*Official* Road to 2013 Ashes

[the big bambino]

If only we had more cloud in India. That would've ****ed Ashwin and Jadeja.

 

[Maximas]

I wouldn't suggest turners, because there is disparity between an Indian turning pitch and an English one, the way Australia played against Sri Lanka in Sydney I think shows that turners wouldn't be a particularly good idea.

 

[Adders]

I wouldn't suggest turners, because there is disparity between an Indian turning pitch and an English one

Spot on. And unless we have some freak heat wave between now and Jul 10th I think it would be just about impossible to produce an Indianesque turner.

England just need to do what England do, let the Aussies worry about what awaits them, we should be comfortable enough on our traditional test wickets.

I'm convinced India were so poor against England because there was so much talk about the wickets and what to prepare to most take us out of our comfort zone. They expected 22 yards to win them the series and not the 11 players they put on the park.......big mistake IMO.

 

[social]

Feel sad for anyone that has bought a 5th day ticket

2 rubbish batting lineups vs 2 good bowling lineups

 

[the big bambino]

Well I can see one rubbish batting line up and its not England's I'm afraid. I see one credentialled bowling line up and its not ours I'm afraid. The just completed test might well be a template for a boring, low scoring one sided series. We are little better than NZ's batting line up and the difference is all down to Clarke. A form correction or injury to him and we'll be no better. While both sides are settled its down to different circumstances. Eng can afford to pick talents like Root whenever they like. Especially when KP is fit. He'd be our vc by now. They have Tremlett and Onions as reserves and spin options if they want to try that route. We are just simply stumped for alternatives.

I picked Eng to win the last ashes series 5 blot. We only escaped that fate with a couple of extraordinary items at the time. I think I was series too early. The next 10 ashes tests will be awful to watch from an Aussie perpective.

 

[hendrix]

I know a NZ batting collapse is not really an indicator, but I think this test has made a pretty strong case for Ed Cowan to remain opening.

 

[Furball]

Well I can see one rubbish batting line up and its not England's I'm afraid. I see one credentialled bowling line up and its not ours I'm afraid. The just completed test might well be a template for a boring, low scoring one sided series. We are little better than NZ's batting line up and the difference is all down to Clarke. A form correction or injury to him and we'll be no better. While both sides are settled its down to different circumstances. Eng can afford to pick talents like Root whenever they like. Especially when KP is fit. He'd be our vc by now. They have Tremlett and Onions as reserves and spin options if they want to try that route. We are just simply stumped for alternatives.

I picked Eng to win the last ashes series 5 blot. We only escaped that fate with a couple of extraordinary items at the time. I think I was series too early. The next 10 ashes tests will be awful to watch from an Aussie perpective.

You haven't watched much of England in the last 2 years have you? KP and Cook aside our batting is ****ing terrible.

 

[Daemon]

Trott's looked alright since the latter half of the India tour tbf. And you forgot Prior.

 

[the big bambino]

You haven't watched much of England in the last 2 years have you? KP and Cook aside our batting is ****ing terrible.

Eng have Cook, Bell, KP, Prior and Trott averaging mid 40s+ and Root coming up. Compton's ok. Bairstow's about. You haven't watched Aus to get some perspective have you?

 

[Spark]

Eh, GF has a point. England's batting has seriously flattered to deceive in the last year.

 

[Daemon]

Don't think it's been '****ing terrible' though has it? I didn't watch a chunk of the tour to NZ due to being time zoned though, so I might have missed out on some poor performances.

 

[morgieb]

Both batting lineups are pretty poor, though England is quite a lot better.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Both batting lineups are pretty poor, though England is quite a lot better.

AWTA

We don't rely so heavily on one player. Ours is hit and miss but usually one of them performs in a game. If Clarke doesn't you think they could capitulate like NZ did at Lord's.

 

[Pothas]

Feel sad for anyone that has bought a 5th day ticket

2 rubbish batting lineups vs 2 good bowling lineups

Yeah I have 5th day tickets for Lords....

Need some rain.

 

[social]

Well I can see one rubbish batting line up and its not England's I'm afraid. I see one credentialled bowling line up and its not ours I'm afraid. The just completed test might well be a template for a boring, low scoring one sided series. We are little better than NZ's batting line up and the difference is all down to Clarke. A form correction or injury to him and we'll be no better. While both sides are settled its down to different circumstances. Eng can afford to pick talents like Root whenever they like. Especially when KP is fit. He'd be our vc by now. They have Tremlett and Onions as reserves and spin options if they want to try that route. We are just simply stumped for alternatives.

I picked Eng to win the last ashes series 5 blot. We only escaped that fate with a couple of extraordinary items at the time. I think I was series too early. The next 10 ashes tests will be awful to watch from an Aussie perpective.

Australia will LOSE this Ashes series but let's have a dose of reality about 5-nil

1. 5-nil implies consistency and England's batsmen are anything but consistent

If we have some fit quicks to choose from and get to bowl on some helpful decks, England will fold in at least one test (remember Perth?) and the sun will shine on a dog's back at least once in the summer, even one as mangy as the Oz batting lineup

2. You make mention of England's depth, well;

a. Fast bowlers

i. Finn is bowling poorly atm and IMO would not make the Oz squad

ii. Forget about Tremlett for the time being as the guy isn't bowling well enough to be picked for Surrey atm

ii. Onions is coming up 31 and has done precious little outside of the CC so people painting him as a savior are purely blowing smoke until he proves differently

iii. From there, it's Meaker, etc and every Oz state has quicks who are at least as good as those guys

c. Spinners

I am sorry but who gives a **** about England's spinning options?

The Australian batting lineup will regard it as a bonus if the hosts have to resort to Monty or Treadwell

d. Batsmen

i. The jury is out on Compton

ii. Root, whilst very talented, is in the mix to replace him at the top of the order yet even his biggest fans question his ability against short-pitched bowling

I'm sorry but this Australian attack could ruin him if those fears are real so better keep him down the order

iii. Bairstow

In the words of the Miz - really? Really? REALLY?

iv. The rest

Ravi - see Bairstow

Carberry - recommended by Boycott but not on the same planet as Rogers and we are rightly accused of being rubbish

Bottom line is that I expect England to win but this series is a green deck and a couple of injuries away from being closely fought

 

[Spark]

Don't think it's been '****ing terrible' though has it? I didn't watch a chunk of the tour to NZ due to being time zoned though, so I might have missed out on some poor performances.

Well, UAE aside there's been no absolute disasters but there's still been some pretty rank displays of inept batsmanship, 1st innings of the NZ Test series in particular.

England's brainfades seem to be exactly that, though, brainfades - ours are more due to long-standing technical/mental issues which are strongly tied to that whole "not good enough" thing.

 

[Spark]

It's also worth noting that when Clarke does fire, he has a tendency a fair bit of the time to carry at least part of the batting lineup with him - most of his big scores have been accompanied by a massive partnership (or two), and they haven't always involved Hussey.

 

[Prince EWS]

It's also worth noting that when Clarke does fire, he has a tendency a fair bit of the time to carry at least part of the batting lineup with him - most of his big scores have been accompanied by a massive partnership (or two), and they haven't always involved Hussey.

They usually have though

The most notable exception I can think of was Ponting at home against India, and that's about as useful as Hussey really.

 

[MW1304]

If Australia are to have a chance I don't think it will need 5 Clarke centuries on the trot, or something equally absurd, anyhow, it will just need a breakthrough series from someone akin to Samuels against us last year. It does happen. I'd be most hopeful for someone like Hughes or Cowan to do it; someone with some good history in England, who has shown glimpses of class in the past. If your batting holds together averagely to well, and someone less celebrated has a great series, you'll be in with a shout.

 

[social]

If Australia are to have a chance I don't think it will need 5 Clarke centuries on the trot, or something equally absurd, anyhow, it will just need a breakthrough series from someone akin to Samuels against us last year. It does happen. I'd be most hopeful for someone like Hughes or Cowan to do it; someone with some good history in England, who has shown glimpses of class in the past. If your batting holds together averagely to well, and someone less celebrated has a great series, you'll be in with a shout.

The point is that we don't have a snowball's chance in hell

Sorry but that is reality