The Ashes

[OwlsFan]

Another good days for the Aussies. Declare at 602-9 and leave England floundering on 53-3.

[OwlsFan]

Watching every ball disappear for four through no fault of the bowlers' is frustrating and pretty dull.

That's like saying a game of soccer which ended 7-6 was pretty dull because of all the goals. Scoring runs is what cricket is about. I thought it was great and to go to the 2nd last ball with one wkt left. What more could you ask for? You're a hard man to please:D

[pete]

How many runs do "England" need in 1st innings to avoid the follow on. I would think if they can avoid the follow on can get a draw?

BTW who watches Test cricket in the middle of the night.

[Sheridan]

The follow-on point in Test cricket is set at the opponent's total - 200. So in this case, England need 402 to avoid the follow-on.

I watched until "tea" last night/this morning (found a few dodgy streams) and will make an effort tonight, since Warne will be bowling.

[Aberdonian Stu]

Care to PM me those streams Sheridan?

[pete]

So in this case, England need 402 to avoid the follow-on.

I siuppose not much chance of rain then. :D

I don't know much about the teams form but I think England will lose 3-0 overall.

[Dodge]

Care to PM me those streams Sheridan?

One of the Asian sports channels on TVU was showing it last night. if you don't have that PM me

it might be available on Sopcast too

[Sheridan]

Damn, I didn't know it was on TVU, that would have been a lot simpler. Don't suppose you remember which channel?

(Although everytime I use TVU, I get distracted by the Italian soft porn on Telecapri.)

[Dodge]

Honestly no... I was flicking around looking for the NFL network. Ms Dodge was watching a film and decided it was rubbish so freed up the sky sports for me. Then fell asleepa nd didn't see any of either the cricket or the Broncos/Chiefs

[dfx-]

Anyone, see the re-run yesterday on SKy of the Sth Africa vs Australia one day game. Amazing. Australia hit a world record score of 434 off 50 overs and South Africa beat it off the second last ball with one wicket left. What a game.

Damn. Didn't know it was on. Watched it at the time and was going to buy the DVD of the game available in Cape Town this year and didn't. Exciting game - wouldn't say the best cricket, but exciting.

:mad: :mad:

[Aberdonian Stu]

Don't think NFL Network is on TVU. Neither is ABC anymore, which is a nuisance as it meant I had to pay to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game online last week.

I'll check out the Asian channels if I get round to trying to watch the Ashes.

[Dodge]

Don't think NFL Network is on TVU. Neither is ABC anymore, which is a nuisance as it meant I had to pay to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game online last week.

Its not but different cable channels appear for sporting events (US ones...) all the time. At least 4 different basketball games available last week at one stage

[Sheridan]

I got the very strong impression that they actually pulled certain channels from the line-up during high-profile broadcasts, possibly to avoid heavy usage and consequent detection. Certainly ABC was missing last time I tried to catch Lost "live", and Fox during the World Series.

[Dodge]

All stations carrying the world series were pulled (Sopcast had ESPN asia though)

ABC is gone a month or so

[Aberdonian Stu]

Fox was there for the final game of the World series I think.

[pete]

Back on topic. England failing to recover & only getting worse. 91-5
Flintoff out for nothing to compound the misery. I think Bell is only recognised batsman now. Looks like England have 2.5 days & 15 wickets left to hang on as runs make difference now.

[dfx-]

Score now? When I left it last night, Australia were 33-0..

[Sheridan]

181-1, Ponting 51*, Langer 88*. Australia presumably eschewed the follow-on to allow Warne the benefit of a fourth evening or fifth-day wicket and to enable their batsmen to play themselves into form (in which case, I'm surprised Gilchrist or Clarke haven't been promoted up the order.)

Very little luck with streams last night. :(

[dfx-]

Why do I get the feeling England might get a draw out of it...surely they can't be as bad as the first innings...

[dfx-]

England 293-5 now with three sessions left. Pietersen is in, Collingwood stumped on 96 and Flintoff sending another wayward shot straight to a fielder.

There might be rain at times as well.....it's not over yet.

[osarusan]

All over in 20 overs on the last day.

A convinving win for Australia - the reason they lost the Ashes last time was mainly that the batsmen couldnt cope with some fantastic English bowling - hasnt been a problem so far.

[RogerMilla]

i backed aussie to win the series 5-0 , will probably lay out after 3-0 as they might ( might) take the foot off the gas then !

[cavan_fan]

Not sure this is over yet. There's not much wrong with England's batting lineup all of whom have runs in them.

Bowling is obviously the problem but Flintoff is on form and on a spinning wicket they could bring Panesar in for Anderson. That means that the series probably hinges on Harmison and whether he can splutter into some sort of form. At this stage a 5 wicket match would be all he needs to do.

[osarusan]

Not sure this is over yet. There's not much wrong with England's batting lineup all of whom have runs in them.

Bowling is obviously the problem but Flintoff is on form and on a spinning wicket they could bring Panesar in for Anderson. That means that the series probably hinges on Harmison and whether he can splutter into some sort of form. At this stage a 5 wicket match would be all he needs to do.


Fair points, after 1 test it is far from over, but whether England will perform with the bat is still just a possibility, whereas Australia just hit 802 runs.

And whatever Panesar can do on a spinners wicket will be more than matched by Warne.

[OwlsFan]

Drop Giles and Anderson. Bring in another batsman (Joyce) and Panesar and use Pietersen to bowl more.

Enjoyed also yesterday the record 8th wicket stand of the South Africans vs India in a one day game. From something like 70-6, they eventually posted 275-7 and won the game.

More exciting than Newcastle vs Portsmouth, that was for sure.

[swano]

Not only was it a recore 8th wicket stand but it was also achieved at a run rate of almost 10 an over!

For some reason the Aussies are the same price on betfair (1.48) as they were for the 1st test! Don't understand this considering how poorly England bowled in the 1st test.
Test matches are great to trade in running and you can often end up with each of the 3 results being a winner for you.

[sonofstan]

Everyone still so sure about an Aussie whitewash? great performance from Pieterson, I thought - england can certainly win this one

[jebus]

Getting a bit worried about this English revival lads, Collingwood alone has me thinking that the English might take a test or two at least

[drinkfeckarse]

Collingwood and Pieterson are in fantastic form and look to be the main batsmen for England in this tour. If they can get Strauss and Cook to chip in then they have a formidable front 4 and that will always give them a chance even if their bowlers are coming up short. The series is still wide open.

[dfx-]

The pitch is as flat as Antigua though....can't judge the England performance yet.

[geysir]

I heard on the sports news that the best Australia can expect from the 2nd test is a draw.
What has to happen, besides scoring exactly the same number of runs, in order for a test to be declared a draw?

[Sheridan]

If the five scheduled days conclude without either team bowling the other out twice, the match is declared a draw.

Incidentally, if both teams score exactly the same number of runs, the match is not drawn, but tied. This has only transpired twice in the history of Test cricket.

[osarusan]

I heard on the sports news that the best Australia can expect from the 2nd test is a draw.
What has to happen, besides scoring exactly the same number of runs, in order for a test to be declared a draw?


They dont have to score the same number of runs. That would be an amazing result (but has happened).

A draw usually happens when, at the end of the final day's play, a decisive result has not been achieved.

Usually the team batting will be behind in terms of runs scored, however not all their batsmen have been got "out". As they are behind in runs scored, they clearly didnt win, but as some batsmen still remain, they have not lost. Thus it is a draw.

[OwlsFan]

Aussies beat England by 6 wickets. Australia have Shane Warne who can turn the ball over a foot. England have Ashley Giles who struggles to turn it an inch. England bowled out for 129 and Australia get the runs for the loss of only 4 wickets.

Joyce and Panesar for Giles and Anderson - that's what I'd do.

[endabob1]

That would leave them with only 4 bowlers, a bit risky considering they are carrying Harmisson. Panesar will come in for sure not sure about Joyce though, I think Mahmood may bowl in place of Anderson, would love to see Joyce getting a game but I would be very surprised, Fletcher is a conservative by nature and that would be out of character.

[Lim till i die]

Aussies beat England by 6 wickets. Australia have Shane Warne who can turn the ball over a foot. England have Ashley Giles who struggles to turn it an inch. England bowled out for 129 and Australia get the runs for the loss of only 4 wickets.

Joyce and Panesar for Giles and Anderson - that's what I'd do.

Good old England

Never let you down

Snatching defeat from the gaping jaws of victory like that :D

[jebus]

The British Tabloids are gonna have field day tearing into this England team now :p

[pete]

I woke up this morning & flicked on Sky News at 6.30 GMT & took me a while to realise i wasn't sleeping. An amazing defeat by England. 2-0 down with 3 to play & absolutely no chance of winning the Ashes now. I predicted 3-0 to the Aussies but can see 4 or 5 now.

[Lim till i die]

Just goes to show, for all the nonsense in the English press, Shane Warne is still on a different planet to any of their spinners :)

[dfx-]

The pitch is as flat as Antigua though....can't judge the England performance yet.

We can judge it now alright :D

[OwlsFan]

That would leave them with only 4 bowlers, a bit risky considering they are carrying Harmisson. Panesar will come in for sure not sure about Joyce though, I think Mahmood may bowl in place of Anderson, would love to see Joyce getting a game but I would be very surprised, Fletcher is a conservative by nature and that would be out of character.

5 if you count Pietersen and gives them batting to 8 which is why Fletcher plays Giles. Australia do well with just 4 bowlers.

[Macy]

Harmison is bowling alright from what I've seen on the highlights of this test so far (obviously doesn't include last nights play), given that there was sod all in the pitch for him.

I'd agree that Pietersen offers the 5th option if you're looking for a batsman that can bowl, which all Giles is at this stage. Also offers variation that two left armers won't.

[Sheridan]

Australia have selected Andrew Symonds in place of Damien Martyn (who retired from cricket mid-series) for the third Test. I think this a dangerously hubristic act on behalf of the selectors. Symonds is a one-day specialist known for his destructive batting, but his Test average is a miserable 19.0. Seems to be part of a strategy to bludgeon England out of the series - Adam Gilchrist inferred over the weekend that Australia are now focusing on a 5-0 whitewash rather than merely winning the Ashes back. Their arrogance could be costly, as Clarke, Symonds, Gilchrist and, on current form, both Langer and Hayden are susceptible to hostile English bowling. I can easily see Australia struggling at 250-6 in their first innings and allowing England a toehold into the series.

[osarusan]

. I can easily see Australia struggling at 250-6 in their first innings and allowing England a toehold into the series.

To be honest, I just cant see that. I think England have lost the spirit needed to drag themselves back into the ashes.

[razor]

To be honest, I just cant see that. I think England have lost the spirit needed to drag themselves back into the ashes.
Aussies all out for 244 after winning the toss and electing to bat, Panesar with 5 and Harmison with 4.
England finished the day on 51-2.

[thedoyler]

England's biggest problem I feel this series is their big batsmen Cook, Strauss, Bell & Flintoff <im excluding Pietersen as he's playing well> aren't showing the form of previous series. Harmison looks rejuvenated, Panesar was an inspired decision and about time too, but a weak batting collapse could ruin the bowling attacks hard work, as it did in the previous test. Bell & Cook going out so early will not have helped. There is a lot more needed from Strauss & Flintoff, Collingwood and Pietersen cant keep England afloat by themselves in every test.

[razor]

Cook hasn't been at all impressive in the Ashes series so far. Surely Joyce is worth a place, surely he can't be any worse.

[drinkfeckarse]

Yeah Cook for all his potential has looked like a rabbit caught in the glare of the headlights. Needs a big knock soon.

[DvB]

England's biggest problem I feel this series is their big batsmen Cook, Strauss, Bell & Flintoff <im excluding Pietersen as he's playing well> aren't showing the form of previous series. Harmison looks rejuvenated, Panesar was an inspired decision and about time too, but a weak batting collapse could ruin the bowling attacks hard work, as it did in the previous test. Bell & Cook going out so early will not have helped. There is a lot more needed from Strauss & Flintoff, Collingwood and Pietersen cant keep England afloat by themselves in every test.

Agree 100%, if either KP pr PC dont rack up a high score England are in a tight spot, that in itself is far too much pressure IMO, all the talk was about the bowling (or lack therof) in the first 2 tests with not alot of comment re : batting other than the 2nd innings collapse in the 2nd test which highlighted the for me that if KP & PC dont get an extended run at the wicket England will struggle!!

Ed Joyce may be worth a look for the final 2 tests if the series is over & done with from an overall winners/losers perespective!

Koh

[thedoyler]

I may be slated for these comments as i've only been watching cricket since the last series in australia (02/03) but i really do think England have the measure of australia, and are the better team. Take these points which have contributed to england's downfall: (i).Key mistakes by out of form players (i.e. Giles dropping Ponting in the 2nd Test, the match turning event), (ii).the loss of key players to injury or stress (Vaughan, Trescothick & Simon Jones), (iii).Flintoff and Giles only coming back from long term injuries, (iv).the fact that Cook (as mentioned before) doesnt look like he's up to it at the moment against australia, and (v). the mad decisions of chosing Geraint Jones and Giles ahead of Read and Panesar. Despite all these negative factors England are still well in this and but for a collapse could have been level in the series and should only be 1 down. It is not beyond them to turn it around from here, i mean write warne & co off at your peril, and i know england have a habit of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but i still think they can do it. And yes i think Ed Joyce deserves a shot. The openers need to be changed. In 5 innings so far i cant remember one of the openers going on to make a big score <i know strauss could and hopefully will> i could be wrong. Joyce is experienced and judging by the level of success being enjoyed by some of our local sports' stars i think ed can go on and make it a hat-trick of heroes by bringing the ashes home!