A most bold of predictions

[OverratedSanity]

Let's get one thing straight first of all. There is no "we" here. You people are not part of the team. You are simply a bunch of internet nobodies who support the English cricket team because you lead very sad existences and/or are some sort of masochists who enjoy getting absolutely pummeled 80% of the time. Either way you have absolutely nothing to do with the team so give the whole "we" thing a rest and avoid further embarrassment.

Now that we have sorted, no, England will not retain the ashes.

Awta

 

[centurymaker]

I don't disagree with him. Personally, I have hardly ever used "we" because I don't belong to any team.

 

[Daemon]

'we' when we're doing well and 'they' when they're not is the way to go

 

[dumastudetto]

If England can win in Perth, we will retain the Ashes via a series draw.

So, I predict the outcome of the series will be settled in the next 2 days.

Totally agree with this prediction.

If Australia loses in Perth then it will destroy their confidence completely. Melbourne and Sydney will both suit England's bowling attack better than Brisbane and here so it will be a huge problem for Australia if they don't get the job done in the next few days.

The way Australia batted yesterday tells us they are feeling the pressure of being frontrunners and are quite capable of choking away this lead. But it all hinges on England batting well in their first innings and piling the pressure on Australia to respond. I think Cook, KP and Bell will help England post a big first innings score in Perth and could turn the series on its head.

This series could still turn out to be quite spectacular.

 

[Adders]

Love your optimism mate and everything you've said there is possible, but.........this Perth test just seems to have a very familiar feel to it already after 1 day

- Lose toss and get put in the field.

- After getting rid of 5 top order wickets reasonably cheaply we're looking in a great place. Just need to run through the lower order and have em out for sub 250 (say sub 300 for Adelaide) and we've had a great first days work and are in the box seat. But this is where it all starts to go wrong..........

- Brisbane - Aussies 132/6 end up posting 295. Adelaide - Aussies 257/5 end up posting 570. Perth Aussies 143/5 looking on track for 400+

There's a lot of reasons why we're in the **** this series but these day 1 performances are definitely one of them, and we're on a rinse and repeat cycle atm.