*Official Third Test at Edgbaston

[Burgey]

I wasn't trying to argue that Johnson is as good as Flintoff or Siddle! Surely not!
I was just pointing out that Johnson's poor bowling form seems to cloud the fact (or rather my strong opinion) that the Aussie batting is way below par!

Easier to focus on an individual's problems than the collective I suppose. It's not a bad point. England bowled well this morning though, whereas I think at Lord's the batting in 1st innings was worse - more gifted wickets etc.

Not saying today's has been top shelf by any means though.

 

[Burgey]

Yeah, I say again how things happened... what a crap comment.

You call it as you see it, but the piss poor "Seems like it's been so long..." comment was dire mate.

It's like when you say Nasser Hussain was a better player than Hayden, and me disagreeing by opening up with "Well plainly some people have never seen anyone but a mediocre former England captain bat...."

Sets a lovely tone for the ensuing discussion.

 

[Richard]

Anyway I'm now off for some lunch and to the gym... so I apologise to any Australians in advance for their annoyance at me saying how we've outplayed you AFAIC and then buggered off. But I do honestly think some of you just think you can be better than England regardless.

 

[Craig]

Can't wait for the second session to start, I really love quality fast bowling in action.

 

[Burgey]

Haha, spoken like a true pace bowler. For the record, I completely agree. I can't put into words how much I love seeing the ball zipping all the place and making these ****ing batsmen look stupid.

The Aussie technique against swing needs further examination, though. I wrote an article on the site years ago essentially saying I thought if a decent swing bowler came along, he'd dominate because no-one bloody plays swing well any more. If more pitches around the world moved, reckon bowlers like Jimmeh would totally clean up.

This.

Interesting though to hear Holding say something this morning along the lines that no one plays good swing bowling well, and that's no doubt right. A few blokes might have played it a bit later (as opposed to not at all ) today.

 

[Richard]

You call it as you see it, but the piss poor "Seems like it's been so long..." comment was dire mate.

It's like when you say Nasser Hussain was a better player than Hayden, and me disagreeing by opening up with "Well plainly some people have never seen anyone but a mediocre former England captain bat...."

Sets a lovely tone for the ensuing discussion.

TBH fella, I just don't think you and me discussing anything too in-depth when England are beating Australia \ Australia are beating England (delete as appropriate) is the best idea. Likely to be a bit too heated to be able to discuss sensibly.

Save it for another time, hey?

 

[Burgey]

Anyway I'm now off for some lunch and to the gym... so I apologise to any Australians in advance for their annoyance at me saying how we've outplayed you AFAIC and then buggered off. But I do honestly think some of you just think you can be better than England regardless.

Well, history suggests we're right

 

[Craig]

Haha, spoken like a true pace bowler. For the record, I completely agree. I can't put into words how much I love seeing the ball zipping all the place and making these ****ing batsmen look stupid.

The Aussie technique against swing needs further examination, though. I wrote an article on the site years ago essentially saying I thought if a decent swing bowler came along, he'd dominate because no-one bloody plays swing well any more. If more pitches around the world moved, reckon bowlers like Jimmeh would totally clean up.

A case of flatter pitches + ODI + emergence of T20?

 

[Burgey]

TBH fella, I just don't think you and me discussing anything too in-depth when England are beating Australia \ Australia are beating England (delete as appropriate) is the best idea. Likely to be a bit too heated to be able to discuss sensibly.

Save it for another time, hey?

No probs mate.

Pissed off right now as the radio dropped out JUST as Warne was about to talk about how the camp wasn't too happy in 05. Then it came back just as he was finishing giving Buchanan a bake.

 

[Son Of Coco]

I wasn't trying to argue that Johnson is as good as Flintoff or Siddle! Surely not!
I was just pointing out that Johnson's poor bowling form seems to cloud the fact (or rather my strong opinion) that the Aussie batting is way below par!

In that case I'd have to agree...although I don't think it clouds it as such. I just think Johnson's individual bowling performance stands out like a sore thumb. While our batting effort has been a collective failure

 

[Ikki]

But I do honestly think some of you just think you can be better than England regardless.

It's an expectation. You guys are ****, we're awesome, so when we collapse like that it's our doing not yours.

 

[B.Scott4England]

here we go for session 2

 

[Demolition Man]

Well I just hope the conditions stay like this and the aussies get a fair crack at the english batting lineup.
If the aussies cant swing it some questions will be asked.

 

[Scaly piscine]

****ing don't believe it. They're bowling Broad again.

 

[Top_Cat]

A case of flatter pitches + ODI + emergence of T20?

More the former than anything else, I think. There are a lot of back-of-a-length bowlers around the place. Also, giving away runs in the quest for wickets seems to be more frowned-upon these days and swing bowlers, on days where it's not going, tend to go the journey. Easier to get a game at grade level I reckon if you're a seam bowler and not giving much away these days.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Anyway I'm now off for some lunch and to the gym... so I apologise to any Australians in advance for their annoyance at me saying how we've outplayed you AFAIC and then buggered off. But I do honestly think some of you just think you can be better than England regardless.

Thank you for the wise words Richard. Make sure you only pump up the shoulders and the pecs...I think the ego is ok at the moment

 

[B.Scott4England]

More the former than anything else, I think. There are a lot of back-of-a-length bowlers around the place. Also, giving away runs in the quest for wickets seems to be more frowned-upon these days and swing bowlers, on days where it's not going, tend to go the journey. Easier to get a game at grade level I reckon if you're a seam bowler and not giving much away these days.

I think that pretty much sums it up

 

[Uppercut]

Anyway I'm now off for some lunch and to the gym... so I apologise to any Australians in advance for their annoyance at me saying how we've outplayed you AFAIC and then buggered off. But I do honestly think some of you just think you can be better than England regardless.

Yeah, I kinda agree with this. Some Australian fans like to believe that if they play to their best, England can't stop them, therefore any time they fail it's because they're not at their best. It's not like that any more. When the ball is swinging and Anderson and Onions are bowling this well, you'd need an awful lot of things to go your way to combat it. Realistically you can only score as many runs as they let you in these conditions.

The good news for Australia is that they still have a chance to bowl even better. If Johnson, Siddle, Hilfenhaus and Watson are bowling well enough, England's batting lineup will be equally helpless.

 

[Demolition Man]

****ing don't believe it. They're bowling Broad again.

Some cheap runs for the tail.

 

[BoyBrumby]

SMC mate.

Seems your head is so far up your own arse that when someone disagrees with you about your take on two of seven dismissals you resort to the sort of crap comment we come to expect from, well, Richard frankly.

SMC? Have to ask...?

Why wouldn't you open with Onions, either? Don't need to be the lovechild of Taylor & Brearley to work that one out.