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

[dinu23]

whatever the Aussies say they were beaten by a county side. their batsmen performed really well as one would expect, BUT THE BOWLING! man it's crap! looks to me Aus aren't much of a force without Warne to take them out of trouble when the going gets tuff.

 

[Blaze]

whatever the Aussies say they were beaten by a county side. their batsmen performed really well as one would expect, BUT THE BOWLING! man it's crap! looks to me Aus aren't much of a force without Warne to take them out of trouble when the going gets tuff.

Their ODI performances in the last year would suggest otherwise

 

[Arjun]

Out of Pietersen and Bell, whom would you choose? The Pietersen bubble will burst sooner than later (he's not even played Tests) but the way he plays and the kind of form he's in, he'd still finish a series with respectable figures. Ian Bell may not have the 'team man issues' that Pietersen has, but is a lot more docile and may struggle against the Australians.

 

[marc71178]

who arn't as good

I disagree.

For a start I would much rather have Trescothick in a side than Jayasuriya if we're only talking about batting.

 

[marc71178]

Well that's the point - they need to fly him in. If Lee can't play, then McGrath, Gillespie and Hogg will have to play every match, with Kasprowicz and Watson presumably sharing the fourth bowling spot. With Kasprowicz in this sort of form, they will need to bring Tait in. The injury probably isn't serious enough to warrant that though, I was just saying, if Lee was out of the series altogether...

AFAIK they can only really bring him in if his injury will put him out of action for a while.

To that effect, Tait won't be in much of a condition to come in and play after so long a trip (unless the first up game is against Bangladesh)

 

[marc71178]

Out of Pietersen and Bell, whom would you choose? The Pietersen bubble will burst sooner than later (he's not even played Tests) but the way he plays and the kind of form he's in, he'd still finish a series with respectable figures. Ian Bell may not have the 'team man issues' that Pietersen has, but is a lot more docile and may struggle against the Australians.

That question is a non-issue - Bell is the man in possession, and he deserves to be.

He'll be lining up at Lords (barring injury) whereas Pietersen will need to wait for someone to slip up before he gets in.

 

[Adamc]

AFAIK they can only really bring him in if his injury will put him out of action for a while.

To that effect, Tait won't be in much of a condition to come in and play after so long a trip (unless the first up game is against Bangladesh)

I didn't realise there were restrictions on who can and can't be in the squad. Obviously he wouldn't play right after getting off the plane, he'd just be there as backup or to keep the quicks rotating as per usual.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

whatever the Aussies say they were beaten by a county side. their batsmen performed really well as one would expect, BUT THE BOWLING! man it's crap! looks to me Aus aren't much of a force without Warne to take them out of trouble when the going gets tuff.

Yeah you're right, Australia have struggled massively since they last had Warne in the ODI side in the 02/03 VB series. Oh... wait...

The bowling isn't "crap", it got smashed around by two quality batsmen. Obviously Kasprowicz bowled very poorly and Watson and McGrath had a poor first spell each as well, but they belted a huge score and were then beaten by two quality international batsmen.

Yes the performance if a concern, but to suggest that Australia "aren't a force" is just ludicrous.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

I think Kasprowicz is tired, or jetlagged. He hasn't adjusted well at all.

 

[chaminda_00]

Well Kaspa been bowling pretty average in ODIs since the start of the Australian summer. I think it got nothing to do with jetlag, he just out of form

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Well Kaspa been bowling pretty average in ODIs since the start of the Australian summer. I think it got nothing to do with jetlag, he just out of form

He had a decent VB series, he just lost his head in that one game against New Zealand. He had a poor test series in New Zealand though aside from one spell, so his form clearly isn't what it was for the 12 months or so beforehand.

 

[PY]

I find your new-found faith disturbing.

I'm the most evil person in the universe now am I?

 

[PY]

I understand what you're saying but realistically, the batsmen DID hit their straps (342 off 50 overs with two of those batsmen retiring early). At this stage, it's only a couple of players who've struggled so far (barring the 20/20); Kasper is yet to get into a groove as is Lee. The batsmen have had decent hits (Clarke and Katich being exceptions) and already McGrath is into it. Gillespie is still an unknown quantity and Warne has been playing for Hampshire so he's at match fitness.

Even that taken into account, however, the Aussies would not have enjoyed losing these matches and I'd suggest Rick Ponting would be mighty mad. But yeah as I said, individually, a lot of the Aussies have hit their straps but collectively, they're yet to fire together. I guess they're hoping it'll come in the next couple of matches.

You reckon McGrath has hit his straps? I was under the impression from papers (granted they were tabloids) that his first spell was nothing like the old McGrath though his second one was a lot better. How has McGrath been doing in OD (international and domestic) this year? Has he been back to his annoying best?

Would you say that the Australians can win this Ashes series as comfortably as some expect if they don't start performing as a team? An interesting point if it doesn't come together in the next few days because they obviously have the individual talent.

Don't get me wrong, I still think Australia are clear favourite in the Ashes but it makes things more interesting for us to talk about before the real thing starts.

However, I think the English media are setting the country up for a fall after seeing some of the headlines recently. It's unbelievable, how many times do they have to do it before they realise that it isn't very helpful. The way they are going about it, the English public will be thinking that if England don't win by two clear games it's a shocking Ashes series for us. On that note, what have the media been saying in Australia about these two games?

At this moment, in my most cynical state, I'll take there being no dead rubbers at the end of the summer. .

 

[Top_Cat]

You reckon McGrath has hit his straps? I was under the impression from papers (granted they were tabloids) that his first spell was nothing like the old McGrath though his second one was a lot better. How has McGrath been doing in OD (international and domestic) this year? Has he been back to his annoying best?

Well if McGrath was under-done for even a spell of bowling, that shows you how under-done the whole squad is because NO-ONE adjusts from a long-spell off as well as McGrath does. He's just freakish in that regard; if he's had some time off and his first spell is rubbish, he knows his body so well that he makes a few minor adjustments and BAM!, back to business as usual. Even notwithstanding his poor spell, he was the only bowler to get hit for less than a run-a-ball in his 10. And the fact he was the only front-line bowler to bowl out suggests he probably said to Ponting, "Look mate I know you want to give everyone a bowl but if you give me my 10, that should be enough to blow the cob-webs out."

As for recent form, fuhgeddabouddit. In ODI's, he's been bowling as economically as anyone in the world but taking wickets too. Some games in the recent summer here in Aus, he was allowed to bowl out his 10 or close to because he gave so few runs away that after his 10 were over, the opposition was in a very sorry state. Recent form for McGrath (in Tests too), no problem.

Check it out;

http://statserver.cricket.org/guru?...edhigh=;csearch=;submit=1;.cgifields=viewtype

Would you say that the Australians can win this Ashes series as comfortably as some expect if they don't start performing as a team? An interesting point if it doesn't come together in the next few days because they obviously have the individual talent.

I don't think there's a problem with the Aussies not eventually coming together as a team. It's just that it's not a huge deal if they don't do it now, as long as individuals get the opportunity to get some time in the middle or get some overs under their belt. If they haven't really gelled by the end of the Nat-West, then they might get themselves into a pickled because England is playing so well as a team right now, they Aussies' individual talent whilst maybe enough to compete, won't be enough to win. That said, this side has been playing together long enough that surely the team ethic won't just fall over so quickly.

However, I think the English media are setting the country up for a fall after seeing some of the headlines recently. It's unbelievable, how many times do they have to do it before they realise that it isn't very helpful. The way they are going about it, the English public will be thinking that if England don't win by two clear games it's a shocking Ashes series for us. On that note, what have the media been saying in Australia about these two games?

In short, after the first loss, "Ah, it was a meaningless game" was the general theme. After last night, though, "EMBARRASSMENT!!". Everyone's bringing up the age of the Aussies and that Ricky Ponting is pretty mad with what's happened. It's all still pretty optimistic.

What I hate and what hated last time the English were here is the constant 'Pom bashing'. Just about every analyst has the idea that if the English players aren't world-beaters individually then they are rubbish. And even when they bring up the strides taken by Harmi and others in playing consistently well, they've belittled their achievements effectively saying that they won't mean anything until they play the Aussies, by which time they'll be found out and can be regarded as rubbish. Real junk journalism to appeal to the 'Pom bashing' people in the Aussie terraces. The thing is, the Aussies have a good enough team that this sort of thing just isn't necessary (or smart) because if these guys are forced to eat some humble pie, it's going to be mighty embarrassing.

I'm confident that the Aussies can win, no doubt about that. But frankly, I'll be even happier if we have a competitive series, no matter which way it goes. And part of me really wants England to do well because they've beaten other teams easily and they've beaten other teams in genuine scraps by really taking a good look at the English domestic set-up a few years ago and doing what needed to be done. Then they applied the same 'major changes need to be done' to their Test side, giving the right players a go, sticking with players when things haven't been going 100% for them, etc. And then they've worked their butts off to get to their world ranking and if there's nothing that surely any fair-minded person would enjoy seeing it's hard-work paying off. If England win the Ashes, I highly doubt it will be because the Aussies just played poorly; it'll likely be because they WON them. That, no matter where you're from, deserves to be acknowledged.

 

[social]

I'm confident that the Aussies can win, no doubt about that. But frankly, I'll be even happier if we have a competitive series, no matter which way it goes. And part of me really wants England to do well because they've beaten other teams easily and they've beaten other teams in genuine scraps by really taking a good look at the English domestic set-up a few years ago and doing what needed to be done. Then they applied the same 'major changes need to be done' to their Test side, giving the right players a go, sticking with players when things haven't been going 100% for them, etc. And then they've worked their butts off to get to their world ranking and if there's nothing that surely any fair-minded person would enjoy seeing it's hard-work paying off. If England win the Ashes, I highly doubt it will be because the Aussies just played poorly; it'll likely be because they WON them. That, no matter where you're from, deserves to be acknowledged.

According to Darren Lehman, David LLoyd, etc, the English domestic scene has as many problems as ever but the centralised contract situation has brought great improvement at the top level.

One only has to look at the great statistics being produced by really ordinary players (Ronnie Irani springs readily to mind) to know that the standard of first-class cricket in England is not what it should be.

 

[aussie]

whatever the Aussies say they were beaten by a county side. their batsmen performed really well as one would expect, BUT THE BOWLING! man it's crap! looks to me Aus aren't much of a force without Warne to take them out of trouble when the going gets tuff.

clearly you haven't watch australia in ODI cricket since Warne retired or else you woudn't have come up with that garbage

 

[aussie]

i heard earlier today that Lee could be missing from Australia's weekend matches. That doesn't sound good

 

[marc71178]

One only has to look at the great statistics being produced by really ordinary players (Ronnie Irani springs readily to mind) to know that the standard of first-class cricket in England is not what it should be.

But could not the same be said for other domestic competitions.

 

[Legglancer]

I disagree.

For a start I would much rather have Trescothick in a side than Jayasuriya if we're only talking about batting.

Suit Yourself .... Trsco is not good enough to be sanaths left toe !

Keep on dreaming !

 

[tooextracool]

I wouldn't worry about the losses Australia have suffered so far.

When it comes to the real thing, the Natwest matches and the Ashes they will thrash the overrated English team.

Marc and tooextrafool will cry then

doubt it, because neither one of us have predicted anything other than an aussie victory.
fact is that we have nothing to lose. but when people have claimed whitewashes and 'net-bowlers', theres sure as hell a lot that can go wrong.