MERGED - The 2010/2011 ASHES tour thread...all Ashes related chat here please!

Ole's_toe_poke said:
The Aussies are a shambles.
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That's the line every media outlet is perpetuating, but the truth is we're not in as bad a state of decline as everyone seems to think. We should have won the first test in India, but for some extremely poor captaincy (persisting with spin because the wicket was supposed to turn rather than going for the kill with the quicks) we would have won comfortably. That test was loss and a 2-0 loss looks a lot worse than it actually was.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this summer of cricket.
 
The ozzie commentators crack me up, telling Bell he should give his wicket away as not to waste runs in a meaningless match! yes of course scoring 200 or whatever he goes on to score is a total waste of time and dosnt help the team or player himself confidence wise a jot....never mind its the ENTIRE POINT of the match for Englands batsmen to find some form and confidence ya know what these pre matches are all about and why England purposely selected their top 7 batters in the first place.....:rolleyes:

Basically they cant get Bell out a player they've mocked as not very good in the past so turn what has been a fabulous innings into a negative in true ozzie style.

Wankers, hope we thrash this lot and shut the feckers up, no wonder they are worried given the shite they've produced in the last 6 months.
 
No they aren't. They have declined but so have the Aussies, perhaps to an even greater degree, which makes them fairly even.
 
Allforone said:
The ozzie commentators crack me up, telling Bell he should give his wicket away as not to waste runs in a meaningless match! yes of course scoring 200 or whatever he goes on to score is a total waste of time and dosnt help the team or player himself confidence wise a jot....never mind its the ENTIRE POINT of the match for Englands batsmen to find some form and confidence ya know what these pre matches are all about and why England purposely selected their top 7 batters in the first place.....:rolleyes:

Basically they cant get Bell out a player they've mocked as not very good in the past so turn what has been a fabulous innings into a negative in true ozzie style.

Wankers, hope we thrash this lot and shut the feckers up, no wonder they are worried given the shite they've produced in the last 6 months.
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Erm, it was only Ian Healy and Ian Chappell saying this (both absolute feckwits, btw). Michael Slater thought they were both bonkers for even suggesting it.

England - the motherland of sensationalisation.
 
MUFC1902 said:
Erm, it was only Ian Healy and Ian Chappell saying this (both absolute feckwits, btw). Michael Slater thought they were both bonkers for even suggesting it.

England - the motherland of sensationalisation.
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Ian Chappell's very good.

Saw bits and pieces of the Australia A game. Bresnan bowled well, as did Monty. Khawaja and Ferguson both failed. Hughes played well for his 50~.
 
Wibble said:
Not at all. If England hadn't seriously declined a clean sweep against this Aussie side would be a sure thing. And nobody thinks that is possible.
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What exactly have England seriously declined from? :wenger:


It's not like we just lost Warne, McGrath, Hayden, Gilchrist and Langer all in one go, and it's not like we just broke up a team like the Windies in the 80s either.
 
Hauritz has been dropped from the Test squad, Smith and another spinner have been chosen. Bit of a risk to go with 2 rookies, but Hauritz never convinced me as a Test match player. Hussey hit a century, should give him some confidence ahead of the first test.
 
Tremlett & Bresnan have both been impressive, England have a strong squad this time round, probably better than the Aussies.
 
What do the ozzies see in that Steve Smith? he looks very average to me, Bell and collingwood butchered his bowling throughout their innings and at no time do i even recall him beating the bat once, he struggled to get the ball off the straight most of the time.

Obviously hes still a work in progress but the ozzie commentators aint half bigging this kid up into something he quite simply isnt, he looks like lower order batsmen who bowls a bit not the other way round, id be delighted if he were selected in their team and i think our batsmen would to judging by the treatment dished out to him from ball 1.

It must be because hes got blonde hair and bowls 'supposed' leg spin ala Shane warne comparisons, unfortunately thats where the comparisons start and finish.

I think Swann will be the difference in this series, both seam attacks whilst good are nothing overly intimidating (lets hope for Australia's sake Mitchell Johnson locates the pitch for this series) but England have by far the best spinner and over 5 tests i think that will be the difference.
 
Smith is a pretty ordinary bowler. Has absolutely no control over his line and length. His batting's better, but as an all-rounder he's not ready for test cricket because his bowling's just not good enough.

I think the selectors have been brave in including Doherty. His first-class average is poor, but I saw him in his ODI debut against Sri Lanka and he looked pretty decent. He had good control in all the overs he bowled. I think he'll be a dark horse here.
 
zing said:
Smith is a pretty ordinary bowler. Has absolutely no control over his line and length. His batting's better, but as an all-rounder he's not ready for test cricket because his bowling's just not good enough.

I think the selectors have been brave in including Doherty. His first-class average is poor, but I saw him in his ODI debut against Sri Lanka and he looked pretty decent. He had good control in all the overs he bowled. I think he'll be a dark horse here.
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I think Xavier Dohertys selection was very much aimed at getting at Pietersen and trying to keep him down, the Ozzies fear Pietersen because theyve witnessed first hand what he can do to any attack even in their conditions, they dont have a Warne this time round and Pietersens clearly borderline incompetent against left arm spin (it doesn't even have to be good left arm spin either) for whatever reason hence the selection, i think its a message to him as much as anything, how a man of his ability still hasn't fathomed out how to bat against even dobbers merely because they lob it down southpaw i really don't know.

Must say ive never seen him bowl but to have suddenly been thrown into the mix for an Ashes series is a big call, then again he cant be any less threatening than Smith, am surprised they've axed Hauritz from the squad totally, he was pretty decent over here last summer.
 
Read online earlier that Doherty has a first class average of 25 over the last 2 seasons -- which is very good.. his overall average is 45, but that doesn't tell the whole story clearly.

I think Smith's in the squad more to keep North on his toes than to play as the 4th bowler. Surprised they didn't plump for a pure batsman like Khawaja or Ferguson, though, considering the injury Katich's carrying and Smith's not good enough to bat at 6.
 
Wibble said:
I suspect it will be a competition to see who can out rubbish the other side. Both sides are rather poor at the moment.
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????????????? You obviously haven't seen much of England lately, their bowling/fielding in particular is miles better than anything I have seen from England in my life time. And England have tailenders who can seriously bat which Ive never seen before either.
 
Ashes player predictions:

Just a bit of fun to look back on.


Eng: Leading run scorer - Pietersen

Eng: Leading wicket taker - Broad

Eng: Man of the series - Broad


Aus: Leading run scorer - Hussey

Aus: Leading wicket taker - Hilfenhaus

Aus: Man of the series - Hilfenhaus

Man of the series - Stuart Broad: It's going to be a big one for the upper class twonk.
 
Eng: Leading run scorer - Pietersen

Eng: Leading wicket taker - Anderson

Eng: Man of the series - Pietersen


Aus: Leading run scorer - Watson

Aus: Leading wicket taker - Johnson

Aus: Man of the series - Watson
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My Cricket predictions in the last two months have been way off the mark though, won't be surprised to see the same for these ones.
 
Eng: Leading run scorer - Trott

Eng: Leading wicket taker - Broad

Eng: Man of the series - Broad


Aus: Leading run scorer - Watson

Aus: Leading wicket taker - Johnson

Aus: Man of the series - Watson
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Is my prediction.

England's flop: Finn
Australia's flop: North
 
Eng: Leading run scorer - Pietersen

Eng: Leading wicket taker - Swann

Eng: Man of the series - Broad


Aus: Leading run scorer - Ponting

Aus: Leading wicket taker - Johnson

Aus: Man of the series - Johnson
 
England's leading Run-Scorer:

Trott

England's leading wicket-taker:

Finn

England's Man of the Series:

Pieterson

Aus leading run scorer:

Hussey

Aus leading wicket-taker

Hilfenhaus

Man of the series

Hussey
 
Eng: Leading run scorer - Bell

Eng: Leading wicket taker - Swann

Eng: Man of the series - Strauss


Aus: Leading run scorer - Watson

Aus: Leading wicket taker - Hilfenhaus

Aus: Man of the series - Watson

Man of the series - Strauss

Eng Flop - Cook

Aus Flop - North
 
Eng: Leading run scorer - Strauss

Eng: Leading wicket taker - Swann

Eng: Man of the series - Swann


Aus: Leading run scorer - Clarke

Aus: Leading wicket taker - Hilfenhaus

Aus: Man of the series - Clarke

Man of the series - Andrew Strauss

England flop - Cook
Australian flop - North, Hussey & Siddle (3 way tie)
 
Rams said:
????????????? You obviously haven't seen much of England lately, their bowling/fielding in particular is miles better than anything I have seen from England in my life time. And England have tailenders who can seriously bat which Ive never seen before either.
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Not much of a claim.

Both have declined since the last ashes (as have just about all top international sides) and since Australia have declined slightly more I suspect it will be close again. England have been flattering to deceive and Australia the opposite. If England can master the conditions they might just be a slight favorite but nowt more. I doubt I'll watch much because because the days of real quality test cricket have gone for a while at least plus I don't care who wins which never helps.
 
samabachan said:
What exactly have England seriously declined from? :wenger:


It's not like we just lost Warne, McGrath, Hayden, Gilchrist and Langer all in one go, and it's not like we just broke up a team like the Windies in the 80s either.
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From the last Ashes. Obvioulsy.
 
Bollinger hasn't made the Aussie XI, which I'm pleased about. Although not the tallest of men, he's a handfull.

The track at the Gabba will be hard as feck and flat as a pancake. Tall men like Broad and Finn have to make the most of the extra bounce while the ball is still is hard. I really hope England can win the toss and put 500 on the board.
 
brewlio said:
Bollinger hasn't made the Aussie XI, which I'm pleased about. Although not the tallest of men, he's a handfull.

The track at the Gabba will be hard as feck and flat as a pancake. Tall men like Broad and Finn have to make the most of the extra bounce while the ball is still is hard. I really hope England can win the toss and put 500 on the board.
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With Siddle & Johnson in the Australian attack, England should be getting 500+ quite comfortably, short, wide rubbish is there stock bowl. Absolute joke that Siddle is there in front of Bollinger.
 
I'm confused as to why the selectors have gone for Siddle over Bollinger. Perhaps Siddle has a greater intimidation factor and better economy than Bollinger, but Bollinger has that added competitive edge and x-factor that makes him dangerous. Also, forecast for Brisbane throughout the five days is for a few showers/a shower or two, and Bollinger has a much better ability to swing the ball in helpful conditions over Siddle. Pitch is a bit green from all accounts, so I'm expecting the Aussies to bat first and am not entirely confident of our batting order if it's swinging and seaming all over the place. Hopefully Ponting mans up and if he wins the toss makes his decision based on the conditions (as well as giving Clarke a bit more time to recover :)).
 
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