Cricket: Winter 2006/2007 - The Ashes

great Ashington joke in guardian story "about" harmison today:

lass walks into an ashington hairdressers and says "can you do us a perm?", "aye pet, i wandered lernley as a cloud"

I can't believe that Warney still impresses me, which he did by giving Bell a nervous breakdown before lunch.

Satisfactory so far, but there's been too much happy talk on the radio after the day's play. We still need 200 more as an absolute minimum.

Glad to see Collingwood doing so well - need a big hundred from either him or Pietersen w/some good backing up - as Dr.C says 450 is a must.

Can anyone offer any theories as to why Monty hasn't been picked?

McGrath clearly isn't fit. Looks like they banked on winning the toss, batting 2 days and letting his injury heal. Pressure on Ponting for only going with 4 bowlers?

Esteban, will the pitch crumble in the later days or will it stay a fine batting wicket like it is now?

Adelaide is a dangerous place to play anyway, so I can see them playing it safe. Of course, that'll piss off the crowd to no end...

Shockingly enough, the Aussie fans are now blaming KP.

haha.

The one good thing to come out of it is KP has showed patience and scored a century without succumbing to a stupid shot like he's prone to do.

How would/will the aussie fans/media react if England used these tactics with Giles?

Something like that.

Warney is trying frustrate KP into slogging it, but he hasn't taken the bait yet.

MAYBE PONTING KNOWS SOMETHING WE DON'T

Do you think Stuart MacGill should've played? I can't imagine Warney bowling negatively when theres another leg spinner trying to get wickets.

*IF* KP stays there then eventually he will explode, even if Warne can bowl all day.

It's kinda sad to see England tactics here being used by Warne!

Hmm Lee is getting reverse swing. A wicket for Australia and they will hope to rip through England.

1000 runs in the year for Collingwood.

Also can we talk about how amazing Mohammad Yousuf is? 1788 runs this year at an average of 99.33. Awesome.

Oh, and I think MacGill should have played.

Batting on any longer than that could set England up for a draw.

Declare already, guys!

Let Freddie try and smash it for a few more overs then declare.

Turns out Collingwood's 206 was the biggest ever innings by an Englishman at the Adelaide Oval.

Australia will be looking to score 600+ against an attack that's not as accurate as their own and hope Warne bowls England out 2nd innings.
Tonight's 8 overs could be crucial. The openers looked in good nick in the 1st test.

and

Can England get Ponting out?

There's a slight breeze coming from the South (I know, I can actually physically feel said breeze from my position south of the Adelaide Oval).

I think Vaughan would, and Fletcher wouldn't object to that. As Dr.C says leading by example isn't enough - you have to tell Harmison his bowling is not up to scratch. However Flintoff appears to be doing ok. If Vaughan doesn't return then he has to be given time to see how well he could do - changes in the 11 will have to be made for Perth, but I wouldn't call for anyone to go or anything like that after this defeat.

I'll read some of the press later but it was a team (esp the top seven) failure, no single person's fault in particular. We would not have lost if someone were to stay in and score runs with Collingwood.

I think Jones has been fine and I wouldn't drop him to be honest, but Giles will never bowl anyone out, Monty will. Monty must play although it's too late and the heads will be down(a test of Flintoff as captain here to raise them) , Anderson I like but , like Giles, hasn't played for a year and , like Giles, shouldn't be playing for those reasons.

Im not sure mahmood is ready to play at this level but is a good talent for the future. I'd consider him and Plunkett if harmy plays badly next test and the ashes is over.

But no matter how well England play now, no matter what position they're in, they will always remember losing on the last day. Theres no way back this series.

Fletcher will be gone after the world cup i'm sure.

If Mahmood isn't ready to play at this level, he shouldn't be on the tour. I suppose they could always bring in Stuart Broad from the academy, but that won't happen.

Agreed with ED about Warne though. We need one or 2 huge partnerships. Fingers crossed.
It would be great for cricket and the ashes if England could win this one and make a series of it.

BAN DUNCAN FLETCHER and all that

(I wasn't paying much attention to the cricket today because I went to the "soccer" tonight to watch Romario walk around for 90 minutes. Ho hum.)

(anyone?)

haha, this was all he ever did when he was good! with the key addition of scoring goals, of course.

Anyone for 5-0?

Ultimately we don't care enough to be winners, we don't want do do the hard work, we're frightened of making the tough decisions. The teams to aspire to are Australia in cricket and the All Blacks in Rugby - tough, tough bastards and not afraid to fight.

English sport can't be like that, under the current system we'll win the odd tournament every couple of decades and then brag about how we're the best in the world, even when it's long been apparent that we're not. Giving players an MBE for winning a series or the rugby world cup - what the fuck? Maybe when you've defended the Ashes or the world cup a couple of times.

This tour was doomed from the start - how long have we known that Trescothick, Vaughan, Anderson and Giles wouldn't be up to the task? At least we didn't try and rush back Simon Jones. All the talk of Vaughan maybe being fit for the later tests should have been squashed - if you're not fit for the whole series and have proven to be so by playing at least part of the summmer, you don't travel. A hard decision - but it had to be made. Giles - you haven't played all summer and we have Panesar now - not needed (ever again). Anderson - likewise, clearly not ready to play in a series like this. Stuart Broad should have been there instead. G.Jones - we know he's not up to it, but he's a Fletcher insider - inexcusable. Leaving Panesar out - insanity beyond belief. Harmison - one or two decent tests a series is no good to anyone. Either shape up and get some consistency or get out.

Flintoff - not a captain. Too close to 'the lads' and doesn't have the cricket brain plus aloofness of a Brearley or a Vaughan.

It's not all gloom. The batsmen have stepped up at times and we have a good core line-up. We need to introduce a couple more to increase competition over the next 2 or 3 series e.g Joyce, Key, Shah. G.Jones must go now - Davies or Foster or both need to be tried out. Davies will certainly make a fine international cricketer given time. Seam bowling is the biggest area of worry - Flintoff is always going to struggle with fitness, Harmison with attitude and Hoggard can't go on forever. I think Mahmood may be good enough, but Anderson and Plunkett never will be. Stuart Broad looks a good bet, but we need another 3 or 4.

So we gave it back like we never won it in the first place.

(Dr.C - I'll add Collingwood to yr list, at least for the first two tests.)

And no more biographies or Ashes/World cup DVDs - maybe there should be a law against it all..its an interesting nu-millenium phenom. I guess its such a relief to see ANY brit winning or standing to the pressure exerted on him/her for FIVE SECONDS - like we know we're rubbish so let's enjoy it for TWO YEARS or so before we're back in the dumps bcz we know we will be..at least the whole world plays football so eng won't have this victim of your own success 'problem'.

It ws so hard to win it back in the first place - Aus might've taken it for granted, the selection ws a bit dodgy from then in '05 but it ws a hard fought battle then. But well done - they made the changes - Hussey and Clarke were awesome. Ponting might not be a great captain but it didn't matter when his opposite number ws probably more ineffective. There might've been a number of weaknesses but we'll never know.

Worse thing is it'll probably get worse before it gets better again as I don't think if, say, Vaughan doesn't come back (I don't think I even care anymore), Flintoff will get the sack.

Lets say if Fletcher goes - though I reckon him and Strauss could be an ok partnership, Strauss seems aloof and he did well enough - who would you replace him with?

There are three major problems for England:

- Australia will always have huge depth. Just look at the domestic competition. I expect a wholesale clearout after the World Cup but I don't think Australia will be in any trouble during that phase. The County Competition still needs fundamental change if it the ECB wants to develop a No. 1 Test Team. This is obviously long-term...

- Flintoff is not a captain. He's a class player but he's not a captain. And not only has he failed in that role, it has affected the rest of his game.

- Fletcher is crap. Get rid of him and you will see a drastic improvement in the English team. Yes, I'm big on hyperbole but it's TRUE!

I'm sure I've heard this before somewhere.

i had a DREAM last night that freddie was on a NELSON (panesar at the other end) and then i woke up about 5, switched the radio on just in time to hear the post mortem...

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/12/20/young_warne_gallery__362x400.jpg