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

[tassietiger]

While I don't rate their bowling attack bar Harmison, England has bowled much better than it has batted. Australia has bowled better than it has batted too, coincidentally.

 

[SJS]

I don't know,mate...


Harmison
Hoggard
Flintoff
Jones
Giles


That bowling attack, to me, looks a lot better than this batting line up...


Tresco
Strauss
Vaughan
Bell
Pieterson
Flintoff
Jones


Too much inexperience there with two newcomers at 4 and 5..

Depends on the track too, no ?

On a batting track this attack may come a bit unstuck and this batting side may not perform so badly.

I think if one just added Thorpe to this line up (too late now I agree) and this batting line up would be as good as any England has put up in many a year.

 

[Craig]

Checking the bowling figures and scorecard this morning I was surprised not to see Simon Jones not have a wicket next to his name - considering how well he was bowling to Martyn and Ponting (how he missed the outside edge or not bowled Martyn I have no idea). It was probably one of those days if he pitched the ball up by an inch or two he would have got a wicket.

 

[Craig]

I think Australia should look for a 350 total or more if they can and give themselves two days to bowl out England.

I have been impressed with Flintoff's bowling now he needs to show it with the bat (although he did get a ball that kept low in the 1st innings).

 

[marc71178]

come on Marc, with Jones and Harmison left at the other end you don't condone him hitting out? You really don't like Pietersen for some reason, i always thought it was because he and Bell were fighting for one place but that isn't the case now so why do you hate him?

My view was that he'd already got the one 6 from the over, there wasn't a great need to clatter the very next ball when he was obviously beginning to see it big.

Had he worked it around he'd have been able to look for a boundary or 2 and over in a more safe manner.

 

[marc71178]

I think the lack of a quality spinner and the presence of two relatively inexperienced bowlers, in jones and hoggard, makes it look like, to me, as if englands weakest link is bowling. I suppose its a matter of opinion

Hoggard inexperienced?

160 Test wickets isn't that bad, and would actually mean that the whole attack is inexperienced as he's got comfortably more than any of the others.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Lee gone early from a good throw from Giles.

 

[Craig]

Lead closing to 330 though (following on cricinfo.com).

 

[Adamc]

Three consecutive boundaries from Katich, slipping away from England. Need someone to blast out the last two very soon to have any hope.

 

[PY]

Yeah, we badly need these two out quick sharp, well more Gillespie than McGrath.

 

[Somerset]

My view was that he'd already got the one 6 from the over, there wasn't a great need to clatter the very next ball when he was obviously beginning to see it big.

Had he worked it around he'd have been able to look for a boundary or 2 and over in a more safe manner.

In hindsight, maybe that was the best way but he'd got his eye in and I don't blame him for trying again - and anyway, a few metres straighter and he would've scored a boundary.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Pitch was looking nice to bat on til GBH's last over...

 

[Somerset]

Lead closing to 330 though (following on cricinfo.com).

Lead now passing 360 - Simon Katich batting well with the tailenders at the moment, could even push that total up to 400.

 

[Somerset]

Hehe, can't say much about that fielding from Simon Jones!

 

[Scaly piscine]

Hehe, can't say much about that fielding from Simon Jones!

I can think of a few things. Definitely a new ball pitch, which pretty much stuffs England because they'll have to face two of them and our openers can't last 5 minutes even tho being left-handed is an advantage.

Awful drop by Geraint now.

 

[King_Ponting]

great peiece of keeping by jones there

 

[Somerset]

Bad miss from Jones - how crucial with that be to England?

 

[Slow Love™]

Bad miss from Jones - how crucial with that be to England?

My guess is not very. I think the game's been over for all intents and purposes for some time now. Rotten drop though.

Looked like Gillespie might have been tapped on the nuts again last ball that over, although it obviously wasn't as bad as the one about half an hour ago - how impressive was his "AAAAAUUUUGGGHHH" after that contact? He's gonna be spending some time in the ice bath tonight.

Pretty poor bowling from England this morning.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Which genius keeps having no fine fine-leg fielder to Gillespie?

Finally

 

[Slow Love™]

And Jones gets one in the right place - Gillespie bowled.