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

[Shounak]

Well, we'll have to agree to disagree there. I've been watching Clarke very closely this series because I wanted to see how he handled three 90+ mph bowlers, two of whom are big movers of the ball, and I think he's looked more at home against them than anyone excluding Langer, and obviously Ponting after he gets set. He also looked very good against Harmison and Flintoff in the ODIs at times. I've actually been quite stunned by it, as I always knew he had talent and was a wonderful player of spin, but didn't expect him to do so well against the sort of bowling he has faced this series.

True, he was playing Harmo with suprising ease and grace. A true pleasure to watch.

Strauss also got fairly stuck into Taity last night. He was hitting everything cleanly, straight out of the middle. Maaarvelous cricket that.

 

[vic_orthdox]

I didn't think that he was really controlling ALL of the pull shots he was playing off Tait. But negotiating Tait's first spell was a lot different to negotiating that second one.

 

[Shounak]

I didn't think that he was really controlling ALL of the pull shots he was playing off Tait. But negotiating Tait's first spell was a lot different to negotiating that second one.

Yeah. But he didn't seem to be worried at all. This guy looks to be very expensive. He would have to step up his speed by abt 5 - 10km to justify his place in the squad. Another thing is get more movement from the ball, but we'd need to see him on different pitches to judge that.

Overall though he needs to be an effective strike bowler to keep his place. He's not exactly a work horse or a donkey of the team, like Kasper and Dizzy. He had to either get wickets or get out.

 

[Blaze]

Last match was a draw

My point is that all this so called luck has been enjoyed in spades by the Aussies in previous series (England's injuries last itme out was a farce) - now they're getting the odd rub of the green against them, and that is the immediate reason why England are doing well.

Only idiots would be saying England aren't playing well.

 

[Slow Love™]

I like Clarke

No you don't. And whenever a window is presented for him to be criticized, you smash through it like a magpie on crack.

I'm with Faaip - although I wouldn't quite say he can't be faulted, there's certainly other bats you could point the finger at before Clarke. IMO, he's generally looked pretty good at the crease, and though at times his concentration has wavered, he's still been one of the better bats in the series so far. And I reckon he's handled the English quicks quite capably.

 

[Mister Wright]

No you don't. And whenever a window is presented for him to be criticized, you smash through it like a magpie on crack.

I'm with Faaip - although I wouldn't quite say he can't be faulted, there's certainly other bats you could point the finger at before Clarke. IMO, he's generally looked pretty good at the crease, and though at times his concentration has wavered, he's still been one of the better bats in the series so far. And I reckon he's handled the English quicks quite capably.

Um...no I do. I think (hope) he will be one of Australia's leading batsman of the future. However, we're talking now, and IMO I don't think he should have been selected when he was, and I think he is struggling at present.

 

[Top_Cat]

Yeah. But he didn't seem to be worried at all. This guy looks to be very expensive. He would have to step up his speed by abt 5 - 10km to justify his place in the squad. Another thing is get more movement from the ball, but we'd need to see him on different pitches to judge that.

Overall though he needs to be an effective strike bowler to keep his place. He's not exactly a work horse or a donkey of the team, like Kasper and Dizzy. He had to either get wickets or get out.

Let us not lose sight of the fact that it is his first Test and only about his 3rd match of the tour! I think considering that he's entitled to appear a trifle under-done. Also considering that, he bowled very well and I was quite encouraged by the fact he took a couple of good wickets because everything was pointing towards a pasting. He's not really match-fit. He's fit but there's nothing like have a string of matches under your belt.

 

[howardj]

Who thinks Gillespie is finished? Personally, given the dearth of quicks in Australia, I think he will play Tests again.

 

[Shounak]

Let us not lose sight of the fact that it is his first Test and only about his 3rd match of the tour! I think considering that he's entitled to appear a trifle under-done. Also considering that, he bowled very well and I was quite encouraged by the fact he took a couple of good wickets because everything was pointing towards a pasting. He's not really match-fit. He's fit but there's nothing like have a string of matches under your belt.

True that. I'm speculating about his future though. He seems to me as a hit and miss kind a bowler. When he gets going he'll probably be next to unstoppable. But he'd probably also have bad days, where he gets thrashed.

Swing seems dificult to achieve with his action though.

 

[Knopfler]

Who thinks Gillespie is finished? Personally, given the dearth of quicks in Australia, I think he will play Tests again.

I think Gillespie is finished, but I am not that sure. Say 60/40.

I think Tait has bowled very well and his place in the team looks promising. He was swinging the ball nicely. Alot more than any other of the Aussie bowlers this series (something that has given England a huge edge).

 

[Top_Cat]

Swing seems dificult to achieve with his action though.

Yet what was the curve I saw after his first spell?

Remember; he plays half of his FC games on the Adelaide Oval, one of the flattest decks in the world. The conditions at Adelaide Oval during summer are generally 35+ degrees with no cloud cover. He still gets swing.

I agree he can be inconsistent but that's Tait. He'll also bowl teams out cheaply. Have to take the good with the bad in a bowler of his type.

 

[luckyeddie]

Yet what was the curve I saw after his first spell?

Remember; he plays half of his FC games on the Adelaide Oval, one of the flattest decks in the world. The conditions at Adelaide Oval during summer are generally 35+ degrees with no cloud cover. He still gets swing.

I agree he can be inconsistent but that's Tait. He'll also bowl teams out cheaply. Have to take the good with the bad in a bowler of his type.

From what I saw, he was very much the "Curate's Egg" - good in parts. He'll get a lot of wickets, but I reckon he's a shoulder and/or back operation waiting to happen.

 

[luckyeddie]

Only idiots would be saying England aren't playing well.

ergo, sqwerty is an idiot?

 

[Top_Cat]

From what I saw, he was very much the "Curate's Egg" - good in parts. He'll get a lot of wickets, but I reckon he's a shoulder and/or back operation waiting to happen.

But he's not had a major injury and has been playing cricket for many years now. When he gets injured, I think it'll be wear-and-tear rather than any deficiency in his technique. Time will tell.

 

[howardj]

Whilst how one bats or bowls will always be, to an extent, influenced by the opposition, being proficient at things like catching and keeping no-balls to a minimum, are totally independent of how the opposition performs. It's this inattention to detail - not practicing these things - that is really hurting Australia.

I mean, fair enough if Flintoff is reverse swinging it - there's not much you can do other than hope to weather the storm. However, when you're giving lads such as Michael Vaughan a life - by dropping him or dismissing him off a no-ball - then you're really not controlling the things that are within your control. That's the disconcerting thing about Australia at present.

 

[aussie]

Who thinks Gillespie is finished? Personally, given the dearth of quicks in Australia, I think he will play Tests again.

hell no i'll back dizzy to come back strongly for sure......

 

[marc71178]

Maybe he should take the new ball instead of Lee. He looked more dangerous in his short spell then Lee did all day.

LOL - it'll be interesting to see what the series post mortem on Lee is.

As it stands he's got 15 wickets at 35.53 whilst conceding 4.43 runs per over.

Admittedly, all the non-great Aussies have gone at over 4 (in fact the other 3 seamers have all conceded at about the same rate) but one questions if that is good enough so far?

 

[marc71178]

England will struggle to bowl Australia out twice on this deck

Pre-series that would probably have been agreed, but there's been other good tracks in the series, and England have picked up 59 of the 60 on offer...

 

[marc71178]

Bowl them out for 350, get a 150 lead and bowl them out for 150.
Bowl them out for 350, get a 150 lead, bowl them out for 200, chase 50.

It's not inconceivable.

If the wicket is as perfect as you're making out and with the form of the Australian attack, I'd say it's very inconceivable.

 

[marc71178]

Australia's batting isn't overrated....they just totally underestimated and underprepared for a decent bowling attack.

I'm sure they expected another walk in the park.

The Australian batting lineup, whether or not they've faced decent attacks in the past few years, have been awesome over the last decade.

That's just the thing, this is the first attack worthy of the name that they've faced in many a year, and they've struggled big time - so surely that does suggest an element of over-rating?