they keep playing like this, the Aussies will win the next two matches and win the ashes in Australia.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Australia 101-0. Has to be one of the best opening partnerships of the series.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Warner moves on to 52.

[Cripps_orig]

what has happened to england? superb in the first two matches, utter shit in the last two. they keep playing like this, the Aussies will win the next two matches and win the ashes in Australia.

They've been shit throughout.

First 2 Tests, Aussies were shitter but they have raised their level. England have stayed at the same level.

The batting has been awful bar Bell. Bowling crap bar Swann.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

109-1, Swann gets his bunny Rogers.

[Ollie the Optimist]

a wicket :faint:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Swann has bowled some rancid stuff.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Aussies 120-1 at tea.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

147-2, Swann gets Khawaja!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

168-3, Bresnan gets Warner on 71!

[Ollie the Optimist]

still think the aussies have this one, unless we could get another 2/3 quick wickets

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England go to review on Smith.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Waste of a review, nothing left for England now.

[Ollie the Optimist]

what a waste. stupid review

[McNamara That Ghost...]

174-4, Broad bowls Clarke for 21!

[Ollie the Optimist]

that was a jaffa. what a ball. come on boys. get watson out early

[McNamara That Ghost...]

175-5, Smith drags on, from a pull shot! :haha:

Aussies will surely be complaining about the light soon. :lol:

[Ollie the Optimist]

this is brilliant bowling. come on boys. one more tonight

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Watson goes to review on lbw!

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Watson LBW again :lol:

How long left then? Half an hour or an hour?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

And Watson stays as out!

179-6.

[Cripps_orig]

I bet they wish they still had Agar

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Haddin goes to review!

England will take the extra half an hour if this stays out.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

And out it stays. No reviews left in the game. :lol:

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

A whisker.

Reviews are starting to annoy me now. I know it's about getting the right decision and they are helping in that regard, but they're ruining any sort of fluidity and drama of a wicket [normally lbw] being taken. The delight of another wicket....... and then minutes of a looping replay of hot spot. It dampens any of the celebrations.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

199-8, Harris absolutely plum. Broad gets another.

[Cripps_orig]

Highlights on 5 starting whilst play is still going on

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Aussies on to 203-8. Down to double figure on the chase! :popcorn:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Swann just dropped the series.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Now Broad gets one whacked at him by Lyon. :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

211-9, Broad bowls Lyon for five-for and ten-for in the match! :bow:

Stumps obliterated.

[Cripps_orig]

Bell to be robbed of another MOTM award?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Joe Root on to win it. :popcorn:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Why is Siddle taking the single?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England take the extra half an hour, has to be spin.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

How the fuck has Prior missed that run out?! :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Siddle's chip just out of Bresnan's reach.

223-9.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

England win and win the series with one match to play!

Three Ashes series wins in a row. Aussies. :haha:

England. :bow:

[Cripps_orig]

Confirmed.

Worst Australian side of all time.

They were favourites come tea but horrific session.

England have been awful this series yet lead 3-0.

South Africans (not Trott or KP) will be watching and loving this. They'll be the best ranked side for some time

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Geoffrey Boycott, Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

"This match was a wonderful advert for Test cricket, today in particular. Anyone who tells me Twenty20's better than this is an idiot. England were under pressure, looking in trouble, and Broad was outstanding. Bell's hundred was lovely, but I think Broad would be my man of the match. Nothing was going for them, Warner was going well, then Broad bowled Clarke an absolute peach."

Boycs. :bow:

Is Trott on the phone to Bell? :unsure:

Also, England's bowlers saved England again (through batting) and er bowling.

[Cripps_orig]

Priors run out debacle :haha:

Got to say, Broad as shit as he is was awesome. Hitting the stumps is the best way to get a wicket and he did it a few times.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Bell having a beer already!

[Cripps_orig]

Boycott :haha:

As a great man once said, he doth protest too much

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Broad gets MotM. Poor old Sherminator. I am sure he will get Man of the Series though.

[Syn]

Great product placement for Peroni. Bell's at least on his third bottle in 10 mins.

[Ollie the Optimist]

What a test match. What a win.


Tests :bow:

Those who think tests are shit :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Did Gower really just say England could win this series 5-0 - who knows?

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Try not to swear or slur Belly.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

All of them are drinking Peroni. And this is based in the North East.

[Cripps_orig]

Geoffrey Boycott, Ex-England batsman on BBC Test Match Special
"What a wonderful, dramatic day of cricket. It ebbed and flowed - that's what you want. Not this crash, bang, wallop 20 or 50 overs - it's about seeing bowlers and batsmen straining. Then it boils down to that England are better at the pressure moments."


Boycott :haha:

As a great man once said, he doth protest too much


Says it all

[Rors]

I try and be learned, analytical, and erudite about matters sport when I can. Apply real depth and breadth to discussions after matches. Sometimes though, all you need is....:



Australia. Utter shite :lol:

[Rors]

Spar sandwiches* have a better middle than Australia do. Khawaja is utter wank, Smith just a humper, Watson spends half his time trying to chip everything to fine leg, and waiting in the wings they have Cowan...


* Tikka rolls are pretty nifty though.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

All in all...Aussies. :haha:

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

At the risk of being hyper critical i think all this proves is that this is the weakest Australian side since records began, even in the last two test series' they had in Hussey and Katich players capable of staying at the crease and actually capatilising on the pressure they have put upon us....and now Michael Clarke is the only batsmen in that side of any genuine quality ...and yet despite all this the 3-0 scoreline flatters us immensly because the apalling form our top order is in and because Alaistar Cook doesn't have the slightest idea how to set a field properly and because of this the Aussie Run rate is much higher than ours.
In Siddle and Harris they have good pace bowlers, Clarke is a good batsmen and a good captain and Haddin is a good wicket keeper who is also good with the bat but other than that they have a bunch of average players and even since Shane Warne retired they have had no-one who has looked that decent as a spin bowler (Nathan Lyon couldn't even get the ball to Spin in Durham)
Really this isn't a team we should even consider as our rivals and yet it's a team who have a very decent chance of claiming back the Ashes in the winter series.....our batsmen have been destroyed by pace bowling and down under their pace bowlers will be all over us like a rash (especially at the WACCA where we haven't won since the 1970s) and the problem is winning this series so deceptively comfortably is that these kind of problems may be sweeped under the rug instead of being addressed.
For me we should use the test at the Oval to blood youngsters and inform certain players that they cannot take as Red their position in the team.

[Ollie the Optimist]

i think you might be being a bit harsh on Cook as a captain there. In his first year as Captain, he won a series in India (his first series as captain) which no england side had done for 30 years. He then won the ashes 3-0 first time england have won 3 home ashes tests in one series since 85, and retained the ashes in 14 days. the quickest that has been done by england in 5 day tests.

he has a lot to learn, but thats his start as captain, its a fucking good one.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

i think you might be being a bit harsh on Cook as a captain there. In his first year as Captain, he won a series in India (his first series as captain) which no england side had done for 30 years. He then won the ashes 3-0 first time england have won 3 home ashes tests in one series since 85, and retained the ashes in 14 days. the quickest that has been done by england in 5 day tests.

he has a lot to learn, but thats his start as captain, its a fucking good one.

To be fair the only thing i said was that he doesn't know how to set the field properly and he doesn't, i'm not saying it's something he won't pick up or that he has been a poor captain....winning in India was an excellent result i agree.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Cook isn't responsible for the poor form of the batsmen (apart from his own and to be fair on him, he's not giving away his wicket trying to prove something like Pietersen or smash his way back into form like Prior) and generally his timing when picking his bowlers has actually proved to be the turning point for England in this series.
I preferred Strauss as captain personally because he was that cool old head and oversaw back to back Ashes wins (first English captain to do so since Mike Brearly) and oversaw us to becoming the top test side in the world but Cook was the natural choice to replace him when Strauss' time had come and is still relatively young and will only get better.

[Ollie the Optimist]

fair points. be quite a tough introduction to test captaincy for him and hopefully he gets better. but some of his fields have been superb. the field to clarke yesterday, short leg, gully etc, clarke expected the short ball and got the length. the field put the doubt in his mind of a short ball, broad did the rest.

im not sure i buy cook being a defensive captain either. he won the ashes 3-0, retained it in 14 days. you dont do that if you are defensive. he will get better, but hes made a very good start.

[Syn]

im not sure i buy cook being a defensive captain either. he won the ashes 3-0, retained it in 14 days. you dont do that if you are defensive. he will get better, but hes made a very good start.

Even forgetting the luck England have had with rain falling when the Aussies were about to win the l
3rd test, any half decent team could take Australia comfortably right now. This 3-0 score line or whatever is the equivalent of boasting about beating Doncaster in football. The Aussie team is full of twenty20 retards that and shit bowlers. It's no achievement to win.

[Ollie the Optimist]

Even forgetting the luck England have had with rain falling when the Aussies were about to win the l
3rd test, any half decent team could take Australia comfortably right now. This 3-0 score line or whatever is the equivalent of boasting about beating Doncaster in football. The Aussie team is full of twenty20 retards that and shit bowlers. It's no achievement to win.

so without rain, they would have still lost 3-1. anyway the ashes to me isnt like a normal test series, its a derby. Its the one series all the players who play for england and austrailia want to win more then any other. therefore form goes out of the window to a certain extent. like a football derby, form is irrelevant because everyone raises their game.

[Syn]

so without rain, they would have still lost 3-1. anyway the ashes to me isnt like a normal test series, its a derby. Its the one series all the players who play for england and austrailia want to win more then any other. therefore form goes out of the window to a certain extent. like a football derby, form is irrelevant because everyone raises their game.

Even if it is like a derby, shit players will play shit. Australia are terrible. On the evidence of play you can't seriously think this has been a series of any good quality - the standard has been poor. There is only one top team at the moment by a massive distance and that's South Africa. To play South Africa and compete well - that's the only way to prove you're a good team right now.

If some of these Ashes test matches (e.g. the last one and one before) seemed a little close, that is a little worrying for England. A couple of years ago, England's top 3 in the first innings kept laying the platform which got them to the top; '200-1' type starts which they would then go on to convert. Now with a lot of key players getting on a bit, we will see a decline quickly unless they find some young players that can quickly become prolific scorers. Seen it happen recently with a lot of countries.

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Think Cook and Trott are bad... some England woman player took 304 balls to reach 55 :lol:

Boycs immediately proposed.

[Cripps_orig]

Bresnan out for the rest of the summer

Who comes in?

[Ollie the Optimist]

Bresnan out for the rest of the summer

Who comes in?

Tremlett. No brainer

[Cripps_orig]

I'd rather they go for someone in form

[LDG]

Bring Harmy out of retirement :bow:

EDIT: didn't know he was still playing county :o

[Ollie the Optimist]

I'd rather they go for someone in form

and who would that be then?

[Ollie the Optimist]

Bring Harmy out of retirement :bow:

EDIT: didn't know he was still playing county :o

he is? thought he retired ages ago :lol:

[Cripps_orig]

and who would that be then?

Well from the contenders, it's onions by a mile

[Ollie the Optimist]

Well from the contenders, it's onions by a mile

except hes injured

[Rors]

Kerrigan in as the second spinner.

Monty :rose: :(

[Cripps_orig]

Dead rubber of a fifth test starts tomorrow

Aussies to give a pubber a debut.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/23778598

Boof is getting feisty.

Also, Aussies win the toss and will bat first.

England: Cook, Root, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Prior, Woakes, Broad, Swann, Kerrigan, Anderson.

Australia: Rogers, Warner, Watson, Clarke, Smith, Haddin, Faulkner, Starc, Siddle, Harris, Lyon.

Bairsy. :haha:

About time.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Holding on Aussies's batsmen "things can only get better, that's what they should be thinking".

Anderson gets Warner next ball. :lol: 11-1.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Watson is begging to be given lbw.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Watson on to 48.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Kerrigan on to bowl. :popcorn:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Watson gets his fifty! Will he convert? :popcorn:

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Kerrigan and Woakes being given the runaround, shockingly.

Have they been brought in just for the sake of it? They surely have absolutely no chance of going on tour, so what's the point?