England Vs. SriLanka

[biased indian]

nope india didnt bowl any much better, and they didnt bat too much better either, most of the english batsmen played poor shots to get themselves out.

ya they knew too well where ganguly had kept the feilders and they padded up too many deliveries

 

[biased indian]

not if flintoff has something to do with it.

the most flintoff will be able to do is make the game a close one ,thats what i feel having seen both the teams play recently

and as u said u only have one player in good form another in some sought of form and every one else not in form

 

[Scaly piscine]

I don't think England could replace any of their top 6 with quality, the only batsman in the squad not playing is McGrath. Pietersen should qualify to represent England shortly if not already and maybe Bell if he does well in Tests. They could certainly replace any of the bowlers with a quality replacement tho albeit whether they'd have any form to speak of is another matter.

 

[tooextracool]

the mosy flintoff will be able to do is make the game a close one thats what i feel having seen both the teams play recently

and as u said u only have one player in good form another in some sought of form and every one else not in form

yes if you look carefully there are more players out of form than players in form. and looking at some of englands recent performances people seem to get the mistaken view that everyone is in form and that they are 'playing as a team'.

 

[tooextracool]

Pietersen should qualify to represent England shortly if not already and maybe Bell if he does well in Tests.

bell is not a ODI player IMO.....its one of the very few wise moves that the selectors have made all summer.

 

[biased indian]

yes if you look carefully there are more players out of form than players in form. and looking at some of englands recent performances people seem to get the mistaken view that everyone is in form and that they are 'playing as a team'.

i certainly am sure of two plyers vaughan and strauss

 

[Scaly piscine]

bell is not a ODI player IMO.....its one of the very few wise moves that the selectors have made all summer.

Well he'd be better than Key...

I think England have every chance if they win the toss and bowl, I don't fancy England if they bat first - Tresco ain't likely to last long, he never does against Australia and then you get Vaughan in (less said the better) and before you know it we'll be relying on Flintoff/Collingwood again.

 

[tooextracool]

Well he'd be better than Key....

yes but key isnt in the ODI side....when key was selected for the natwest series(along with jones,mcgrath,blackwell and clarke) i was here coming up with every possible insult at the selectors. luckily for him it didnt matter and that he did in fact get picked for the test series.
to go in with bell in the ODI side now would be just about as foolish as it was to pick key then.

 

[DocHead]

Nuts, didn't that foolish Flintoff read the script I sent out? It was supposed to be a SA vs. Sri Lanka grudge match for the final.

 

[luckyeddie]

the most flintoff will be able to do is make the game a close one ,thats what i feel having seen both the teams play recently

and as u said u only have one player in good form another in some sought of form and every one else not in form

The toss will be significant.

Your second point is so pathetically laughable that I feel duty-bound to post silly emoticons with dragons and stuff:



Makes as much sense as your rubbish

 

[luckyeddie]

yes if you look carefully there are more players out of form than players in form. and looking at some of englands recent performances people seem to get the mistaken view that everyone is in form and that they are 'playing as a team'.

You're bonkers, you are (or something).

 

[tooextracool]

so how many players are in form ATM then? giles,flintoff, harmison and collingwood?

 

[luckyeddie]

so how many players are in form ATM then? giles,flintoff, harmison and collingwood?

Trescothick and Gough too are in fine fettle.

I'd be interested to hear which players you think are out of form

As far as team spirit (something you seem to take great pleasure in knocking) - I don't think I've ever seen a more 'together' group of players.

 

[JASON]

no its the reverse india played badly in the first 2 games and they lost then they plaued well in the third to win it.

no today SL played really bad .i dont know y they gifted flintoff with such easy deliveries.

and in the next game dont except AUS to play bad because they dont like to do that too often like india and SL

Congratulations to England and in particular Freddie, Harmison, Collingwood, Gough, Trescothick, Wharf (to come back after being hit for 13 runs in an over).

SL played OK on Day 1 despite dropping 2-3 catches and having 1 bad decision(Tresco), but Day 2 they played very poorly - dropping Freddie and Chandana's over of 22 runs!!

One opener may have got a bad decision but others batted poorly and for inexplicable reasons they went into a shell after hitting Wharf for 13 runs in an over!!

But Inconsistency is not something new for this SL team. They are moderately good at home but overseas they struggle. And this game proves the same!!

I hope England can go onto win the Champions Trophy, since England's Trophy cabinet is empty at the moment (With Regard to World Cups/Champions Trophies etc.) Hope it will change soon.

Looking ahead to Australia game, England will struggle. Aussies are not known to gift any freebies and unless England win the toss and put the Aussies in and all of England players are contributing (not just Freddie and Harmo)(particularly Vaughan, Strauss need to contribute) Australia will steam roll through.

 

[luckyeddie]

One opener may have got a bad decision but others batted poorly and for inexplicable reasons they went into a shell after hitting Wharf for 13 runs in an over!!

I'm really racking my brains over this one - I thought every chance was a nailed-on certainty - Gunawardene clearly edged Harmison through to Jones (slomo showed the seam position 'flipping over') and the only thing bad decision-wise about Jayasuriya's dismissal was that he picked out the supremely athletic Darren Gough in the outfield

 

[marc71178]

I wonder how it might have been different if Murali had been playing.

Well Maharoof did have 1-19 from his 10.

 

[marc71178]

Solanki misses his chance to redeem himself

2 chances at that...

 

[marc71178]

not a failure, not a success

So scoring 39 and helping add 90 at more than run a ball to help England get a score which looked far from likely when he went in isn't a success?

He rotated the strike to Flintoff quite superbly and also played some big shots himself.

 

[marc71178]

but look at recent performances, everytime england have got even a half decent score in the last 2 series its been because of flintoff.

If he didn't have someone down the other end, that wouldn't work.

He's had good support from Collingwood recently (and only got 6 in our 290-odd the other day)

 

[marc71178]

tresco-no
solanki - yes
vaughan- hell no
strauss - no
flintoff - lets leave him out of it
collingwood - maybe
jones - no

Tresco - just made 60-odd, a very good knock in the conditions.
Solanki - 1 good score in 5 games since his recall, and still keeps getting out poorly.
Vaughan - agreed.
Strauss - agreed.
Collingwood - definitely is.
Jones - how can you judge when he's not had many balls to bat?