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

[Pratters]

Underwood retired a long time ago

and then came the great Gareth Batty.

 

[luckyeddie]

On an amusing note, whats so much of discussion when no english fan believes they have any chance

Who cares about the cricket? It gives me a chance to take the Mickey out of the Aussies.

 

[aussie]

either 3-1 or 4-1 to australia i dont see england winning more than a test, which will be most likely the 4th or 5th test

 

[aussie]

ok here is my england test XI:
strauss
vaughan
bell/key
thorpe
pieterson
flintoff
jones/prior
giles
hoggard
jones
harmison

and my england ODI XI:
tresco
strauss
bell
vaughan
pieterson
flintoff
read
giles
jones
harmison
gough

dont agree with that ODI side, jones, collingwood & kabir ali should be in the mix, my ODI team is:

tresco
strauss
vaughan
collingwood
flintoff
pietersen
jones
giles
kabir ali
gough
harmison

 

[Magrat Garlick]

dont agree with that ODI side, jones, collingwood & kabir ali should be in the mix, my ODI team is:

tresco
strauss
vaughan
collingwood
flintoff
pietersen
jones
giles
kabir ali
gough
harmison

Shuffle Collingwood and Pietersen and I might agree.

 

[aussie]

Even Butcher's better than Key.

duhhhhhhh , but butch is the best option againts the aussies he has had good performances againts them in the last 2 series & england need all the experience they can get, plus exposing bell & KP then seeing them fail could be bad, key might not feature in the ashes i reckon

 

[aussie]

Another option could be:
M Trescothick
A Strauss
I Bell
M Vaughan (c)
G Thorpe
K Pietersen
A Flintoff
C Read (wk)
A Giles
M Hoggard
S Harmison

For me Bell is a better batsmen then Butcher or Key. Read batting at 8 would take the pressure of his batting and if he fails it not such a big deal. If you play 7 batsmen i see no reason to play Jones over Read. Batting Flintoff at seven is a bit low but it will allow him to have less pressure one his batting. Also in a four man bowling bowling attack he will bowl more overs and batting lower will give him more rest. Simon Jones hasn't done much wrong but droping him will allow you to play Read and both KP and Bell.

that team has a awkward combination, i understand what ur saying mate but we wont be seeing that side at alllllllll. Plus having two youngster bell & KP their againts australia shouldn't be, my point stands once Butcher is fit he should play KP & Bell will get their chance later

And i think u should rethink your idea that Bell is a better batsman than butcher, i totally disagree mate

 

[superkingdave]

I've always disliked Butcher

 

[BoyBrumby]

I've always disliked Butcher

Any particular reason?

His lapses in concentration when looking v well set have always irritated me.

 

[aussie]

I've always disliked Butcher

yes any particular reason

 

[superkingdave]

Perennial underachievment for the talent he has.

I don't really like the way he bats, he's always on the edge, he never ever looks like he won't get out.

The dropped catches are absolutely infuriating and his music is rubbish.

 

[Scaly piscine]

I don't like Butcher because of his endless stupid dismissals and he's a useless fielder. I don't think he adds to this England team particularly. He's only averaged around 40 over the past 4 years when he's supposedly been at his best, so I'd much rather go for someone who has the potential to do far better and who also happens to be a far better fielder.

 

[Pratters]

What do people do on an ashes thread two months before the contest?

Remix it into why I hate Mark Butcher thread

 

[steds]

I've always disliked Butcher

So have I. It's that nose...

 

[tooextracool]

dont agree with that ODI side, jones, collingwood & kabir ali should be in the mix, my ODI team is:

why should they be in the mix? so that we continue to pick non specialist players and remain a mediocre ODI side?
jones isnt and never was good enough for ODIs. read has been quite brilliant in his ODI career thus far and he deserves to be in the side.
collingwood has failed time and time again, and its high time we stop picking him for his fielding alone.
kabir ali is absolute tripe.

 

[tooextracool]

butcher for me has underperformed for far too long now, hes still a good player, but i think we need everyone in this ashes series to perform at their best, and i'd rather have any of the other 3 players in contention for his spot in the side start ahead of him, and if they all end up being mediocre then we can revert back to butcher.
and his slip fielding is atrocious, last thing i want to see is have him drop gilchrist twice, before he goes on to score 176.

 

[aussie]

why should they be in the mix? so that we continue to pick non specialist players and remain a mediocre ODI side?
jones isnt and never was good enough for ODIs. read has been quite brilliant in his ODI career thus far and he deserves to be in the side.
collingwood has failed time and time again, and its high time we stop picking him for his fielding alone.
kabir ali is absolute tripe.

Collingwood is one of the more experienced & accomplished ENG ODI players over the past 4 years of so, he is a top class fieldsman, decent batsman who has adapted the finisher role for ENG & a good back up bowler, the debate over read & jones will go on i rather to have jones because i believe the lad has the ability to do well in ODI cricket, no doubt read has been good but for its Jones, i say read so lets call it george & leave it on the mat.

Ali is by no means a tripe tec, he impressed with the ball in SA & looks to be a decent lower oder batsman, i wont say he should become a fixture, but he could fit into ENG ODI side nicely has a good bowler & decent lower order batsman

 

[aussie]

whats wrong with you people......., since butcher came back into the test side in the 2001 ashes series up that injury he suffered during the series againts NZ, he has been pretty consistent, we need experinced players like Butcher in that middle order to battle the aussies, once he gets back playing for surrey soon, i hope he gets some form & get back to that #3 spot which he has virtually made his own over the past few years.

If blokes like Key, Bell, Pietersen play & fail which could well & happen, we all will be down on them, those guys chance will come soon because they are the future for ENG in the middle order

 

[tooextracool]

Collingwood is one of the more experienced & accomplished ENG ODI players over the past 4 years of so, he is a top class fieldsman, decent batsman who has adapted the finisher role for ENG & a good back up bowler,

so his averaging 26 against all ODI class teams makes him a decent batsman?
hes not accomplished at all, all hes ever come close to doing is a few finishing off jobs in a few games, otherwise hes been by and large a failure, with superb fielding skills.

Ali is by no means a tripe tec, he impressed with the ball in SA & looks to be a decent lower oder batsman, i wont say he should become a fixture, but he could fit into ENG ODI side nicely has a good bowler & decent lower order batsman

well your one of the few people he did impress. managed to go at 5.44 runs an over and pick up wickets with poor balls.

 

[tooextracool]

whats wrong with you people......., since butcher came back into the test side in the 2001 ashes series up that injury he suffered during the series againts NZ, he has been pretty consistent, we need experinced players like Butcher in that middle order to battle the aussies, once he gets back playing for surrey soon, i hope he gets some form & get back to that #3 spot which he has virtually made his own over the past few years.

If blokes like Key, Bell, Pietersen play & fail which could well & happen, we all will be down on them, those guys chance will come soon because they are the future for ENG in the middle order

if the future means having more productive players than those who average 40 odd, then i believe we'll be better off going for those players now. butcher has been consistent yes, but hes been consistent at squandering starts and wasting set innings. his fielding is not even worth talking about.