The Ashes are coming home!

[tooextracool]

Martyn\Katich > Ponting.

i think rating katich above ponting is a little premature, even if it does look like he will end up being a better player than ponting.

 

[aussie]

James Hildreth is going to play for England.

please explain why u think so neil???

 

[tooextracool]

And the reason?
Jayasuriya vs Aus: 101 off 70
Jayasuriya vs Scots: 0 off 3
Can't simply assume that the Scots got him out - chances are he simply played a poor stroke against Sco having not done so against Aus.
Not to mention that Aus punished Somerset's excuse for an attack far, far, far, far more efficiently than Sco did.

i think its more likely that australia bowled poorly. and going by what happened against b'desh in the natwest series, im pretty sure they did.

 

[tooextracool]

Difference being that 2 English openers have definite technical deficiencies that McGrath has openly told the whole world about for some time..

err mcgrath most certainly didnt expose trescos weakness, because tresco most certainly doesnt have a weakness to the inswinger of the yorker.

Martyn simply slashed at a wide, short ball (like Gilchrist and Hayden) and was caught. .

bit strange then that one of englands best fielders was standing there waiting for the catch.

 

[tooextracool]

Doesn't it seem a bit unprofessional for commentators to be "enjoying it while it lasts" though? I mean, I understand they used to play for England and probably got flogged a lot and all that, but you don't really see people like Richie (who had his fair share of defeats to England) and other quality commentators "giving it to them" when Australia plays England or anyone else. That's really more for the Jeff Thomsons and Bill Lawrys of the world and their fellow muppets. Bit worrying if the whole English component of the Sky commentary team is as bad as them.

i think bar richie there are very few aussie commentators who havent actually gone out and disgraced england. nor do i think that too many english players have disgraced the aussie side or their players in the past.
personally having never watched england win an ashes series i've had to tolerate all the " this is the worst english team to set foot on aussie soil", "australia will win 3-0, because 2 games will be rained off", "hoggard is a net-bowler", " england should drop thorpe because i've worked him out" and all that rubbish thats gone around for years and years now,australia deserve everything they've got and i dont even care if england end up being whitewashed 5-0 in the ashes.

 

[simmy]

Thank you! Well said tooextracool.

 

[aussie]

i think bar richie there are very few aussie commentators who havent actually gone out and disgraced england. nor do i think that too many english players have disgraced the aussie side or their players in the past.
personally having never watched england win an ashes series i've had to tolerate all the " this is the worst english team to set foot on aussie soil", "australia will win 3-0, because 2 games will be rained off", "hoggard is a net-bowler", " england should drop thorpe because i've worked him out" and all that rubbish thats gone around for years and years now,and australia deserve everything they've got and i dont even care if england end up being whitewashed 5-0 in the ashes.

powerful words tec

 

[simmy]

Yeah... got to love them losing!

 

[badgerhair]

please explain why u think so neil???

Because he's a talented young guy with "Future England Player" written all over him, at a guess. Expect to see him featuring in the lists of likely replacements in about four years time.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Top_Cat]

Because he's a talented young guy with "Future England Player" written all over him, at a guess. Expect to see him featuring in the lists of likely replacements in about four years time.

So, Hildreth's nickname is now 'FEP'. Just remember, I called it first!

 

[social]

i think bar richie there are very few aussie commentators who havent actually gone out and disgraced england. nor do i think that too many english players have disgraced the aussie side or their players in the past.
personally having never watched england win an ashes series i've had to tolerate all the " this is the worst english team to set foot on aussie soil", "australia will win 3-0, because 2 games will be rained off", "hoggard is a net-bowler", " england should drop thorpe because i've worked him out" and all that rubbish thats gone around for years and years now,australia deserve everything they've got and i dont even care if england end up being whitewashed 5-0 in the ashes.

The major difference being that Australian commentators (who, admittedly, are painful on the whole) were assessing actual performance rather than "living in hope."

Take the last Ashes series as an example. The English media built their team's chances up and the team's management talked their chances up. At the end of the day, they were beaten in 11 days and, as such, copped justified criticism from all and sundry but particularly their own countrymen.

Believe it or not, Australia's media has actually been hoping for a competitive series because of waning interest in the game due to Australia's dominance.

Unfortunately, having lived in England for 3 years, I know as well as anyone that the English media and public are the first to overstate their team's potential and then mercilessly vilify the same players when they do not perform to unrealistic expectations.

There is no better example of the above than the English football team . Listening to the press, you would think that they should be favourites for every major championship. Unfortunately, they are a top 10 team whose results have generally reflected their ability but that has been insufficient to appease the local press.

BTW, I have never heard any Australian criticise Thorpe, unless in a "tongue in cheek" fashion. He is generally regarded as England's best batsman alongside Vaughan and commands respect because he has "been there and done that." I made the comment that he should be dropped to accommodate Bell and KP because, IMO, until proven otherwise, such a move would weaken England and therefore improve Australia's chances.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

i think bar richie there are very few aussie commentators who havent actually gone out and disgraced england. nor do i think that too many english players have disgraced the aussie side or their players in the past.
personally having never watched england win an ashes series i've had to tolerate all the " this is the worst english team to set foot on aussie soil", "australia will win 3-0, because 2 games will be rained off", "hoggard is a net-bowler", " england should drop thorpe because i've worked him out" and all that rubbish thats gone around for years and years now,australia deserve everything they've got and i dont even care if england end up being whitewashed 5-0 in the ashes.

Err, I'm not talking about players, I'm talking about commentators. Richie was just an example of a commentator who is professional and doesn't trash the "opposition", or indeed even have any particular allegience with his home country. Mark Nicholas is the same, Michael Holding is pretty good, and so on. The English commentators on Sky this series (and Lehmann, who is just as bad) have been atrocious insofar as they offer no sort of objective analytical reading of the game, but instead crap on about how they want to see someone belt McGrath out of the ground. As I said, who cares who they want to see belted? I can hear morons at the pub saying how they hate some particular player and want to see him smashed, I don't need people paid on TV to do it. Hence, I'm looking forward to having proper commentators when we get the Channel 4 feed.

 

[Richard]

The emphasis is the complete opposite of the earlier points you seemed to be trying to make.

If Australia punished Somerset's attack far, far more efficiently than Scotland did, that is no reason at all for Scotland beating Somerset and the Zoider drinkers scalping the convicts. It clouds the issue.

The only conclusion I can draw is that you seem to be implying that Scotland have a better bowling attack than Australia, which is clearly nons.... hang on a minute...

(checks today's result)

... I stand corrected.

The point is Somerset punished Australia's attack better than Scotland's attack, even while Australia punished Somerset's attack better than Scotland did.
And while it's clearly nonsense that Scotland have a better attack than Australia, it's not remotely inconceivable that the Scotland attack bowled better on one single day than the Australian one did on another.

 

[Richard]

Shades of '97 so far, although to be fair this England team is a lot better than that one.

It is?

 

[Richard]

The commentators said it and I completely agree that... an "Old England" would have folded when Vaughan, Jones and Solanki fell in quick succession. There is a new mentality...

No, there's not, it's the presence of one man - just one - who can do things no-one else has ever done before.

 

[Swervy]

The point is Somerset punished Australia's attack better than Scotland's attack, even while Australia punished Somerset's attack better than Scotland did.
And while it's clearly nonsense that Scotland have a better attack than Australia, it's not remotely inconceivable that the Scotland attack bowled better on one single day than the Australian one did on another.

hehehe..that clears that up then

 

[Richard]

What a joke.

Since the start of 2004, Australia have won 30 of their 41 ODIs and experienced only a minor blip or two on this rampant journey. But two defeats in as many days, following two more - in the Twenty20 game and against Somerset - have exposed most of the frailties in the side, which many regard as over-the-hill and jaded.

Who are these people who regard them as "over-the-hill and jaded"? A few months ago when they thrashed New Zealand people were writing articles saying that they were too good to be allowed to play international cricket, then they lose a couple of games and they are over-the-hill? People really need to get some perspective.

It's ridiculous, yes, but to be fair the author of those two pieces aren't the same.
Nor, to be fair, has he said he regards them as... blah-blah... just that some (exceptionally unwisely IMO) do so.

 

[Richard]

It's back!

 

[Swervy]

It's back!

its never knowlingley went!!!!!

Do you have some sort of database recording the number of 's I use.

The youth of today..far too much time on their hands

 

[Richard]

I've seen all of Glenn's career, or at least very very close to it, and I honestly believe he has never bowled as well as he is right now, or how he did before this tour at least. He was simply incredible from the Australian summer through to the New Zealand tour, and his tour of India was great too. His spell on a flat WACA pitch against Pakistan... and his reverse swing destruction of New Zealand in the first test... just brilliant stuff. Besides, he's really not bowling much slower than he used to, he's always bowled within himself in the mid to low 130s (81-85) sort of range.

Oh, quite, but you know how it is - there's just no telling most people that bowlers don't lose pace... drives me up the wall people going-on about how Pollock's lost pace when he's bowling maybe 1 or 2 mph slower now than he did 7 years ago...