*Official* Road to 2013 Ashes

[Ruckus]

Slightly weird article about ricky ponting:

Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian

So on one hand:

"This was the series I was playing on for without a doubt," he said.

"I felt Australia would have been a stronger side in this Ashes with both me and Mike Hussey in the side.

"The Ashes are the pinnacle and England is the greatest tour to be on. But the bottom line is I just wasn't good enough any more to be a part of this team."

yet:

Asked, inevitably, if he would come back if needed, the former skipper said yes but admitted it was almost certainly not going to happen.

"You wouldn't say no, would you, if that call came and I would never say never," Ponting said.

"But you have to say a call-up like that now is extremely unlikely."

I don't really get that...if he thinks he wasn't good enough for the team when he retired, then why would he say yes to an unlikely call-up now? Unless it's taken out of context, and he was talking about an emergency situation where they needed an extra batsmen in the squad.

 

[GIMH]

Lloyd George was Welsh, wasn't he?

Question isn't directed at Corrin, obviously. He wouldn't have a clue.

Yes he was.

Richard Dickinson also professes to be Welsh.

 

[Dan]

Yeah, I read that as "I don't think I'm quite up to Test standard any more, so it's a waste playing on and unfair on the team. But if the day before the Oval Test the entire top 4 came down with gastro and we'd have to play Mitch Starc at 6, I'd come back and fill in".

 

[Burgey]

Yes he was.

Richard Dickinson also professes to be Welsh.

He also professes a deep knowledge of cricket tbf.

 

[Ruckus]

yeah, that's probably right. Although, Hussey's decision to leave was probably unknown to him at the time of his own retirement, so it would be interesting to know if he thinks he would be good enough in a side minus Hussey.

 

[3703]

To the guy who said he can't wait for Pattinson to perform like Johnson did in 2009, that just won't happen. Pattinson's temperament is completely different. He's confident, aggressive and ****y. Johnson is a far more sensitive character, unsure of himself, very much a confidence player. If you want to compare Pattinson to someone in temperament, think Lee.

Patto will at least play well. He is an archetypal Australian fast bowler. Harris and Siddle will play well. Lyon will bowl respectably. It'll be all about how many runs the batting line up can put together. They had a woeful series in India, but they are not short on talent.

 

[Pothas]

He also professes a deep knowledge of cricket tbf.

Needs to come back for the ashes.

 

[Pothas]

To the guy who said he can't wait for Pattinson to perform like Johnson did in 2009, that just won't happen. Pattinson's temperament is completely different. He's confident, aggressive and ****y. Johnson is a far more sensitive character, unsure of himself, very much a confidence player. If you want to compare Pattinson to someone in temperament, think Lee.

Patto will at least play well. He is an archetypal Australian fast bowler. Harris and Siddle will play well. Lyon will bowl respectably. It'll be all about how many runs the batting line up can put together. They had a woeful series in India, but they are not short on talent.

Pattinson is going to have an excellent career but there is no guarantee he will have a good series, not bowled much at all in England has he?

Harris will be injured.

Siddle will be Siddle, nothing to fear.

 

[social]

Pattinson is going to have an excellent career but there is no guarantee he will have a good series, not bowled much at all in England has he?

Harris will be injured.

Siddle will be Siddle, nothing to fear.

Whatever attack Australia manage to put on the park, they will be miles better than the Kiwis who have hardly been taken to the cleaners by the English batsmen

Anyway, everyone knows that the Australian bowling is not the issue - our batting simply isn't good enough

 

[Pothas]

Southee and Boult are on the same level as most Australian bowlers but obviously Australia has a load more strength in depth. England don't need to 'take them to the cleaners,' they need to make decent scores, which I think they will do enough times to win the series. Australia have good bowlers but they are being hyped, really don't think they are any better than England's.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

To the guy who said he can't wait for Pattinson to perform like Johnson did in 2009, that just won't happen. Pattinson's temperament is completely different. He's confident, aggressive and ****y. Johnson is a far more sensitive character, unsure of himself, very much a confidence player. If you want to compare Pattinson to someone in temperament, think Lee.

Patto will at least play well. He is an archetypal Australian fast bowler. Harris and Siddle will play well. Lyon will bowl respectably. It'll be all about how many runs the batting line up can put together. They had a woeful series in India, but they are not short on talent.

after 10 tests Lee had played solely in Australia and New Zealand, no sub continent or RSA let alone the Ashes in England. He was quality in those early games but I think he's no where near as arrogant (or delusional) as Lee. He's a quality paceman, much more like McGrath, dare I say it.

 

[MW1304]

Main difference between the Kiwi attack and the Aussie attack is pace. Pattinson can swing the ball as much as Southee but several notches quicker - that is where we'll see a visible improvement. If he can control the duke within time, he could be more dangerous. Equally Harris swings it at pace, but suggesting either will be consistently available is impossible in itself. Its entirely ifs and buts. I reckon that attack, with Siddle, could continually rip through our batting line up but it doesn't mean it will happen or is even likely to happen..

 

[social]

Main difference between the Kiwi attack and the Aussie attack is pace. Pattinson can swing the ball as much as Southee but several notches quicker - that is where we'll see a visible improvement. If he can control the duke within time, he could be more dangerous. Equally Harris swings it at pace, but suggesting either will be consistently available is impossible in itself. Its entirely ifs and buts. I reckon that attack, with Siddle, could continually rip through our batting line up but it doesn't mean it will happen or is even likely to happen..

Agree 100% but with the overrider that Oz batsmen will have to play on the same pitch and that is where we are ****ed

IMO, Oz fast bowling stocks are POTENTIALLY the equivalent of the Windies mid/late 70s but our batting isn't far removed from current day NZ/Bangladesh

You simply cannot expect a group of talented but inexperienced and injury prone guys to bowl Oz to victory over a 5 test series when the batting cannot be relied upon to score 150 on a road

 

[Red]

From this article- The Ashes 2013 : Ricky Ponting backtracks over Ashes SOS | Cricket News | Australia in England - The Ashes | ESPN Cricinfo

Comes this quote (referring to the homework saga)...

"I can understand what the captain and coach were trying to achieve but I'm not sure I totally agree with what happened," he said. "I don't know for sure how I would have handled that situation but those type of things didn't happen when I was captain."

Interesting.

 

[Burgey]

Jackson Bird should have a decent say at some point in the series, assuming he gets a run. Which he probably will given injuries.

 

[hendrix]

Southee and Boult are on the same level as most Australian bowlers but obviously Australia has a load more strength in depth..

Yeah, the difference is in the 3rd seamer's spot, where either Bird or Siddle are leagues ahead of Wagner/Bracewell.

Still though, the NZ bowling attack was probably the ideal warm-up for England's batsmen to face.

 

[the big bambino]

Presently Aus has no one as established as Roberts or Holding coming through so there's no comparison with the old WI. We aren't as credentialled as England's attack. Our bowlers could do well in Eng but we are behind our opponents at this time.

For mine our fortunes will depend on how we manage Harris, Pattinson and Bird throughout the series as I think those 3 will pressure England most (though I've been hearing Starc's been impressive practising with the duke). As both seem prone to injury I was thinking we could rotate Harris with Pattinson, maybe playing them together for a test atleast. I'm hoping Bird can get through the series too but would pair him with Starc for one spot. Siddle to be a regular on account of his superior fitness compared to the others.

 

[Burgey]

I'll be interested to see how Bird gets on, injury-wise. I know he had that one injury last summer, but I haven't followed him enough through the Sheffield Shield to know whether he's been prone to breaking down in the past. His action looks simple and economical enough.

 

[the big bambino]

I think he had 2 solid seasons of shield which is impressive for a modern fast bowler. I think he had injuries before that though. I think they'll be a hard manage and as a group will have to be rotated throughout the series.

 

[Burgey]

Jeez I hope he kicks on. He gives nothing away. The sort of bloke who'll help take wickets for others as well.