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

[greg]

Man, you English fans sure get smug when you win a couple of tests don't you?

We've got a whole page of potentially frustrating or humiliating results for the Australians there. I'd love to see the reaction if Australia hit 600 and then bowl England out for 150 twice and win with a day and a half to spare.

On the contrary, you Aussies have missed the point about all the celebrating and "premature gloating". The truth is that years of disappointment means that no matter how much the evidence says we should win the Ashes we just can't completely believe it. So we have to spend as much time as we can visualising the Ashes in our hands because that might yet be the closest that we get.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

On the contrary, you Aussies have missed the point about all the celebrating and "premature gloating". The truth is that years of disappointment means that no matter how much the evidence says we should win the Ashes we just can't completely believe it. So we have to spend as much time as we can visualising the Ashes in our hands because that might yet be the closest that we get.

So that's why most of the posts were dedicated to discovering the way to win which would be most annoying to Australian fans then?

 

[Linda]

All rational thinking has gone out the proverbial English window.

 

[Craig]

560-odd in 95 overs against Essex?! I can't believe it. It is olike one day cricket, wish I had been over there.

Sorry was this the Essex 1st XI or was this the Essex u-14 2nd XI instead?

 

[a massive zebra]

Anderson has looked decent enough this season when ive seen him. The pitch at Old Trafford has been pretty flat, even in April and May there wasnt much swing there either, so to take the wickets he has done has been pretty impressive.

However when i saw them play Hants, Tremlett looked far better, bit of a shame hes lost form.

Id go with Collingwood though, nothing wrong with his little away swingers and has been in form with the bat.

 

[Adamc]

560-odd in 95 overs against Essex?! I can't believe it. It is olike one day cricket, wish I had been over there.

Sorry was this the Essex 1st XI or was this the Essex u-14 2nd XI instead?

It was a pretty ordinary attack (Nel and Irani being the only ones averaging under 30, and Irani didn't bowl) and a very flat pitch. Essex scored 500 the previous day as well, so it's not as though Australia did anything particularly special.

 

[shaka]

Essex scored 500 without Andre Adams, or the Flower brothers.

 

[matty1818]

I sure hope the Aussies fire and put the Poms back in their place. They're acting like they have already got the Ashes but if the toss falls the Aussies' way and they perform at their best or close to it England will have no chance

then stop saying your going to 'perform to your best' and do it, score '600' , trust me if jones comes back i dont think you physically can, your batsmen dont seem to know how. So fire all you like, but if jones comes back youll still get out for -400, unless ponting does it again and thats not reallly the Aussies firing thats just one man, only a one man double tonne will get you 600. eg, Hayden - well hes just waiting to get out, martyn and clarke - bowl it outside off for long enough and theyll have a flash - katich and gilly round the wicket approach has been working well enough so far, ponting - outside off at the start of his innings on a length and itll sit in tres' hands. Langer has been the batsmen who has managed to cope pretty well so far to me.

i think then that the only way youll get 600 is if we bowl ****, which is nothing to do with the Aussies 'firing'

 

[Craig]

It was a pretty ordinary attack (Nel and Irani being the only ones averaging under 30, and Irani didn't bowl) and a very flat pitch. Essex scored 500 the previous day as well, so it's not as though Australia did anything particularly special.

Either way I find it shocking and unbelieveble that two teams would score over 1000 runs in a two day match. Quite frankly that is rubbish bowling by either team. Back to the nets for them.

 

[Retox]

So the English and Aussie fans are ******s are we? Charmed I'm sure.

We're just having a laugh old chap. I'm sure most of us realise 2-2 is a very distinct possibilty, and it will probably go down to the wire just as the last few have.

Only when you are winning. I am happy that England might be able to wipe the smug smiles of the aussies. And it makes me laugh that everyone was saying Aus would win 5-0.

 

[simmy]

560-odd in 95 overs against Essex?! I can't believe it. It is olike one day cricket, wish I had been over there.

Sorry was this the Essex 1st XI or was this the Essex u-14 2nd XI instead?

Ask the Aussie bowlers

 

[Scaly piscine]

So that's why most of the posts were dedicated to discovering the way to win which would be most annoying to Australian fans then?

Speaking of which, England 9 down needing another 2 to win, McGrath bowls Harmison, all the convicts go berserk then they finally see the umpire with his arm to the side signalling a no-ball whilst the ball rolls over the boundary rope.

 

[luckyeddie]

So that's why most of the posts were dedicated to discovering the way to win which would be most annoying to Australian fans then?

Personally speaking, I'd like them to discover that there were scoring errors in the Edgbaston test, and that you lot should have won by rights anyway. Would that be annoying enough for you?

In the end, though, the fact that discovering that

a) The Aussies without McGrath are no more than half a team
b) Warne's the other half
c) Both have one hand on the free bus pass
d) England have been far and away the better side over 3 consecutive test matches

should be more than annoying enough for Australian fans.

 

[Steulen]

then stop saying your going to 'perform to your best' and do it, score '600' , trust me if jones comes back i dont think you physically can, your batsmen dont seem to know how. So fire all you like, but if jones comes back youll still get out for -400, unless ponting does it again and thats not reallly the Aussies firing thats just one man, only a one man double tonne will get you 600. eg, Hayden - well hes just waiting to get out, martyn and clarke - bowl it outside off for long enough and theyll have a flash - katich and gilly round the wicket approach has been working well enough so far, ponting - outside off at the start of his innings on a length and itll sit in tres' hands. Langer has been the batsmen who has managed to cope pretty well so far to me .

i think then that the only way youll get 600 is if we bowl ****, which is nothing to do with the Aussies 'firing'

The main reason England is on top imho is that they have all opposition batsmen worked out. They have a plan, the bowlers are good enough to execute that plan, and sooner rather than later, the Aussies fall. This is best illustrated by what they're doing to Langer. He must be sick and tired of seeing Bell run off clutching the ball after yet another inside edge bat/pad catch.
But he's definitely the one specialist batsman performing consistently so far.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Personally speaking, I'd like them to discover that there were scoring errors in the Edgbaston test, and that you lot should have won by rights anyway. Would that be annoying enough for you?

In the end, though, the fact that discovering that

a) The Aussies without McGrath are no more than half a team
b) Warne's the other half
c) Both have one hand on the free bus pass
d) England have been far and away the better side over 3 consecutive test matches

should be more than annoying enough for Australian fans.

Yeah, Ponting, Martyn, Langer, Gilchrist etc are rubbish players.

You're quite right about c of course, although I don't think it's as huge a gap as some people make out, given that Australia have done well at the end of each of those tests and could concievably have prevented England from winning any of them.

 

[marc71178]

can you really imagine Ponting taking an hour in the ninties

Can you really imagine any of the above scenarios actually happening?

 

[marc71178]

Speaking of which, England 9 down needing another 2 to win, McGrath bowls Harmison, all the convicts go berserk then they finally see the umpire with his arm to the side signalling a no-ball whilst the ball rolls over the boundary rope.

Even better if it's a no ball for having 3 behind square on the leg side!

 

[simmy]

Personally speaking, I'd like them to discover that there were scoring errors in the Edgbaston test, and that you lot should have won by rights anyway. Would that be annoying enough for you?

In the end, though, the fact that discovering that

a) The Aussies without McGrath are no more than half a team
b) Warne's the other half
c) Both have one hand on the free bus pass
d) England have been far and away the better side over 3 consecutive test matches

should be more than annoying enough for Australian fans.

Best POST EVER!

 

[Slow Love™]

then stop saying your going to 'perform to your best' and do it, score '600' , trust me if jones comes back i dont think you physically can, your batsmen dont seem to know how. So fire all you like, but if jones comes back youll still get out for -400, unless ponting does it again and thats not reallly the Aussies firing thats just one man, only a one man double tonne will get you 600. eg, Hayden - well hes just waiting to get out, martyn and clarke - bowl it outside off for long enough and theyll have a flash - katich and gilly round the wicket approach has been working well enough so far, ponting - outside off at the start of his innings on a length and itll sit in tres' hands. Langer has been the batsmen who has managed to cope pretty well so far to me.

i think then that the only way youll get 600 is if we bowl ****, which is nothing to do with the Aussies 'firing'

This post would have worked a lot better if you hadn't gotten so nervous that Australia would get 600, 'cause you appear to spend too much of it making excuses for if they do.

FWIW, I don't have the slightest expectation that Australia will score 600+. But England bowling below par and Australia "firing", aren't zero-sum games.

 

[Mister Wright]

I liked Hayden's description of his ton yesterday, "like surfing in a swimming pool".

Good to see his sense of humour remains.

Looking at the highlights just now, he looked to have sorted out his technique. I know the pitch was a road, but he has been playing away from his body in the tests, but from what I saw, he was waiting for the ball and getting in good position...We'll soon see.