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*Official* Fourth Test at Headingley

Uppercut

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English sporting triumphs are like hen's teeth, tbh, so they always get done to death.

So familiar am I with 1966 & all that I can name the team for the final off by heart without thinking, despite it happening best part of a decade before I was born.
Nah, when you're the fifth-ranked team in the world at a sport you can't use the "not enough success" excuse to bore the life out of everyone by talking about your ancient successes.

England win plenty of cricket matches, far more than another 200-odd countries in the world. They just have this whole "woe is us, our sporting teams are awful, pity us" complex.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
Ramps main issue is the inability to handle pressure and you want to bring him back for the biggest game of the year or even decade!? That said, I agree he should play instead of Bopara or Bell simply because he couldn't do much worse (run down the pitch three times and then get out for a duck, maybe :p).
I was reading Duncan Fletcher's autobiography recently and he said that in one Test, away from home, can't remember where, he went and told Ramps he was giving him a nightwatchman and that he had never seen anybody look so relieved. Unless he can put that aside for one game I'd be inclined to say no.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
Flower avoiding the question on Bopara being good enough at 3 IMO. Surely surely surely he won't stay there.
 

Redbacks

International Captain
Strauss - "I believe you should always give credit to your opposition..."

Ponting - "It's about us, England have nothing to do with it......."

:laugh:
 

Pigeon

Banned
Absolute murder by the Australians.

The intent was there right from the start. Good to see the real Australians back. Where were they hiding for the last year and half? Except for a month in South Africa that is?

Ponting deserves a special applause. That guy just roasted English bowlers and instilled the can do attitude in other guys. Also his faith in Mitchell paid off and how! To come to an Ashes test trailing 1-0 and bring booed can knock the weatherbees of many a batsman, but not this tough nut. He just blasted away as if he was playing a Shield game.

Stuart Clark was the real hero in this test match. Ponting, albeit a tad late, realised the mistake he had been doing all along.

England. Well, what can one say! If Australia are the new England, then am afraid England are the new Bangladesh. Not the Bangladesh in the last two months, but the one before that. Bopara and Bell were just jokes. Alastair Cook once again proved why he is found wanting when it comes to the big stage and pressure. As someone expressed England were well and truly "Fredless chickens" in this match.

Amongst the ruins, mamaboy Broad deserves a special mention. The lad did his best and could be the best allround performance in his career so far. But unfortunately no English fan is going to remember his exploits as it contributed nothing to the English cause. Needless to add, Broad did not deserve the 6 wickets that he got, but well, that is his justification for being in the next 10 test matches.
 

Son Of Coco

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Strauss - "I believe you should always give credit to your opposition..."

Ponting - "It's about us, England have nothing to do with it......."

:laugh:
:laugh:

A bit blunt from Ponting, but he's probably right. If Australia play well then what England do shouldn't really matter. Australia have been pretty poor for the last two tests though which got them into this position in the first place. Flintoff is the only English player who I am particularly concerned about when I see his name listed as playing.

Would have been hard for Ponting to give credit to England after what they've served up here over the past few days.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
Nah, when you're the fifth-ranked team in the world at a sport you can't use the "not enough success" excuse to bore the life out of everyone by talking about your ancient successes.

England win plenty of cricket matches, far more than another 200-odd countries in the world. They just have this whole "woe is us, our sporting teams are awful, pity us" complex.
Cobblers, to be blunt. For a country of our size and participation levels we underperform in all the major team sports we treat semi-seriously (football, cricket, both rugby codes). We haven't even made a final of a major football tournament since '66 and the 2005 Ashes series was a tiny desert island of success in an ocean of failure strecthed back 20 years.

& no-one gives an arse about the FIFA rankings, it's medals on table that matter.
 

Nate

You'll Never Walk Alone
Strauss - "I believe you should always give credit to your opposition..."

Ponting - "It's about us, England have nothing to do with it......."
Tbf to Ponting, he was asked what he was thinking about England's line-up for The Oval with that response, not talking about the match just played,
 

Pigeon

Banned
England's best moment in the last two decades came when they coasted to No.2 in test rankings following an awesome run between 2004 and 2005. That's it, and after that it has been a dry run.
 

BoyBrumby

Englishman
:laugh:

A bit blunt from Ponting, but he's probably right. If Australia play well then what England do shouldn't really matter. Australia have been pretty poor for the last two tests though which got them into this position in the first place. Flintoff is the only English player who I am particularly concerned about when I see his name listed as playing.

Would have been hard for Ponting to give credit to England after what they've served up here over the past few days.
A student of the Ikki school of charm & diplomacy, is Ricky.

Reading between the lines, I suspect he's more pissed off with the booing than he's publically stated because he's not usually quite so blunt.
 

pasag

RTDAS
Tbf to Ponting, he was asked what he was thinking about England's line-up for The Oval with that response, not talking about the match just played,
Loved the way he didn't give it back to the crowd, despite having the perfect opportunity to do so.

Athers says something along the lines of "Getting some stick from the crowd this series, anything you want to say to them?

"No, not really"
 

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