England set off to Australia to retain Ashes tonight.

quote:

Originally posted by Chillkram:
Perhaps we should scrap the cricket and just have a good old fashioned 'bundle'. No biting or gouging. Winner takes all!

Mark

Mark

I'm afraid your idea lacks originality. What you suggest is already a game called "Aussie Rules Football"...

2nd test, day 1, stumps, England 3/266.

Well done, hard to see England losing from here.

I have tickets for day 2. Nice cool day forecast. Hope the scoring isn't as slow as it was today.

Steve

Now we've got a series!

Fantastic, but why no Monty?

.

quote:

Originally posted by ROTF:
Fantastic, but why no Monty?

Why, to catch those pesky Aussies out of course, you...you...nincompoop!

.

quote:

Originally posted by Chillkram:
Now we've got a series!

Dreaming. If England can score runs on that wicket then Australia will bat till day four.

2nd test, Adelaide, day 2.

The Barmy Army in action.

A disappointing lack of posts on here from the England contingent now that the team are doing well. Fantastic innings from 'boring' Colingwood to make a double century and the swashbuckling KP to make 158 (again!).

This will really give the team some confidence and give the bowlers something to bowl at. Difficult to see England losing from here but whether the Aussies will scrape the draw depends on tomorrow's play. With one wicket down England definitely have the advantage.

What it does show is the importance of winning the toss when two teams are evenly matched as the first team in to bat usually wins when they post a decent score. It then puts pressure on the following team. This may be where Ponting lost the Ashes last year when he put England in to bat first at Edgbaston and subsequently lost that test.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Chillkram:
A disappointing lack of posts on here from the England contingent now that the team are doing well.

It's either (1) because I'm holding my breath, or (2) traditional English courtesy!

However - TIE THOSE KANGAROOS DOWN, SPORTS!!!

James

Come on James, let's beat the drum together!

We're going to level it up this weekend!

I woke up expecting the usual middle order collapse and - oh joy.

Shame Monty didn't get the nod.

Steve.

quote:

A disappointing lack of posts on here from the England contingent now that the team are doing well.

I just let the team do the talking on the field...

I hope things speed up on day 3, because if it's going to be as slow as the last two days, I'm going to sue the game for terminal boredom. An average of 275 runs per day on one of the slowest wickets ever wasn't exactly riveting.

Steve

quote:

on one of the slowest wickets ever wasn't exactly riveting.

Is it supposed to be exciting then?

No, just interesting. There's a difference.

Australia 312-5 on a slow wicket and this test has draw written all over it.

Ponting top scored again on 142.

It could have been different though; Ashley Giles dropped Ponting when he was on 35.

If only we'd had Monty out there!

Mark

I'm back in NZ and there is no television coverage of The Ashes here. I understood that the wicket at the Oval was predicted to start cracking. Has the prediction proved correct?

Perhaps it does have a draw forecast, but I reckon there is a ground over there where the aussies do pick two spinners and drop a seamer - that could for England signal a nice duel between Panesar and Giles.

Giles can bat, fo sure, but we need to take 20 wickets. Strauss will fire soon enough, you don't achieve the averages he has etc...

The biggest concern for me is Harmison. The aussies would drop him if he's not performing???

If Steve Harmison can break through with the new ball and we have a lead of 150 then we'll have a decent chance. It was never going to be easy to take wickets on that pitch.

quote:

Originally posted by Deane F:
I'm back in NZ and there is no television coverage of The Ashes here. I understood that the wicket at the Oval was predicted to start cracking. Has the prediction proved correct?

Nope, not today. Still docile. The England bowlers simply did a better job than the Australian bowlers.

Batsman-friendliest wicket ever + SLOW scoring rate = most boring test match in history

Trouble with this bunch of poms is they're all so likeable. I mean, Freddie, the Hogster, Harmlesson, any of them really, not much potential for tribal hatred there. There's always The Ego of course, but I tend think of him as South African anyway.

It's all a bit unnatural.

The slow pitch has made it harder for the batsmen to time the ball well enough for fast run scoring. This, combined with a relatively slow outfield.

As it happens, the pitch has dominated this game, I don't think it has mattered who won the toss, or if Monty was picked or not.

On the plus side England have performed better, Harmy has bowled better as has Hoggy. There's a slight concern over Freddy's ankle however, hope it's not too serious. I really enjoyed KP's batting, hitting the ball to Pigeon wherever he was put in the field has been a highlight for me. Let's hope that the WACA has a bit more life in it, game on!

..and if Fletcher is reading this, please pick Monty!