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

[social]

Well, no-one can ever accuse you of being a pessimist - you're always convinced that the Aussies will come good in the next session, so it must be a specific bit of Surrey.

In my experience, there was the south of England, a couple of other isolated pockets, and an enormous pile of crap that made up the balance of England.

Fortunately, I got to see virtually every square mile of England.

Equally as fortunate for me, I dont have to see most of it ever again.

 

[luckyeddie]

That was me, and I'm the same. Even the way he lifts his head triumphantly as he speaks... Baldrick all the way.

The fact that his best topic of conversation is turnips wouldn't happen to have anything to do with it, would it?

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

What is everyone's view of Flintoff as a Test number 6 now?

Before the series there was a lot of talk that he's not a good enough batsman for that position, but I'd wager that opinions have changed now.

My opinion about Flintoff since I watched him in the last English summer and prior to this series in the ODIs has been that he is good enough to be a test number 6, but he's not quite justified it yet. Flintoff in my opinion has an excellent technique against pace bowling and he's really come a long way against Warne this series and plays him better than most of the English batsmen. When he plays sensibly as he has in this test and at Trent Bridge, he's an excellent batsman and is easily capable of averaging in the 40s over an extended period. However, sometimes he plays some utterly stupid shots, throws his wicket away trying to score too quickly and so on.

Some players can get away with being constantly aggressive (Gilchrist usually can, Sehwag's done well so far etc), but I don't really Flintoff can because he just doesn't place his hits well enough or pick the ball to go after well enough, which is why he averages in the 30s in test cricket and why he struggled in the ODIs and the first few tests this series. When he plays like a proper batsman, he's much much better.

So, yes I still think he's a weakness for England in that position, but he doesn't necessarily have to be.

 

[marc71178]

I think the key about Flintoff isn't his career average, but his average in the last 2 or 3 years (since IMO he was promoted to 5 in the ODI lineup and told to bat like a batsman)

I reckon that must be getting on for 50 or so.

 

[luckyeddie]

In my experience, there was the south of England, a couple of other isolated pockets, and an enormous pile of crap that made up the balance of England.

Fortunately, I got to see virtually every square mile of England.

Equally as fortunate for me, I dont have to see most of it ever again.

Isn't it about time you changed your handle to anti-social then, or is that just clever use of irony?

 

[honestbharani]

I think the key about Flintoff isn't his career average, but his average in the last 2 or 3 years (since IMO he was promoted to 5 in the ODI lineup and told to bat like a batsman)

I reckon that must be getting on for 50 or so.

One thing about him is his power. Against spinners who are NOT Murali or Warne, I think that should be a huge factor. Maybe the Indian spinners in India will trouble him, but that aside, he would basically kill any other spinner in my opinion.

 

[Scaly piscine]

I hope if Strauss gets his 100 he gets a big century, think his highest score so far is only 147 (cricinfo being awkward as usual so I can't check).

 

[honestbharani]

Freddie has gone to his 50 before Strauss could go to his 100. Good going. Keep it up, guys.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Very important period here - game looks as though it's slipping from Aus here. A Flintoff half hour could make the game nearly impossible to win.

 

[social]

Isn't it about time you changed your handle to anti-social then, or is that just clever use of irony?

Mate, by and large the English people are fantastic. It's just a shame that such so much of the country has been devastated by unrestrained, appalling development.

Take Newcastle, where I spent 4 months. Surrounded by beautiful countryside, the city itself is a blight on the landscape.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

I think the key about Flintoff isn't his career average, but his average in the last 2 or 3 years (since IMO he was promoted to 5 in the ODI lineup and told to bat like a batsman)

I reckon that must be getting on for 50 or so.

Yes, but he doesn't always bat like a batsman, as seen in South Africa, and that's the problem. When he does, he justifies his position with both bat and ball I think, which is all you can ask of an all-rounder. I think he's got unfulfilled potential in both forms, although he's closest to reaching what he's capable of with the ball, and if he can do that with both bat and ball he'll be an all-time great.

 

[honestbharani]

Go Strauss!

 

[vic_orthdox]

Well played to Strauss. This has been a good knock - the other ton was just "junktime", but this has been darn important, against some very good bowling (and little patches where a combination of him getting on top and bad bowling have meant he's been able to cash in for a 4-5 over period).

 

[Scaly piscine]

Yes, but he doesn't always bat like a batsman, as seen in South Africa, and that's the problem. When he does, he justifies his position with both bat and ball I think, which is all you can ask of an all-rounder. I think he's got unfulfilled potential in both forms, although he's closest to reaching what he's capable of with the ball, and if he can do that with both bat and ball he'll be an all-time great.

Flintoff most definitely has a bowler's brain when it comes to cricket, like Warne I guess.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

With the ball reversing before tea I would have looked at bowling Tait after the break. This is very quickly getting away from Australia, and they are in desperate need of a wicket now or England are definately going to be scoring 400+ again and running away with the game.

 

[honestbharani]

Lee to Flintoff, no run, full and on the off, driven to mid-on to
end the over

If the balls are full and on off stump, why is he driving them to mid on instead of mid off?

 

[luckyeddie]

Take Newcastle

No, thanks. Give it to Scaly Piscine.

Seriously, that's called heavy industry, and Newcastle (and so many other places like it) had to re-develop or die. Until 40 years ago the Tyne was one of the world's great ship-building areas, then the bottom fell out of the market with a big glub.

 

[Slow Love™]

Very nice century from Strauss. Has seemed well in control, and that stat for most centuries in 19 matches shows him in very illustrious company.

Well, this session won't decide the game, but if England can get to 340 or so and only lose a couple of wickets or less, things will be looking very dire for Australia overnight.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Question for English fans...

If it came down to England setting a target for Australia in the fourth innings, would you prefer that England go for the win or accept the draw and series victory? Say the choice was there between setting an extremely unlikely but plausible 400 in a day and having a shot at bowling Australia out as they went for the target, or batting on and setting Australia 500 in half a day with no chance for victory for either side, what would you prefer?

 

[honestbharani]

I am not exactly an England fan, but for me, I would choose the safety first option, because it being the last day and all...