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

[Craig]

even thoguh he went for 24 in this 4 overs he had the right idea's & was getting swing plus he's & really didn't bowl to many bad deliveries in that spell & almost got KP out & to add his impressive 1st innings bowling performace.

well i dont know his nickname they call Lee bing since his 1st letter of his name is B so i'll call Tait Sling

They nickname him Bing because there is a Eletronics (? (and a successful one too!)) store called Bing Lee.

 

[andyc]

They nickname him Bing because there is a Eletronics (? (and a successful one too!)) store called Bing Lee.

Yeah, they have stupid, but catchy song, 'I like Bing Leeeeee'

 

[aussie]

They nickname him Bing because there is a Eletronics (? (and a successful one too!)) store called Bing Lee.

ha interesting

 

[BoyBrumby]

Come The Oval, would England be playing for a draw or a win? If they are chasing, say, 300 on the last day?

I think we'll try to win, but it will be more safety first. I advocated enforcing the follow-on @ TB despite the fact that it could leave us facing Warne in the 4th innings on a wearing pitch because we had to win the game, even if it meant giving you blokes a sniff of victory (& it became far more than a sniff as we saw!!). As it turned out the pitch behaved itself pretty well, it was just SW's magnificence that brought Oz so v close.

If, however, we're in the position to enforce the F-O @ The Oval (please Jesus, Allah, Buddha & Vishnu!) I suspect we'll bat again to make sure Australia can't win, even if it does reduce our chances of victory.

If Jones is fit I fully expect us to be unchanged, but I cannot for the life of me see the logic in retaining Hayden any further! Going by Punter's comments it seems the big lug will still open in the 5th, but really, why?! He looks a shot player to me. I'm all for loyalty & mateship, but sometimes in life one has to make difficult decisions for the greater good. Especially if your role is a selector! The clue's in the job title, guys!!!

 

[Nate]

Yeah, I`d go Collingwood for Jones.

 

[aussie]

i'm 90% sure that Hayden will be dropped they dropped Slater after the 4th test in 2001 & when Australia won the ashes already dont see why Hayden should be reatained (trust me its disheartenig to speak so harshly about Matty )

 

[Zinzan]

If this is the pathetic way the Aussies are going to react to being beaten, can we go back to them winning all the time please - at least the forum wouldn't be full of such drivel.

Don't be a prat Marc....

From a neutral point of view, I think your way off the mark with the above comment. I reckon most Australian's on this forum have been very gracious in defeat with a couple of exceptions.

Pretty unfair on some good Aussie forum members.

On the cricket......Surely now shaping up as the Greatest series of all time !! Certainly helps being play in such a media friendly era.

 

[Nate]

Somehow I don`t think they`ll drop him. I hope he stays and makes a big 100 or more, but he probably won`t.

 

[Nate]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2094-1753662,00.html

Waiting patiently are previous “Baggy Greeners” in Nathan Bracken, Brad Williams and Matthew Nicholson, while Stuart Clark and Ashley Noffke must also fancy their chances of a call-up .

On face value these names don’t sent fear into the hearts of other nations’ batting orders, but often it is just the feeling of security that regular selection brings that enables a player to blossom. Bracken’s natural swing gives him a huge advantage over most of the others and if he aligns his natural talent to a disciplined work ethic he has the ability to be the man Australia look to once McGrath is no longer around.

 

[aussie]

Somehow I don`t think they`ll drop him. I hope he stays and makes a big 100 or more, but he probably won`t.

if Hayden wants a Hundred at the oval he has to give Vaughan & the english bowlers a huge bribe

 

[Craig]

I think Bracken won't be playing Test cricket any time soon and we don't need Bob to tell you that he was rubbish at Test cricket. It is obviously you have secret feelings for him

I don't know if anybody saw it or saw it differently but did Andrew Flintoff when was bowling didn't seem as fired up as was in the last three Tests? He still bowled well but TB seemed more like mild-mannered Flintoff without any aggression, this is the impression I got when I watched him bowl.

On the other note this Test series isn't over and you can't write Australia off just yet by virtre off what they have done in the last 5/6 years and many a time when they have been backed in a corner they have come out fighting and have won (examples have been when Australia were in Sri Lanka last year and India v AUstralia at Mumbai in 2001) and they aren't beaten until they are beaten - it is the Australian way. And remember Australia have to win and they keep the Ashes (apart from Lords they don't really deserve it IMO) so it is good to see the England team haven't forgotten that. So this IMO will be a biggest test moment in Ponting's captaincy as it wll be interesting to see him to be able to rally his troops and fight back at The Oval (if he can that is). Mark Taylor could (many a time if Australia's top order didn't do so flash Steve Waugh and Ian Healy would come together and make important runs) and so could Steve Waugh.

 

[marc71178]

It amazes me that Tremlett can be selected as 12th man and then not be required to be the first fielding replacement, its not against the rules so every team should be doing it.

And it amazes me that people can't see that Tremlett has never been selected as 12th man in any game this series.

He's been selected in a squad of 12 and then released when it became obvious that he won't become a member of the team so that he can go and play county cricket, which is much more beneficial to him.

It's a practise England have been using for 20 years or more, and funnily enough, the Aussies haven't cried about it in the past - now you're all up in arms about it all of a sudden.

SLS I think it's called.

 

[marc71178]

is it just me or do all my posts get mixed up with marcs, given that those are the very words i uttered long before the ashes started?
http://forum.cricketweb.net/showthread.php?t=13525&page=3&pp=15&highlight=simon+jones

I think we both picked it actually mate.

A few people did, but some ridiculed us for it...

 

[marc71178]

the same thing you do when the umpires on the field are even more inconclusive about a particular decision.

Except you've then taken 5 minutes out of the game.

 

[marc71178]

Eng were 5/241 when Flintoff gets a generous decision from Bucknor, hes goes on to making 102. Jones gets another piece of charity when on 30, goes on to make 85.

The first one was one of those that at first look looked close, but not out.

And how is it a piece of charity if he didn't actually hit it?

 

[marc71178]

Warne's slider. Might have hit leg, tough to tell. They usually give about every second one of them, in all honesty.

Exactly, might have.

Some people on here seem to think it's pitched middle and was going onto knock all 3 stumps out of the ground.

 

[aussie]

I think we both picked it actually mate.

A few people did, but some ridiculed us for it...

well at the time you were justifuable ridiculed since no one expected that to happen, people were predicting 4-1 australia, with aus scoring big 1st innings totals, giles being smashed everywhere, Hayden putting that big front foot down & just mussling England to all parts etc etc. But who would have guessed England would be going into the Oval with a win away from retaining the ashes

 

[andyc]

The first one was one of those that at first look looked close, but not out.

And how is it a piece of charity if he didn't actually hit it?

I don't see how you can say he didn't hit it. The Snicko had the 'long, fat' shape that indicates bat on ground as described by Simon Hughes, but it also had a very sharp, tall part that indicates bat on ball at the same time when the bat seemed to be hitting the ball and the ground.

 

[marc71178]

hahaha jerk.... England got first use of a top deck.

A deck which didn't really disintegrate but Australia made less than half England's score on...

 

[Craig]

Actually for all the stick that Bucknor has copped in the past he has actually had a good game from what I got to see IMO>