Ashes II - 2013/14 - In Australia



Play a lot of shots similar to that that season.

Pretty sure du Plessis hasn't done something like that. Always in the V, straight bat for him.



Yeah thats the abiding memory I have of him, he always looked like a classy orthodox player who could improvise if he had to. You could tell he was talented.

It might have been that, but my memory of it is more the batsman turning the other way and playing it like an orthodox right handed batsman if the ball was coming from the other end. Probably my mind playing tricks on me, I'm sure there would be SOMETHING on the internet if it was was awesome as I remember.
 
If Johnson bowls as well in SA as he has done this series then the Sarfers are in for a nasty suprise..
 
Can anyone find me the average at which Mitchell Johnson has taken top order wickets?

I'm sure its doable on cricinfo, you can get it for his whole career, but I can't work out how to narrow it to the series.
 
Johnson is bowling 90mph + all the time. He'll scare the shit out of the SA lower order, or any for that matter. And the Ozzies have Harris as well as some of the other younger fast bowlers coming back from injury. The question will be whether Steyn & Philander can deal with Haddin and the other lower order batsman better than the English bowlers have. But clearly any side are going to struggle against that Ozzie attack on the harder pictures like in Oz or SA. Johnson will be bowling 95mph+ in Johannesburg.
 
That was an eventful start...
 
I think that sums up Cook's series. England have needed someone to lead from the front and he hasn't been there, none of them have. Only Broad has had a near acceptable series.
 
This has been a very impressive display of geuine fast bowling from Harris & Johnson to be fair. I wish the SA batsman the best of luck...
 
Hard to see this side getting anything above 200 now, Anderson and Rankin won't score anything, whilst the rest of the 7 as we can see aren't reliable. I expect England at lunch around 66-4, before "recovering" to get 161 all out. We then won't bowl the Aussies out, they'll get something like 368-7 declared, and proceed to bowl us out second innings for around 250.

England Player Ratings for the Ashes:

Broad and Stokes - 7.5/10
Everyone else - 0/10

Maybe Pieterson who's at least got starts in most innings deserves a 4.
 
Good batting from Anderson protecting the tail from this attack.
 
"Well done Jimmy Anderson" - moral victory.
 
Brilliant bowling. Superb from the Aussies. 4 down.
 
Harris really is a fantastic bowler. Australia's batting line-up surely won't be able to cope with South Africa but they will fear this attack.
 
Right well I suppose I'll stick my tv's backlight on low and listen to it as I fall asleep now instead of paying attention.
 
There goes a South African, to be replaced by a Zimbabwean.
Good Luck England:wenger:
 
I stand correct, Pieterson can be downgraded to a 0 too. I think we're going to be someway off a 100 here, saving the utmost humiliation till last.

Not a nice situation to be making you debut in, I guess the best part of it is if Ballance can reach double figures he'll probably top score the innings.
 
Don't agree with that.

Australia have been dominant, but lets not pretend like they don't have glaring weaknesses.

Lets start with their top order. Shane Watson is a test match number 6, batting at number 3 just asks for trouble and its luck they've got away with it for a 5 match series. Rogers is going to go at some point and Warner would worry me in South Africa, because I don't think he has it in him to reign himself in and play a responsible knock. They've been 5 down for not very many 5 times in this series so far and been bailed out by Haddin, Smith and their tailenders.

It seems odd to talk about their bowling as a weakness but I think there's cause for concern. Johnson is the key strike bowler these days but I would worry how much he will threaten the Saffers vastly superior batting unit.

Since the first test Johnson's key contribution has been in blowing away the tail, for a guy who's taken that many wickets at that low an average the percentage of top order wickets has been very low. South Africa are not a team who care too much about aggression. I would be surprised if they did anything else than just get out the way of his short stuff, and they bat a lot, lot deeper than England do.

Harris has his obvious fitness concerns and Lyon is a decent defensive spinner who has been played awfully by English batsmen. If Harris stays fit he will be the pick of the bowlers, but you wonder how big an if that is. Siddle and Watson are good bowlers who do their job, but their not match winners.

Then we get on to the lower order. Bailey isn't a test match player, so you're looking at a guy who isn't good enough or a unknown quantity like Doolan. Smith is probably my favourite player in this Australian team, he just struggles and grafts and works and puts a game that doesn't look good enough together and scores runs, but I fancy him to be exposed by as thorough an examination of his technique that he will receive by the South African bowling attack.

Then there's Haddin, who we all know has had a magic series but there's a reason he averages 36 over his career. He's in good nick, and he's a good player but can he bail Australia out from poor first innings starts for a whole nother series? You'd probably bet against it.

Or put simply, I just think South Africa are a vastly superior side in all departments than England.

Win, lose or draw they will give South Africa a good run for their money and England have largely been poor because of how well Australia have played and the pressure they have been put under.
 
Win, lose or draw they will give South Africa a good run for their money and England have largely been poor because of how well Australia have played and the pressure they have been put under.
Nah, England have been poor full stop. Poor captaincy, poor batting, poor bowling, poor fielding. Lack of spirit, fight and desire.
 
I live walking distance from the ground. Was thinking of going along on day 5 just for a few beers in the sun. Don't think that's an option now, this will be over in no time.