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

[Nate]

Poor.

This is frustrating.


And does anyone else not give a flying fahijta about reverse swing? Get over it!

 

[Scaly piscine]

I dunno... a start and then he'll get out to Flintoff. 30 maybe.

He should look fairly comfortable for the first 5 overs while the lacquer is on, then if it swings like the ball has done this morning I can't see him lasting long.

 

[Nate]

Far. Out.

Australia!

 

[Nate]

A wide!?!

RUDI!

 

[Scaly piscine]

McGrath is gonna explode...

 

[Nate]

Far out! This is the most frustrating period of cricket ever!

 

[Nate]

The umpiring this series. For crying out loud.

Warne to come on. Not much doubt when you clean bowl `em Warnie...

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Can't decide if that McGrath call is worse than the Katich one from the last test or not. Real shocker for Rudi.

 

[Nate]

Interesting to see the English always quiet when this is going on.

And that wide! This isn`t ODI cricket.

 

[Nate]

Justice served. Very good slower one.

 

[social]

Dont blame Ponting for going off there.

At some point these umpires have to be made accountable for the no. of errors they're making.

If too old or incompetent, sack them. Dont simply be satisfied that theyre not cheating because theyre neutral.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

McGrath's been excellent this morning. A wicket, a drop, a wicket which wasn't given and he's beaten the bat about 20 times. If he bowls like this again in the second innings I think he'll do well.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Dont blame Ponting for going off there.

At some point these umpires have to be made accountable for the no. of errors they're making.

If too old or incompetent, sack them. Dont simply be satisfied that theyre not cheating because theyre neutral.

I certainly don't think they're cheating or anything of the sort, and some of the errors are understandable, but if the batsman swings and the only possible thing it could have hit was the bat and there's a noise and every single fielder goes up... there's no real excuse for that.

 

[SJS]

Vettori, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Giles. Isnt there somethin Indian bowlers need to learn from these guys as far as pulling ones weight is concerned.

 

[Slow Love™]

Interesting to see the English always quiet when this is going on.

Well, the problem with this whole debate has always been it's parochial nature. When the Aussies were getting the benefit of decisions against Pakistan and NZ, the Aussie supporters were all "oh shut up and get over it". Or "it all evens out in the end". Now, the Australians are complaining and the Poms are all "oh shut up and get over it". Whomever suffers it complains, and whomever benefits thinks it's all imaginary. And as we can see from the Aussies, these hats can change pretty quickly.

When we can get past all this and acknowledge that the technology has reached the point that it's becoming intolerable to put up with these kinds of mistakes, whoever benefits, we might see a more reasonable perspective.

 

[Slow Love™]

Dont blame Ponting for going off there.

At some point these umpires have to be made accountable for the no. of errors they're making.

If too old or incompetent, sack them. Dont simply be satisfied that theyre not cheating because theyre neutral.

Apart from further incorporation of technology (which is probably inevitable), we really need a bigger pool of umpires in the international panel. Because without that, there just aren't enough umpires around for umpires like Bucknor, Koetzen etc to be temporarily demoted, let alone sacked.

 

[Nate]

This is the most annoying cricket. England somehow in 352.

AND AGAIN!

 

[Slow Love™]

If they can add another 25 runs or more here with Harmison swinging wildly, it'll really hurt. Come on guys, knock 'em over.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Well, the problem with this whole debate has always been it's parochial nature. When the Aussies were getting the benefit of decisions against Pakistan and NZ, the Aussie supporters were all "oh shut up and get over it". Or "it all evens out in the end". Now, the Australians are complaining and the Poms are all "oh shut up and get over it". Whomever suffers it complains, and whomever benefits thinks it's all imaginary. And as we can see from the Aussies, these hats can change pretty quickly.

When we can get past all this and acknowledge that the technology has reached the point that it's becoming intolerable to put up with these kinds of mistakes, whoever benefits, we might see a more reasonable perspective.

I don't really think that's fair. I tell people to shut up and get over it when they pretend it's some sort of gigantic conspiricy against their country/in favour of a country they don't like, or when they accuse the umpires of cheating. Saying "oh that was a terrible decision" is completely fine as far as I'm concerned, even though yes they do tend to even out in the end. Australia have had the worst of the umpiring calls in this series by a fair margin, and there's no real problem with pointing that out.

 

[Nate]

Someone tell me the play and miss total this morning. Not to mention the decisions, the inside-edges, etc. It hurts.