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***Official*** Australia in England (The Ashes)
- Thread starter James
- Start date
Scaly piscine
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Of course, but Australia will have 1 innings of batting where the ball occasionally grubs and England will have 2 innings of it.Somerset said:
Scaly piscine
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Because of course the toss is only allowed to be a factor if Australia lose isn't it?Jono said:
Slow Love™
International Captain
The pitch is a little tricky. It's not a minefield on the scale of say, Mumbai '04, where the batsman are struggling to survive from one delivery to the next, but a few are shooting low (most notably in McGrath's first spell, although Harmison got one to skid a couple of overs ago). Most troubling is probably the surprise expressed by some of the batsmen at some of the rising deliveries - notably including Hayden and Ponting, both very capable when it comes to the short ball. It looks as though a decent score could be made on it though - certainly when the best bowlers have been off, things have looked substantially more comfortable for the batsmen.
In any case, as it happened, England had the better of the conditions at the outset of the match, and at this point, it's still anybody's game, with Australia just in front. To reduce the game to the toss of the coin is underselling some very good bowling (as well as some negligent batting) and a pretty exciting, potentially very tight game of cricket. Truth is that if you really wanted to, you could probably say that in any really close game in which the team that called correctly won the game, the toss was decisive. But in a close game, there are usually six or seven (or more) events that might well have been decisive. Isolating the toss (unless the pitch really is an absolute nightmare, which this one isn't) justs devalues the players' contributions.
In any case, as it happened, England had the better of the conditions at the outset of the match, and at this point, it's still anybody's game, with Australia just in front. To reduce the game to the toss of the coin is underselling some very good bowling (as well as some negligent batting) and a pretty exciting, potentially very tight game of cricket. Truth is that if you really wanted to, you could probably say that in any really close game in which the team that called correctly won the game, the toss was decisive. But in a close game, there are usually six or seven (or more) events that might well have been decisive. Isolating the toss (unless the pitch really is an absolute nightmare, which this one isn't) justs devalues the players' contributions.
Slow Love™
International Captain
Wow, what's wrong with Squires? I actually thought he was very good on "The Fat", although I missed his brief foray into commercial TV (apart from the Natwest coverage).Jono said:
BTW, Craig, I'm pretty sure the "probability factor" was a gag.
FaaipDeOiad
Hall of Fame Member
Things looking good for Australia. As a bit of a personal fan of his, I'm really happy to see how Hayden is playing. From the first ball today he looked the best he's looked for a long, long time, and his defence looks solid again for once, and the rest of going along accordingly. With only Harmison looking particularly good for England, he might be in for a big score today.
I think we'll see Giles in the middle session for the first time too.
I think we'll see Giles in the middle session for the first time too.
King_Ponting
International Regular
Ponting to score a 50+score today
