*Official* Second Test at the Adelaide Oval

[Uppercut]

don't agree with this at all, from where i was i think they went defensive far too quickly, and watson's dismissal showed there was still some pace to work with,

I actually think Watson's dismissal is a good example of how slow the pitch had become, given that he threw absolutely everything at it and it still just about made it to gully on the full.

 

[Xuhaib]

if England gets a hundred plus lead expect Swann to bowl them to a resounding win.

 

[iamdavid]

Really? Damn...I hope he doesn't try and do a Bret Lee by sacrificing accuracy for speed. He shouldn't be trying to run in that hard either if he has a chronic knee problem. Heard he was getting around 93 mph, which is pretty insane.

He does tend to spray it a little and just generally be less effective against left handers, or at least that's the impression I've had when watching him, something about the angle and the fact he isn't taking the ball away from them seems to put him off.

 

[Uppercut]

He does tend to spray it a little and just generally be less effective against left handers, or at least that's the impression I've had when watching him, something about the angle and the fact he isn't taking the ball away from them seems to put him off.

Hmm, that's a pretty big issue opening the bowling against England. Australia suck really badly at bowling to Strauss and Cook generally. It's something they really need Bollinger to deal with.

 

[zaremba]

Turns out Ponting's little on-field outburst at Strauss after the last over was bowled was because he felt Strauss had failed to control Jimmy Anderson's sledging during Australia's innings.

The idea of the Aussies getting all prissy about being sledged by the likes of Jimmy Anderson really does make me laugh out loud. Man the **** up guys. Or learn to take a little bit of what you've dished out for the last 4 decades. Anyhow, bless him, Punter didn't have the best of days and is maybe feeling the stress a little bit. Something of a Kevin Keegan moment perhaps.

 

[Jarquis]

Nay, Huss is much better at no. 5, 64.95 vs 46.02. But I agree with you, I don't think that batting at 4 or 5 shouldn't really make a difference. I like Hussey at 5 though because he is better at working with the tail, and is in the perfect spot to rebuild an innings. I also like, in theory, Clarke at 4 because he is right next to Ponting and when they get good partnerships going (which unfortunately seems a rarity these days), they can win matches by themselves.

Clarke averages 17.8 across 11 Test matches when batting 4. That's really quite dire. Only 1 half century in 17 knocks.

 

[vcs]

Turns out Ponting's little on-field outburst at Strauss after the last over was bowled was because he felt Strauss had failed to control Jimmy Anderson's sledging during Australia's innings.

The idea of the Aussies getting all prissy about being sledged by the likes of Jimmy Anderson really does make me laugh out loud. Man the **** up guys. Or learn to take a little bit of what you've dished out for the last 4 decades. Anyhow, bless him, Punter didn't have the best of days and is maybe feeling the stress a little bit. Something of a Kevin Keegan moment perhaps.

AWTA so much.

 

[NasserFan207]

Cmon Cook. Another ton from you, and I've basically won £150.

 

[Pizzorno]

Ponting's clearly cracking up if he's letting something so trivial get to him.

 

[social]

Faster but less accurate than when I last saw him.

Quick (much faster than anything we'seen this series), pretty accurate and bit of swing when he pitched it up for the last couple of balls

Fancy him against both openers if he keeps it up

 

[Jarquis]

There's a sadistic part of me that kind of wants England all out for 250 just in order to have a really close, low-scoring Test.

Rinse your mouth out.

 

[social]

First Ashes Test adrenaline will have been kicking in.

Nah

Regular 150 bowler in the last few years

 

[Woodster]

Turns out Ponting's little on-field outburst at Strauss after the last over was bowled was because he felt Strauss had failed to control Jimmy Anderson's sledging during Australia's innings.

The idea of the Aussies getting all prissy about being sledged by the likes of Jimmy Anderson really does make me laugh out loud. Man the **** up guys. Or learn to take a little bit of what you've dished out for the last 4 decades. Anyhow, bless him, Punter didn't have the best of days and is maybe feeling the stress a little bit. Something of a Kevin Keegan moment perhaps.

Ha ha, if that was the main reason behind the discussion going off the field, that is fantastic. It was absolutely fine for Ponting and his men to do it when they were a great side and could back up their chat with stunning performances, but now they are not universally recognised as the best side in the world, it's all so unfair for people to now have a few words with their batsmen and try and unsettle them!!

Thought Ponting had this reputation as a fighter, a scrapper, as you say mate, man up. It's a few words in a series with a lot at stake. We want to see a few words, what it means to the players, a bit of hostility. What an idiot.

 

[social]

Ha ha, if that was the main reason behind the discussion going off the field, that is fantastic. It was absolutely fine for Ponting and his men to do it when they were a great side and could back up their chat with stunning performances, but now they are not universally recognised as the best side in the world, it's all so unfair for people to now have a few words with their batsmen and try and unsettle them!!

Thought Ponting had this reputation as a fighter, a scrapper, as you say mate, man up. It's a few words in a series with a lot at stake. We want to see a few words, what it means to the players, a bit of hostility. What an idiot.

And we know this because an English journo reported it

It's faaaaaaaaaaaaaaar more likely that Ponting was just calling Strauss a jammy South African **** who couldnt cut it in Sydney grade cricket and was running off the field because an Oz bowler finally fired up if the truth be known

Move on, nothing more to see here

 

[Bun]

And we know this because an English journo reported it

It's faaaaaaaaaaaaaaar more likely that Ponting was just calling Strauss a jammy South African **** who couldnt cut it in Sydney grade cricket and was running off the field because an Oz bowler finally fired up if the truth be known

Move on, nothing more to see here

reeks of a sore loser...

 

[Faisal1985]

If Australian bowlers can start hitting the right length right away in the morning session it could be equal chaos for England...

 

[Woodster]

Was an outstanding day for England, bowled very well on a very flat deck. Anderson showed what he can do, not only with the new ball, but also when he returned with the older ball, his areas were spot on, Broad again probably deserved a little more than the Haddin wicket, but Finn is still a slight worry. For me he was too full in his first spell and served up far too many half volleys, he aspires to be McGrath-like in his accuracy, he delivered more half-volleys in that spell than McGrath generally did in a series. Of course it's unfair to compare a 21-year old to a seasoned great bowler, but he has a long way to go.

When Finn did get his length right, he was hitting the bat pretty hard and looked much better, but the consistency just wasn't there. His wicket was a bit of a gift, very loose shot from North who was looking very good.

Swann did a very decent job today. This was the first day of a Test match on a supposed batsman's dream, he had very little action off the pitch, and didn't get much of the drift he normally gets. He kept it tight, any aggressive intent they wanted to show against him was difficult because he was so accurate, but Hussey played him exceptionally well. That was until Swann did get one to turn fairly sharply and a couple of wickets was good reward for his patience.

 

[Woodster]

And we know this because an English journo reported it

It's faaaaaaaaaaaaaaar more likely that Ponting was just calling Strauss a jammy South African **** who couldnt cut it in Sydney grade cricket and was running off the field because an Oz bowler finally fired up if the truth be known

Move on, nothing more to see here

Wouldn't really think Strauss would even reply to such an inane rant if that was the case. I do think the England journo is probably more accurate in his version of events, rather than a 'you were rubbish in Sydney grade cricket' child-like attempt at winding him up. Don't think you try and goad someone going off the pitch ??? He clearly had a point to make, it wasn't about 'mental disintegration'.

 

[marc71178]

reeks of a sore loser...

What, social a sore loser?

Never.

 

[Woodster]

If Australian bowlers can start hitting the right length right away in the morning session it could be equal chaos for England...

It could be, we cannot afford to get carried away with how well we did on day one, but it's been a great start.