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

[marc71178]

thats OUT yesssssssssssssss & again Warne does de trick

He could be taking a 10fer here.

Of course he's helped by only bowling 6 ball overs...

 

[Slow Love™]

Can someone with the power IP this bloke to see if Warne is back?

I had wondered, but SW seemed to have more of a sense of humor.

 

[King_Ponting]

I had wondered, but SW seemed to have more of a sense of humor.

I hadnt noticed.....

 

[marc71178]

All the little things have seemed to go their way, but I wouldn't say the vital things. They've definitely had a tendency to get away with more edges + spoons (e.g. every Trescothick innings), while there has been no such luck for Australia bar its tailenders.

To be honest, what luck has there been in that first morning?

The no-ball bowled maybe, but that is more just a symptom of a mistake by Australia.

 

[Slow Love™]

I hadnt noticed.....

I had.

 

[King_Ponting]

To be honest, what luck has there been in that first morning?

The no-ball bowled maybe, but that is more just a symptom of a mistake by Australia.

And that could be cancelled out by strauss' dismissal which imo was unlucky...
Really, and im speaking as an aussie supporter, we have bowled too many bad deliveries and england has simply capitalised on them. If ponting didnt have as many men out on the boundary as he did in the first session, australia could well have been looking down the barrel at a score of 150 + in the first session alone.

 

[vic_orthdox]

My thoughts:

No-balls, need I say more?

I hope Strauss (and when Tresco goes out to that sweep, him too) don't profess to being "unlucky". Both take their eye off the ball every time they play that paddle sweep, and as a result errors like the one that occurred today will happen.

Tait bowled OK, am already frustrated with the over-analysis of his action. Instantly, Tony Greig started comparing him with McGrath. To quote nibbs - "ffs" - he's never going to be bowling like McGrath. I love the way SA have handled him - said "this is the way he bowls, like it or lump it".

Trescothick looking fantastic, this pitch gives him a chance to let those hands of his take over when the ball is wide.

In my opinion, this is probably the worst pitch for cricket so far this series. Horribly slow. I don't have a problem with batsmen-friendly pitches, a la Old Trafford and Edgbaston (sp), which had pace and bounce and something there for the bowlers. But this is just a slow plodder, the type that you expect to see in One Day cricket to "excite the fans" so that players can just rock onto the front foot. Not only has the curator tried to "nullify Warne", he's trying to nullify anyone who doesn't bat at 7 or above. Even if the ball starts reverse swinging and wickets are taken, it doesn't change the fact that it's not a good Test match wicket.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Friggin' rain... urrggghhhh.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Also, the run-rate isn't a massive deal to me - in terms of the quality of deliveries bowled. When you take away the 18 no-ies, plus the extra runs, I don't think Aus has bowled all that terribly. England have batted very well.

 

[aussie]

What do you expect from a pitch that's about 20 overs old?

A raging Bunsen?!

well when i saw his first over the turn he got compared to the last 3 test was less so i was concerned.......

 

[King_Ponting]

well when i saw his first over the turn he got compared to the last 3 test was less so i was concerned.......

Cant really expect that much when its the first session of a test and only 18 overs had been bowled..

 

[aussie]

I had wondered, but SW seemed to have more of a sense of humor.

why was username SW banned by the way???

 

[King_Ponting]

why was username SW banned by the way???

Maybe because he was a d*ckhead?

 

[marc71178]

Cant really expect that much when its the first session of a test and only 18 overs had been bowled..

I reckon that's more examples of England's luck - the ball's not turning!

 

[King_Ponting]

predicting a draw..... anyone else with me on that prediction?

 

[Slow Love™]

In my opinion, this is probably the worst pitch for cricket so far this series. Horribly slow. I don't have a problem with batsmen-friendly pitches, a la Old Trafford and Edgbaston (sp), which had pace and bounce and something there for the bowlers. But this is just a slow plodder, the type that you expect to see in One Day cricket to "excite the fans" so that players can just rock onto the front foot. Not only has the curator tried to "nullify Warne", he's trying to nullify anyone who doesn't bat at 7 or above. Even if the ball starts reverse swinging and wickets are taken, it doesn't change the fact that it's not a good Test match wicket.

In general I agree - a wicket with so little for the bowlers is always a poor test wicket, in the sense that I don't think it encourages exciting cricket (as opposed to substandard wickets that are health-hazards or reduce matches to lotteries). Although I still don't believe that this intrinsically favors England as some have suggested (OK, it may have only been Nuffy).

I haven't given up on us winning this one yet, K_P - it's still early days.

 

[Slow Love™]

why was username SW banned by the way???

Too much trolling, probably.

 

[Slow Love™]

Greg Matthews laying into Buchanan a little during the break, and questioning whether he's focussed a little too much on the "mental disintegration" thing and too little on our actual skills.

Apparently we should have some play in about half an hour.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Too much trolling, probably.

 

[King_Ponting]

i hate it how greg mathews says "plus tax". Its really stating to p*ss me off. Its just 500 runs not 500 plus tax, you idiot!!!