***Official*** Australia in England (The Ashes)

[DJellett]

Talk about shoddy decisions...Langer was clearly done in by a no-ball....very dissapointing (LOL my granpa had consumed a fairly big quantity of red wine and came out with "Bloody umpire is playing for the poms")

 

[Scaly piscine]

Talk about shoddy decisions...Langer was clearly done in by a no-ball....very dissapointing (LOL my granpa had consumed a fairly big quantity of red wine and came out with "Bloody umpire is playing for the poms")

Both of Lee's wickets looked like no-balls.

 

[Mister Wright]

lets analyse

Hayden - got a good one
langer - wild shot in my view
Ponting - good delivery, plus he was looking uncomfortable after being hit
Martyn - got an absolute peach
Clarke - shouldn't have been given out
Katich - he was running out of partners tried to score & got out
Gilly - thats how he plays under-pressure
Warne - Crazy dismissal ended a crazy innings
Lee - good delivery
Dizzy - good delivery

Hayden - no, he should have blocked it.
Langer - agree, Too aggresive for the situation
Ponting - spot on
Martyn - didn't have to play at it.
Clarke - c'mon, mate that was out!
Katich - still should have hung around, we've seen what Gillespie can do.
Gilly - agree, that's how he plays, have to take good with bad
Warne - hopefully his head will be right when he bowls
Lee - spot on
Dizzy - spot on

 

[Top_Cat]

Hayden - no, he should have blocked it.

It was a really good ball - easier said than done.

Clarke - c'mon, mate that was out!

It was nowhere near that clear-cut. Remember Hawkeye has a deliberately introduced error or a couple of centimetres and the ball was literally only JUST hitting the stumps. I know you're not Clarke's biggest fan but a little fairness, eh?

 

[Somerset]

Hayden - no, he should have blocked it.
Langer - agree, Too aggresive for the situation
Ponting - spot on
Martyn - didn't have to play at it.
Clarke - c'mon, mate that was out!
Katich - still should have hung around, we've seen what Gillespie can do.
Gilly - agree, that's how he plays, have to take good with bad
Warne - hopefully his head will be right when he bowls
Lee - spot on
Dizzy - spot on

I tend to agree with the majority of those comments - maybe with the exception of Hayden who, IMO, got a fantastic delivery.

 

[Somerset]

It was a really good ball - easier said than done.



It was nowhere near that clear-cut. Remember Hawkeye has a deliberately introduced error or a couple of centimetres and the ball was literally only JUST hitting the stumps. I know you're not Clarke's biggest fan but a little fairness, eh?

Looking at the replay this morning it does seem a little less definite than when I first saw the dismissal - but I'll still stand by my comments that he should've been out. Could've gone either way but I wouldn't debate over the dismissal too much - considering the shot he played the ball before he probably would've gone fairly soon anyway.

 

[Somerset]

Both of Lee's wickets looked like no-balls.

To be fair, I'd bet many wickets these days should've been disallowed because of no-balls - we don't always see the side-on view to check. I'd much rather the umpires focused on making crucial LBW decisions than debating over whether the bowler's back foot is a centimetre in front of the line.

 

[Top_Cat]

Looking at the replay this morning it does seem a little less definite than when I first saw the dismissal - but I'll still stand by my comments that he should've been out. Could've gone either way but I wouldn't debate over the dismissal too much - considering the shot he played the ball before he probably would've gone fairly soon anyway.

Yup agree with that.

You get the feeling that this is going to be an Ashes battle for the experienced players. The young ones are going to be put under a lot of pressure and I can just see guys like Bell and Clarke rating this series in years to come as the toughest they ever participated in.

To be fair, I'd bet many wickets these days should've been disallowed because of no-balls - we don't always see the side-on view to check. I'd much rather the umpires focused on making crucial LBW decisions than debating over whether the bowler's back foot is a centimetre in front of the line.

Again, agree with that. If Langer's dismissal showed nothing else, it's that every teams gets away with a few.

 

[shaka]

All i can say is WOW did not expect 17 wickets to fall on day 1, I guess the only good thing is it wont go to 5 days, when the bounce will become hugely uneven. Signs already showing of uneven bounce and I dont think England used it to much advantage, McGrath did on the other hand.

 

[honestbharani]

lol. England squandering the advantage so soon. I am sure they miss Thorpe now, but then again, KP is the top scorer. Maybe there should be a super sub in tests too...

 

[Monty]

how funny was it when giles kicked over his stumps

 

[Blaze]

how funny was it when giles kicked over his stumps

Yea he was a mess out there.. couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He didn't even get a bowl.

 

[social]

not sure what you've been watching really.....
jones bowled exceedingly well and both of his 2 wickets were fairly good deliveries. flintoff was off color and hoggard was rubbish, although the 2 of them still managed to bowl 2 very good balls thats got hayden and gilchrist respectively.
australia didnt bat poorly at all, they batted just like they always do while harmison and jones bowled well.

Firstly, whilst I appreciate that Jones is one of your favourite players, to say that he bowled "exceedingly well" is an exaggeration even by your standards.

His return of 2-48 at about 5 runs per over was indicative of his performance - couple of good balls interspersed by far too many hittable deliveries.

On the day, he ranked only above Hoggard and Gillespie of the seamers on show and was substantially below the standard set by McGrath, Harmison and even Lee.

Secondly, 4 of the Aus top 6 played shots they'd sooner forget. If that is not batting poorly, then I dont know what is.

 

[SIX AND OUT]

how funny was it when giles kicked over his stumps

Great, and better to see him named out that way, rather than c. Gilchrist b. Lee

Glenn McGrath - congrats on 500, you arrogant *****

 

[irfan]

wow unbelievable bowling by mcgrath, the new aka for me, talks the talk and walks the walk. Wat an astonishing day of cricket where both bowling lineups dominated, all i can say is expect the unexpected. IMHO only three pointers are preventing england from getting their hand on the coveted urn
1. McGrath
2. Gilchrist
3. Warne

i fink england will have their best chance at the next series not involving this terrific trio

 

[marc71178]

Hey, aren't you the guy who always brings up the errors in Hawkeye?!?

I am, but a lot of people who want technology were here moaning about that call being dodgy, yet if they had the technology in place, it would've been given

 

[Nate]

McGrath... absolutely amazing. Some of the best deliveries I have ever seen.

I`m tired but I don`t care. Beautiful cricket.


BRETT LEE!

 

[Linda]

OH

MY

LORDS..!

Went to work with red eyes today, as I had to get up early... but that is quite ok with me.

 

[Sir Redman]

I'm just wishing I could have posted after the Aussie innings had ended. Something along the lines of "You've done well, but don't count your chickens before they've hatched, this is Australia here".

 

[Somerset]

I'm just wishing I could have posted after the Aussie innings had ended. Something along the lines of "You've done well, but don't count your chickens before they've hatched, this is Australia here".

Lol, don't we all...damn time difference meaning us Kiwis either face an extremely tired following day or a lack of live action...