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

Sultan said:
Ponting's been out of form for a few years. A great career is coming to an end.
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But he's still one of their best players. Which is an indictment on the quality of the current Aussie lineup and the younger players coming through.

Remember the days when the likes of Mark & Steve Waugh were replaced effortlessly by players coming through. No more the case.
 
ha_rooney said:
Commanding position for England as expected.

Ponting's a great player but if they lose the Ashes series in Australia, his career will be over. Shame if it happened like that though, he has always been a great batsman, even though his leadership skills/tactics are questionable.
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Not sure what the point of forcing him to retire is, if they don't have someone waiting in the wing. Ponting retiring's not going to make Hauritz into Warne or Johnson into McGrath.
 
Plechazunga said:
It's true that the difference in self-belief with this England side is amazing

That's the wisdom of building your side round a bunch of South Africans
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Helps that we're playing the shitest Aus side since the mid 80s, to be fair. Ha! how I'm laughing at their predicament. I suspect that won't please Wibble, but he's a swinger, so who cares!?!
 
Wibble said:
He is a bit like Keano. If you were a United supporter you loved his insane passion and drive but if you were an opposition supporter you hated his guts.

He must really hate the decline in Aussie fortunes. They really are a pale shadow of their former selves.
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Certainly and what's worse for Pointing is that the decline in Aussie quality has lead to Pointing's status and ashes record being pretty poor for a captain who had players like Warne, Lee and Gilchrist (albeit injured in 05) at his disposal.
 
Their best bowler is probably still Warne I reckon. And he's sat in the commentary box.
 
Probably true, let's face it, you don't have to be an Athlete in cricket.
 
This Aussie side isn't a patch on the previous - but that's hardly a fault.

It's still a good cricket side, and a batting line up packed with top players.

Credit has to go to England - we've been unbeleiveably disciplined, and deserve to go 1 up currently.
 
-Watson is a makeshift opener. He has been good(doing a job, because no one else has put their hand up), but he's not great.
-North is an absolutely horrible player
-Clarke is not completely fit(bad back) and his form is down, <40 this year, and that's after a brilliant 2008 and 2009.

So you can see where the problem lies, and that's without even looking at the bowling.
 
On paper it's a terrific batting line-up. It's not just happening for them all year for some reason. Whenever I see them, no one looks like they're 'out of form' like Dravid was for a year or so, poking and prodding around. They just randomly get out.

They're going to end up with a horrific year at this rate though. They've played 8 tests so far and lost 3.. and in a couple of days, barring weather, it'll be 4 out of 9 lost.
 
Anyone had any problems with the stream?

The usual one seems to be unavailable atm...

Edit: Try going direct to the stream's originating web site, it works fine there...

Edit again: Keeps going on and off..going to be a bit of a pain but seems to be on more than off...
 
Australia need Brett Lee. They need a bowler who despite bowling shit on occasions can grab a game by the scruff of the neck with some extreme pace and make batsman uncomfortable.

He was the best fast bowler in the world before his 08 injury.
 
marchi-91 said:
Australia need Brett Lee. They need a bowler who despite bowling shit on occasions can grab a game by the scruff of the neck with some extreme pace and make batsman uncomfortable.

He was the best fast bowler in the world before his 08 injury.
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They should get Tait to bowl his 2 over spells, it can't be worse than what the current bowlers are doing.

100 for Pietersen, first in over a year, good innings from KP.
 
So based on this series as a whole, what will happen in terms of test cricket rankings for England and Australia based on winning, losing, drawing?
 
ha_rooney said:
They should get Tait to bowl his 2 over spells, it can't be worse than what the current bowlers are doing.

100 for Pietersen, first in over a year, good innings from KP.
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Thing about lee though is that he can move the ball through the air as well as anybody and can bowl a good line and length consistently. The fact he also has 155kmh deliveries up his sleeve are just a bonus.
 
Team Brian GB said:
So based on this series as a whole, what will happen in terms of test cricket rankings for England and Australia based on winning, losing, drawing?
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I would think england would go up, probs to 3rd as they lost last time round in australia.
 
About 500 runs for Cook in three innings, ridiculous.
 
marchi-91 said:
Thing about lee though is that he can move the ball through the air as well as anybody and can bowl a good line and length consistently. The fact he also has 155kmh deliveries up his sleeve are just a bonus.
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Oh yeah, Lee is a brilliant bowler, it was unfortunate he got injured before the last Ashes series, a quick bowler who is consistent and offers a lot of control despite being express pace.

The Tait comment I made was to take the piss at how desperate Australia probably are to find a front-line bowler that they should consider bringing him in to bowl 2 overs every hour.

And as a write this, they finally manage to get Cook out. Great innings from the vice-captain again.
 
ha_rooney said:
Oh yeah, Lee is a brilliant bowler, it was unfortunate he got injured before the last Ashes series, a quick bowler who is consistent and offers a lot of control despite being express pace.

The Tait comment I made was to take the piss at how desperate Australia probably are to find a front-line bowler that they should consider bringing him in to bowl 2 overs every hour.

And as a write this, they finally manage to get Cook out. Great innings from the vice-captain again.
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Lee's not injured, he retired from Test cricket to prolong his One day career. I think some calls might be going out trying to convince him to return especially for Perth.
 
marchi-91 said:
Lee's not injured, he retired from Test cricket to prolong his One day career. I think some calls might be going out trying to convince him to return especially for Perth.
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I know he retired, but he's not played any first-class cricket for a year now and not played any form of international cricket in that period either. I'd love to see him return, there is no doubt about his qualities.

Do you think Johnson will be recalled for the next match?
 
ha_rooney said:
I know he retired, but he's not played any first-class cricket for a year now and not played any form of international cricket in that period either. I'd love to see him return, there is no doubt about his qualities.

Do you think Johnson will be recalled for the next match?
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Playing first class for NSW at the moment and ripping teams to shit.

Johnson will be lucky to play for Australia again.
 
marchi-91 said:
Playing first class for NSW at the moment and ripping teams to shit.

Johnson will be lucky to play for Australia again.
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Are you sure it's not domestic one-day cricket he is playing for NSW? According to cricinfo his last first-class match was for Australia against the England Lions back in 2009.
 
marchi-91 said:
aye you're right, I generally just call state domestic first class.
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If he was recalled then the only risk would be whether he could last the 5 days. There is no doubt about his qualities as an international standard bowler.

Problem is the way England are batting and how Australia are bowling, I don't think the Aussies can get 20 wickets. That might change in the other matches where the pitches should be less flat, but there isn't really a special bowler in the Australian attack at the moment. I personally think they'll bring back Johnson, even though he is an ordinary bowler, occassionally (once in a blue moon) he does something worthwhile.
 
How is the Australian public taking this? What a difference four years makes.
 
402-3.

Fifty partnership off 54 balls for Pietersen/Collingwood.

Honestly, for us english cricket fans, how sweet is this?

As i type, huge 6 from KP.
 
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