The Ashes 2009

zing

Zingle balls
Joined
Oct 19, 2005
Messages
14,303
Seeing that there's no thread for it, and it's only a couple of days away.. I thought I'd make one.

England squad for the first test:
Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Matt Prior (wk), Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar.

Australia squad for the series:
Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Phil Hughes, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Marcus North, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, Stuart Clark, Nathan Hauritz, Andrew McDonald, Ben Hilfenhaus, Graham Manou


The first test is at Cardiff and starts on Wednesday. The pitch is supposed to be a turner, but has seen the spinners take only a few wickets in the past few months. England are sort of expected to go in with 2 spinners, in which case Graham Onions will make way for Panesar.

Australia's problem has been that they haven't had any balance between spin and pace for awhile now. Hauritz was ineffective in the warm-up matches, and they're expected to go in with 4 seamers and the part-time spin bowling of Clarke, Katich and North.

If the pitch does favour the spinners, England could be the favourites. Brett Lee bowled superbly in the warm-ups, but is now doubtful for the first test because of a chest injury(or something like that).

Harmison, apparently(I didn't watch the matches), bowled well in the warm-ups but was overlooked in favour of Onions..

I hope Flintoff's 100%. He's one of my favourite bowlers to watch.

Player(s) to watch out for: Peter Siddle, Phil Hughes, Bopara

I saw Siddle bowl against South Africa and he was fantastic.. I think everyone knows about Hughes now. And it'll be interesting to see if Bopara delivers in such a high-pressure environment.

PS: There's an Ashes fantasy cricket league on cricinfo for UK residents. The winner gets a pair of tickets to all England matches for 1 year in England. Something like that.
 
Addict said:
What's you prediction Zing?

I think England will win it 3-1
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2-1 to Australia.

I think England's batting is weak. Heavily reliant on Pietersen and Bopara. Can't remember the last time Collingwood played a meaningful knock.
 
Brett Lee is out of the 1st Test and will probably struggle to make the 2nd.

Slight advantage to England?
 
iguanamanc said:
Brett Lee is out of the 1st Test and will probably struggle to make the 2nd.

Slight advantage to England?
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Yeah, Lee's not got a great record in England over two tours but it's still a blow for the Aussies if he is to be out of the first and possibly second test.

I think the series is likely to be pretty close again. England have the advantage in the spin department after Warne and McGill retired. The Aussies probably shade the batting, and the pace bowling is about even. Looking forward to the series.
 
Rooney1987 said:
I think Stuart Broad will shine in this series
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I hope so, I've liked the lad since his days at Leicestershire. He was quality at the World Cup Twenty20 and hopefully he will be quality against the Aussies :devil: Needs to work on his fielding though. Only one day now!! Can't wait.....
 
Glen McGrath has predicted a 5-0 to the Aussies. A tad optomistic perhaps?
 
Pity how the weather's suddenly turned just before the first test starts.

We should probably expect a couple of drawn matches due to rain now.

The Aussies will win it 2-1. Bopara to have a big say though.
 
England need Flintoff, Anderson and Broad bowling to their maximum in this series. Don't think there's too much to choose between the batting line-ups with one world-class player per side, England having probably the better openers and the Aussies the better middle-order.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say 2-1 for England.
 
Northstand said:
England need Flintoff, Anderson and Broad bowling to their maximum in this series. Don't think there's too much to choose between the batting line-ups with one world-class player per side, England having probably the better openers and the Aussies the better middle-order.

I'm going to stick my neck out and say 2-1 for England.
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I disagree..

Australia have 3 world class batsmen in Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey.

I would say the openers are about the same, only because Hughes is inexperienced. Katich(underrated player) and Hughes are very good players. Strauss can be solid, but Cook is very much hit or miss.
 
zing said:
2-1 to Australia.

I think England's batting is weak. Heavily reliant on Pietersen and Bopara. Can't remember the last time Collingwood played a meaningful knock.
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Actually, I'd like to change.. I'll go for 3-0 to Australia.
 
I think it will be 2-1 to England. It will be intresting if England go with 2 spinners in the first test.
 
Reckon it will be 3-1 to the Aussies. Even if this Australian side isn't that great, the English are struggling in the test arena and I'm not completely sure if they have what it takes to bowl the Australians out twice as well.
 
met office reckons it will be largely dry Addict.

I'm well up for this now.

Got some cans and crisps in.
Sit infront of the box all day doing feck all and ignoring phone calls.

Lats 'av the convict bastards.
 
zing said:
I would say the openers are about the same, only because Hughes is inexperienced. Katich(underrated player) and Hughes are very good players. Strauss can be solid, but Cook is very much hit or miss.
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Hughes is 9.4 on betfair to be top batsman get in.
 
NextSeason said:
This doesn't really help me!

Check for me :angel:
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Aw man...I'd have to get out of bed :(

Hang on.

Ok, the flicky thing on the top appears to be on the MW side and the red bar on the front is somewhere between 700 and 800 something or others. That said, it hasn't been switched on since the WI tests so it could have moved in transit from the kitchen.
 
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