***Official*** NatWest Series/Challenge

[Pratters]

good luck with exams ...now would you like to leave us with your tip for the ashes????

lol I infamously predicted wrongly in the England-South Africa test series.

So I leave the predictions to the others

Welcome to the forum jlo and hope you enjoy here as well.

 

[jlo33692]

There's no doubt in my mind that Ponting isn't the best captain available for Australia - he's probably about third. Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne would both make much better captains, on a purely performance level. However, Warne has a couple of years in him at the most and only plays one form of the game, and Gilchrist is already talking of retirement. Hayden, Langer, Martyn, McGrath etc are all in the same 32-33+ boat. Ponting is the best option Australia have for a long-term captain, and there's no reason that he can't improve with time. It's not like captaincy skills can't be learned.

good on ya mate...
The rantings of those that write us off will soon cease.
They are comming of a 3 month break and takes a while to sharpen the skills,,,Eng and even Banga are at end of series so there skills must be sharpened...hence this is why Banga surprised the Oz but my friend you are correct in saying that as each match goes by the oz will only get closer to a level that noone has ever reached even if we have slipped it is still a level that teams like england have never befrore reached and are unlikely to do so...gee what a series it could be if england can lisft toi a competitive level...they have improved but cannot see them getting the series from us and taking the ashes remembering we hold them so they must beat us not draw so they would have to win say 3-2 as oz would certainly win 2 tests and most likely 4 but will england have the staying powewr or is it just words like for the last 2 series in ashes?????i suspect the later>>.

 

[social]

I don't see how anyone can claim Australia are "slipping". I mean, how short is your memory? In the last 12 months or so Australia has beaten Sri Lanka and India away from home - something which is widely acknowledged as being close to impossible to do, performed two brutal whitewashes at home, beat the second best ODI team in the world 5-0 and followed it up with a test series win. So far they've lost 4 games in an Ashes tour, and their performance last night wasn't that bad aside from Kasprowicz and Gillespie, and Gillespie at least will undoubtedly improve before the series is out - not a great deal of evidence to go on.

Now, I think England are a very good side based on what I have seen recently, and I think they will provide real opposition for Australia, but judging on the basis of two ODIs and a tour match that Australia are in decline when there is absolutely 0 evidence of it up to now is dubious at best. Don't forget those New Zealand fans who, after a good run from New Zealand and a 1-1 draw in the Chappel-Hadlee series were predicting New Zealand could run over the top of Australia in their home ODI series, only to suffer a whitewash. Australia are clearly capable of playing far better than they have this weekend, and before the tour is out they will.

McGrath is as good or better than he has ever been, Gillepsie is out of form but he's only 30, Lee is undoubtedly at his peak assuming he returns fit, and Australia has the same old guard who have done well in the past, with additions like Clarke, Katich and Hussey who hardly weaken it much. Now, I said during the New Zealand series that I can see a weakness in Australia's pace attack being a bit one-dimensional, hence I wanted Lee in the test side, but one-dimensional or not it is still the best in the world by a fair margin, and the class will come through. Let's not forget that this Australian side always rises to the occasion, and in this instance the "occasion" is the FINAL of the NWS (although all the matches against England have significance, of course), and the test series. Unless Australia lose to Bangladesh again they will make the NWS final, so as an English fan I'd be keeping an eye further into the series.

So far, Australia look very out of sorts and England look extremely sharp and more than competitive, but things can change quickly, and have in the past.

PS: Sorry about sounding like a parochial fan, but I do think it's astonishingly premature to claim Australia is in decline already. If Australia lose the Ashes, you've got a case.

Right on the money.

Funnily enough, having watched the game last night, I awoke this morning confident that Australia would win the Ashes comfortably. Despite losing a few games, they are improving and should have won last nights' game comfortably despite Kaspa and Gillespie being woefully out of form.

England, on the other hand, are winning but have problems IMO.

Trescothick and Strauss were comprehensively done over by McGrath on a very flat wicket. Whilst there's no disgrace in that, the fact that he'd revealed his game plan to all and sundry and then carried it out to the letter should be cause for concern.

Vaughan played a gutsy knock but is a shadow of the player that last toured Aus. He should have been dismissed in single figures last night and doesnt seem to have any idea where his off-stump is.

Collingwood and Solanki are magnificent fieldsmen but barely serviceable batsmen. If either of them play a test, England's in real trouble.

Flintoff and KP are magnificent strikers but are incredibly average players of spin (I cant believe that Flintoff still has to resort to the numbers game for almost anything below medium pace). If Brad Hogg can confound them, imagine what Warne will do.

Jones is simply not test class as keeper/batsman.

The spin cupboard is bare apart from Giles who is no great threat anyway.

Jon Lewis is not test class.

And whilst Harmison was rightly praised, he still isnt fit enough. Having dismissed 3 of the world's best players in an over, you'd expect him to come tearing in at Clarke. Instead, Clarke had a relatively easy time of it because Harmison couldnt maintain his pace.

Australia does have its problems - Ponting's captaincy was diabolical, Kaspa and Gillespie should be embarassed by their performances, Lee is injured, and losing can become a habit. However, as a team, they gave a much better effort than the previous day and players such as Hussey, Clarke and Watson were impressive.

 

[aussie]

Simon Jones?

Long term i would go for Anderson, he has proved throughout his ODI career to be a very wicket taking bowler with a SR of 32, but has been expensve at times. Seeing Lewis being attacked today illustrated the point i made after the 20/20 game that on good batting surfaces he wont be so effective.

Imagine him bowling on some flat tracks around the world, lets take the sub-continent . I think you get the idea.

My Best ODI team goes like this:

Tres
strauss
Vaughan
Colly
Freddie
KP
Jones
Giles
Gough
Harmison
Anderson

If this team at the WC, England will be a force.

 

[aussie]

I don't see how anyone can claim Australia are "slipping". I mean, how short is your memory? In the last 12 months or so Australia has beaten Sri Lanka and India away from home - something which is widely acknowledged as being close to impossible to do, performed two brutal whitewashes at home, beat the second best ODI team in the world 5-0 and followed it up with a test series win. So far they've lost 4 games in an Ashes tour, and their performance last night wasn't that bad aside from Kasprowicz and Gillespie, and Gillespie at least will undoubtedly improve before the series is out - not a great deal of evidence to go on.

Now, I think England are a very good side based on what I have seen recently, and I think they will provide real opposition for Australia, but judging on the basis of two ODIs and a tour match that Australia are in decline when there is absolutely 0 evidence of it up to now is dubious at best. Don't forget those New Zealand fans who, after a good run from New Zealand and a 1-1 draw in the Chappel-Hadlee series were predicting New Zealand could run over the top of Australia in their home ODI series, only to suffer a whitewash. Australia are clearly capable of playing far better than they have this weekend, and before the tour is out they will.

McGrath is as good or better than he has ever been, Gillepsie is out of form but he's only 30, Lee is undoubtedly at his peak assuming he returns fit, and Australia has the same old guard who have done well in the past, with additions like Clarke, Katich and Hussey who hardly weaken it much. Now, I said during the New Zealand series that I can see a weakness in Australia's pace attack being a bit one-dimensional, hence I wanted Lee in the test side, but one-dimensional or not it is still the best in the world by a fair margin, and the class will come through. Let's not forget that this Australian side always rises to the occasion, and in this instance the "occasion" is the FINAL of the NWS (although all the matches against England have significance, of course), and the test series. Unless Australia lose to Bangladesh again they will make the NWS final, so as an English fan I'd be keeping an eye further into the series.

So far, Australia look very out of sorts and England look extremely sharp and more than competitive, but things can change quickly, and have in the past.

PS: Sorry about sounding like a parochial fan, but I do think it's astonishingly premature to claim Australia is in decline already. If Australia lose the Ashes, you've got a case.

now thats what i'm talking about, well put Faaip

 

[Hasib]

Yay...my exams r over for this sem and 5 whole weeks of holidays!! Finally i can comment (altough its still a little too late)

well....at the start of the series i was predicting Bangladesh to struggle in the 1st 5 games then give England a bit of a scare (but not win).... well looks like I have been proven to be wrong already.... anf i predicted Bangladesh will win there 1st game V Aus in 5-10 yrs time...wrong again!!

YEEEEPPYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[King_Ponting]

Long term i would go for Anderson, he has proved throughout his ODI career to be a very wicket taking bowler with a SR of 32, but has been expensve at times. Seeing Lewis being attacked today illustrated the point i made after the 20/20 game that on good batting surfaces he wont be so effective.

Imagine him bowling on some flat tracks around the world, lets take the sub-continent . I think you get the idea.

My Best ODI team goes like this:

Tres
strauss
Vaughan
Colly
Freddie
KP
Jones
Giles
Gough
Harmison
Anderson

If this team at the WC, England will be a force.

Would probably have pietersen at 4 and collingwood at 6 apart from that it seems like a pretty strong team.

 

[howardj]

Pietersen is definitely cool. He's averaging over 120 in his ODI career. He's definitely beating down the door for a Test place.

Only the Pom selectors would deny Pietersen a Test place. He was astonishing last night. At last England have a batsman who pays no regard to reputations, but plays the cricket ball instead. Also, I thought Vaughan looked extremely solid. Granted, his slow batting looked like costing England the game, but he looked the best he's looked since the last Ashes series.

 

[howardj]

What rubbish - there is no way this Australian side doesn't want to win everything.




Symonds isn't even worthy of a place in a World XI, let alone being the best player.

Symonds should have been sent home. It's farcical that a professional sportsman, playing in one of the most revered teams in the world, would stay out til 4:30am on the day of the game, and as a result be intoxicated during the warm-up. The guy is 30 years old - it's pathetic.

 

[Blaze]

Aus needs to sort its sh*t out.

 

[BARMY_LAD]

I don't see how anyone can claim Australia are "slipping". I mean, how short is your memory? In the last 12 months or so Australia has beaten Sri Lanka and India away from home - something which is widely acknowledged as being close to impossible to do, performed two brutal whitewashes at home, beat the second best ODI team in the world 5-0 and followed it up with a test series win. So far they've lost 4 games in an Ashes tour, and their performance last night wasn't that bad aside from Kasprowicz and Gillespie, and Gillespie at least will undoubtedly improve before the series is out - not a great deal of evidence to go on.

Now, I think England are a very good side based on what I have seen recently, and I think they will provide real opposition for Australia, but judging on the basis of two ODIs and a tour match that Australia are in decline when there is absolutely 0 evidence of it up to now is dubious at best. Don't forget those New Zealand fans who, after a good run from New Zealand and a 1-1 draw in the Chappel-Hadlee series were predicting New Zealand could run over the top of Australia in their home ODI series, only to suffer a whitewash. Australia are clearly capable of playing far better than they have this weekend, and before the tour is out they will.

McGrath is as good or better than he has ever been, Gillepsie is out of form but he's only 30, Lee is undoubtedly at his peak assuming he returns fit, and Australia has the same old guard who have done well in the past, with additions like Clarke, Katich and Hussey who hardly weaken it much. Now, I said during the New Zealand series that I can see a weakness in Australia's pace attack being a bit one-dimensional, hence I wanted Lee in the test side, but one-dimensional or not it is still the best in the world by a fair margin, and the class will come through. Let's not forget that this Australian side always rises to the occasion, and in this instance the "occasion" is the FINAL of the NWS (although all the matches against England have significance, of course), and the test series. Unless Australia lose to Bangladesh again they will make the NWS final, so as an English fan I'd be keeping an eye further into the series.

So far, Australia look very out of sorts and England look extremely sharp and more than competitive, but things can change quickly, and have in the past.

PS: Sorry about sounding like a parochial fan, but I do think it's astonishingly premature to claim Australia is in decline already. If Australia lose the Ashes, you've got a case.

You need to look at their most recent performances -after all, your only as good as your last game!
Australia seem to be losing their bottle, the loss against Bangladesh was humiliation enough, however the recent game against England -in which they also lost- showed that they haven't lost their competitiveness. I thought that McGrath and Hogg played exceptionally well, but were let down by some terrible bowling by Gillespie especially (who went for 17 RUNS off his final over), to gift that many runs -and bowl that many extras is just unforgivable in One Day cricket.
Ponting... who should have been leading by example failed with a duck and the pressure was on, not to mention the absence of a slip when a few catches were out of reach of Gilchrist!

Harmison played a blinder but I feel that Lewis was over bowled and went for too many (7 an over- from memory) I would have had Collingwood bowling more -that being said, Lewis regained my respect in keeping his cool and getting us over the line.

Now to Kevin Peterson........... He hasn't failed us yet! I was sceptical from the start -with him being South African born- but he has also gained my full admiration, any bloke that pledges his future to his adopted country and clearly has pride in the Union Jack is an Englishman in my book!
He is certainly pushing his case for Ashes selection... but who will he replace? Ian Bell?

I still maintain that we WILL win the Ashes, the Aussies aren't on their game and are having enough trouble off the field as well as on.

ASHES BACK AT LORDS!!!

 

[vic_orthdox]

ASHES BACK AT LORDS!!!

They never leave.

 

[BARMY_LAD]

They never leave.

Exactly!!! So we cant lose

Joking aside... it's going to be a fantastic series... imagine the amount of memoribillia that will be released whoever wins

 

[andyc]

They never leave.

shut down!

 

[luckyeddie]

telling england to get behind there team????
what dream did you see that in???
As for my 4-0 whitewash gee im sorry that i did not see you had predicted a 3-1 win to the oz...so sorry i missed that as i would have changed my mind knowing you said 3-1...wow a cricket expert from england ...gee who would have thought...please show me where i was asking the poms to get behind there team or be known as a liar ...i await to see your thread or be gone ..i now change my mind to oz winning 3-1 , but only the dead rubber afetr the 3-0 into 5th test..so sorry to have a different prediction to you sir..now off you go and find that thread you claim i made...go on off you go now

Goodness me, I got your post mixed up with some other moron's.

Still, it's easy to do nowadays.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

You need to look at their most recent performances -after all, your only as good as your last game!

Err, no you aren't. Class is permanant, and it's no accident that Australia have dominated international cricket to a greater extent than anyone else ever has in the last 5 or 6 years. Remember Australia have had down times in the past - they lost a one day series to Pakistan out of nowhere in the winter of 2002 straight off thrashing the second best team in the world, and a few months later absolutely mauled them in an away series 3-0. In 1997, England swept the ODIs and won the first test, but lost the series. In 2001, Australia lost to two county sides in warmups. In 2003 the West Indies beat Australia three times in a row in ODIs. The list goes on - that doesn't alter the fact that Australia have been the best team in the world by a massive margin and losing a couple of games when a few players are down on form and the team in general is a bit rusty isn't going to change that. If Australia are in decline, why were they are their usual best just a few weeks ago? Did they suddenly hit the "has-beens wall" in the intervening period or something? England (and Bangladesh, in fact) have played very well, and Australia have been rusty in several areas of their game and played quite badly. That's all it is, and unless Australia fail to turn it around before the end of the tour and get beaten in the Ashes, I don't think it's any sort of evidence that Australia is in decline as a side.

I still maintain that we WILL win the Ashes, the Aussies aren't on their game and are having enough trouble off the field as well as on.

I doubt it, somehow. Regarding Pietersen, I think it would be a bad idea right now to bring him in for Bell, who looks an exceptional talent, but perhaps if he continues to perform through the NWS it might be a wise move, particularly if he manages to get on top of McGrath and Gillespie and stays there.

The one thing England really should do, is stop picking Solanki at 8 in ODIs, it's just ridiculous. He should be dropped for Tremlett to take advantage of the fact that one of England's front-line bowlers is also a front-line batsman. That means 5 bowlers and 7 batsmen can be picked in the same team - an ideal situation. I also don't think Lewis is international standard, but with Giles and Jones injured it might be hard to replace him for now. With Gough, Harmison, Tremlett/Jones, Flintoff and Giles though, that's 50 quality overs, something every team in ODIs should be striving for. Picking a mediocre specialist batsman like Solanki as a number 8 makes no sense at all.

 

[Adamc]

An average of 43 in 2005 suggests otherwise.

He's been playing well lately. I doubt, though, whether he would've got into the side in the first place (given his average domestic record) were it not for his Test performances. Then, given his distinctly ordinary start, I doubt he would've been retained were it not for the fact that he was captain.

 

[Adamc]

solanki maybe, but jones?
little to much alcohol for you.

I happen to think Jones is a better batsman than Hogg; you don't: so be it. I don't see what alcohol has to do with it.

 

[Nate]

Won`t somebody think of the children?

Well played England, deserved winners. Ponting as captain, Watson playing and a few other selections are not the answer. With Brett back however, we`ll be in business. Can`t really gather myself to say much. Hogg came back awesomely.

 

[Nate]

If he were English he would be picked infront of Gilo without doubt