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

How does Marcus North gets into the Australian squad regularly, this guy is a very average batsmen.

The pitches here in Australian have been quite pathetic tbh, even the indian pitches these days aren't that bad.
 
With England's top order on fine form, do people reckon they should go all out for victory in the next test and drop Collingwood/Bell for another bowler? Assuming this test is a draw of course, which hopefully it wont be.
 
Rowem said:
With England's top order on fine form, do people reckon they should go all out for victory in the next test and drop Collingwood/Bell for another bowler? Assuming this test is a draw of course, which hopefully it wont be.
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I dont think we will unless we go down in the series, its worth remembering a drawn series sees us retain the ashes and whilst we obviously want to win i don't see us taking any unrequited gambles like that unless absolutely necessary.

If it did come to that however you'd have to drop Collingwood, as hard as it would be on him hes the weakest link in a very strong batting line up right now, you cant drop Bell whos in the form of his life and the other batters well that speaks for itself.

Trouble with that is Collingwoods a great slip fieldsman and catches win matches as they say.
 
Allforone said:
I doubt it seeing as the Aussie batting line up got skittled for less than 250 on the same track.
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Yes against a half decent attack and it offered a little bit more early on,which is what I alluded to. It's clearly a featherbed just as Brisbane was. I've been very disappointed with the state of the pitches but I suspect that's do to with Australia's fear of an Ashes defeat - they'd have next no chance on more sporting pitches.
 
Spoony Youngblood said:
Yes against a half decent attack and it offered a little bit more early on,which is what I alluded to. It's clearly a featherbed just as Brisbane was. I've been very disappointed with the state of the pitches but I suspect that's do to with Australia's fear of an Ashes defeat - they'd have next no chance on more sporting pitches.
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Its a flat wicket if your bowling attack isnt great, there's clearly something there for the spinner christ if Marcus North is ripping the ball square Swann must be licking his lips, theres also some uneven bounce creeping in and some reverse swing, its hard work for the bowlers but its not a featherbed ala St Johns antigua for example, its certainly not a 551- 4 pitch if you bowl properly as England showed, Ryan Harris caused problems when he bowled to.

As for Brisbane yeah it was flat but again it wasn't a 517-1 flat, Aussies have bowled crap and England have batted brilliantly.
 
300 run lead, 6 wickets still in hand, this is unbelievable from England. Strauss should declare very soon, if there is threat of rain then the more time to bowl the Aussies out the better & 300 runs is a big enough lead.
 
Allforone said:
England are so much better than Australia its actually amazing really, i thought this would be a very evenly contested series probably ending in a draw and despite the fact its still 0-0 no one can deny the better cricket has come from one side comprehensively, England look on a different planet to this Aussie side, they must have one of the worst test match attacks in the history of the game? 517-1 followed by 551-4! that's ridiculous.

Doherty, how on earth does this bloke get picked for a Test match, taking wickets at 50 a piece in first class cricket wouldn't see you get in Lancashire reserves! Bollinger looks a ever so slightly less shit version of Johnson and Siddle looks a buffet bowler 90% of the time, only Harris has looked borderline respectable to be brutally honest.

Aussies praying for Rain, knowing their luck they'll probably get it to, either way they look a very poor side compared to England right now.
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You've been too kind in your assessment, they'd make a Bangladesh/Zimbabwe combined pace attack look like 2nd coming of the West Indies Pace Attack of the 80's.

Xavier Doherty makes Monty Panersar look like Murali... he gets zero turn and has zero variety in his bowling, no use of flight, no plan in his mind on how to get his opponent out. Way out of his depth, he'd be getting knocked around by primary school kids.

Harris, Bollinger, Siddle.. even their names say it all, don't play like, look like or even sound like top class players. However fair play to Siddle and Harris, they are trying to the best of their ability and making a fight of it, even if they're about as scary as my Gran bowling underarm.

Spoony Youngblood said:
On absolute featherbeds. I think I could get a century on that surface against that attack.
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I don't think this pitch has been all that bad, there has been some late movement off the pitch and as Marcus North demonstrated.. plenty of turn, whether its fast turn or slow turn we're not sure yet, but I'm sure Swann has alot more to work with on this pitch.

Australia of old would not be struggling on this pitch, its more a reflection on the quality of their bowling attack.
 
Since when have we been letting Australians invent their own times? I say we put a stop to this at once.
 
Scorecard:
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Utd Heap - the weather for today, looks a bit spotty, but it's not too bad, but it doesn't look good at all at this stage for Tuesday if you're English and great if you're Aussie.

But obviously who trusts the weather bureau?
 
Only declare ten mins before the start of play...

get 'em straight in - then roll them over just after tea.

Jobs a good 'un.

Then it can rain all it wants Tuesday :)
 
Plechazunga said:
I can remember the '85 Ashes, I was 9 and obsessed with David Gower, who played mesmerisingly that series. I remember his 331 stand with Tim Robinson.

At some point, '87 I think, I went through a spell of supporting Australia :nervous:, as I'd been brainwashed by the Bodyline drama series... I still remember the theme tune to that, it was brilliant.
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That's not strange, at all.
 
100 partnership between these 2. Hoping to see some big shots from KP.
 
I'm really annoyed we're still batting. If it rains all day tomorrow we'll regret it.
 
So when does the declaration come? I reckon they will put Australia in with a 400+ lead. If they can start throwing the bat around maybe they could give them a couple of overs before lunch.
 
Other than further demoralising the Aussie team, there seems to be no point batting on for too much longer. Hopefully they declare in the next 20-30 mins, common sense should prevail and Strauss ought to realise that they'll need a bit of time to get the Australian's out.

Australia resorting to underhand tactics to try to get KP out :lol:
 
Great innings from Pietersen, his highest Test score, but no fecking declaration?
 
Plechazunga said:
That stream's shite mjs... but thanks
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Most likely your internet connection is the problem. Its a very high quality feed on my PC, one of the best I have every had over the internet.

What type of Internet do you have?
 
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