*Official* Fourth Test at the MCG

[Burgey]

You care far too much about what I say.

A lot of posters conspicuous by their absence until the match was over it would seem.

Some posters were conspicuously building sand castles and listening on the radio tbf.

 

[Spark]

I was cementing half the bloody garden - with Grandstand on ofc.

 

[Spikey]

i just didn't wanna read all the posts made by happy Englishmen. sickening tbh.

 

[social]

Well done England - far too good

Australia give yourself 1000 uppercuts and spend eternity in the hall of mirrors.

It's a toss up as to whether here or Adelaide has been the worst performance that I've seen from an Australian team in my 30 years of watching the game

Anyway, at least the positions of the selectors, Nielsen, and many of the players are now completely untenable and we can get on with building for the future

 

[NUFAN]

Congrats to England very much deserved. Cook and Trott have been immense and the bowlers were exceptional for the most part especially Anderson.

 

[Flem274*]

Sri Lanka's over-rated at home minus Murali. Didn't really do that strongly against the West Indies for example. Still reckon it's a tough tour however.

South Africa's tough, New Zealand should be pretty easy (imo), India will depend on whether their guns are still there, but it'll be pretty interesting as well.

India said the same.

 

[morgieb]

India said the same.

India still won that series though. When you win a international game again, then we'll talk.

 

[Flem274*]

India still won that series though. When you win a international game again, then we'll talk.

Says the supporter of the team who just got thumped by England.

NZ in India 1-0 loss.

Aussie in India....what happened again?

In all seriousness, I'd love a crack at Aussie after this Pakistan series. I wouldn't expect a series win, but if things go our way (and if we get anything like Martin's crazy spell again) we can maybe, just maybe, do it. I think we'd pull your pants down at the very least. Australia are playing like chumps at the moment and hilariously some of our batsmen could stroll into your team.

We need the decent bowlers to be older and ready for tests though, and that is what would kill us in a series against Aussie.

 

[Xuhaib]

SL vs. Australia in SL will be interesting. If I was asked to pick now, I'd make SL favourites even without Murali (as their batting is virtually guaranteed to fire at home, while Australia aren't batting well at all). Things could change in six months or so though.

Aus without a spinner in SL could mean 3 days on the field.

 

[Rant0r]

New Zealand were unlucky not to win a test in India to be fair.

 

[andyc]

Speaking of forfeits - this one springs to mind:

England hasn't won the series tbf.

 

[honestbharani]

Mitchy back on form I see.



Everything to play for at Sydney to level it (assuming England finish the win here), Ponting won't take losing his third series lightly.

yeah. would argue with BOTH the umpires now and if possible, the queen....

 

[Jono]

England hasn't won the series tbf.

Yeah was about to say that.

Burgey should be sweating though. If England can hold out a draw or win at Sydney, Martin Place will be seeing plenty of pale old man arse.

 

[honestbharani]

I do agree that bigger grounds would be nice but it's not sustainable financially, as they can become white elephants in the winter. Aussie grounds (correct me if I'm wrong) tend to be multi-purpose AFAIK.



LOL I have certainly complained about them taking Tests away from the North West, but I still go and watch elsewhere. The thing is it's all well and good saying there's a train link - there are train links all over the show here in the developed world - but the train fares here are really high. When you're laying out 50 quid for a ticket (minimum, pretty much), twice that for ale and food, then an expensive train fare on top of that is a bit of a kick in the gut.

Gotta say, there should ALWAYS be a Burgey Vs GIMH thread during Ashes series.. Juz a great read.. Better than the stupid cricinfo page 2 thing in terms of banter.. At least, these two are funny.. The real "frenemies" IMO..

 

[Ruckus]

One of photography's worst moments:

 

[BoyBrumby]

It will be interesting to see if Cricket Australia ask Ricky Ponting to reisgn after this series.

Have to, surely? Has broken the first commandment of Australian cricket ("Thou shalt not lose to the poms") three times now. As a captain he just looks gone but I think he still has something to offer as a batsman. CA should emphasise this when they give him a subtle shove.

If the fact Clarke doesn't look a captain in waiting keeps Ponting in situ then that's piss-weak leadership from above. Haddin & Hussey are both senior, repsected players who have stood up (would guess they've scored nearly 50% of Australia's runs between them) and could do the job in the immediate short term until a younger bloke steps up.

Anyway, hearty congrats to the two Andys and the rest of the chaps. We came with a definite plan nad have been good enough to execute it. The blip at Perth made the performance at the 'G all the more impressive.

 

[archie mac]

Spent four days at the G watching the cricket. In years past the Barmy Army never worried me as I could always say "who is winning?"

Well they really annoyed me today

Still good on them, they supported England when they were crap and should enjoy their time on top, lets hope the Aussie supporters do the same over the next few years

 

[morgieb]

Have to, surely? Has broken the first commandment of Australian cricket ("Thou shalt not lose to the poms") three times now. As a captain he just looks gone but I think he still has something to offer as a batsman. CA should emphasise this when they give him a subtle shove.

If the fact Clarke doesn't look a captain in waiting keeps Ponting in situ then that's piss-weak leadership from above. Haddin & Hussey are both senior, repsected players who have stood up (would guess they've scored nearly 50% of Australia's runs between them) and could do the job in the immediate short term until a younger bloke steps up.

Anyway, hearty congrats to the two Andys and the rest of the chaps. We came with a definite plan nad have been good enough to execute it. The blip at Perth made the performance at the 'G all the more impressive.

Clarke is a leader in waiting - but he might not be the sort that can bring team harmony. Ponting's probably still being picked as Australia don't tend to get rid of captains without them quitting the side for whatever reason.

 

[Redbacks]

We're so **** the only thing Ponting could have done to alter the result would have been to average 60+ for the series.

Both loses occured primarily as a result of the first session of the first day (England doing the business with the new ball).

 

[Uppercut]

Clarke is a leader in waiting - but he might not be the sort that can bring team harmony. Ponting's probably still being picked as Australia don't tend to get rid of captains without them quitting the side for whatever reason.

The whole point of grooming Clarke was to provide continuity in what was a very successful system.

I don't think Australia need continuity at this stage though. It looks seriously doubtful they'd have won the Ashes back here regardless because England have just been too good but as a team and as players they're performing well below what they're capable of. That suggests to me that something's not quite right.

I don't think the players have turned against Ponting at all though. That's important.