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The Ashes: First Test *OFFICIAL* thread
- Thread starter Bozza
- Start date
Seagull over NZ
Well-known member
Lets be positive. Australia are now likely to get in excess of 550 and bat most of day 2. If England can bat really well 1st innings, and there's no reason why they can't as it will still be a flat wicket, hopefully we can get 450/500 ourselves which will take us well into day 4. This won't give the Aussies enough time to set us a target to bowl us out on day 5.
Scoffers
Well-known member
I watched a couple of hours last night, a difficult start for our bowlers, Giles, Anderson, Flintoff and Harmison all recovering from injury, and not having played much cricket at all , this is not the best prep against some of the best batsmen in the world on flat batting track. Maybe going with Mahmood or Tremlett, both who got a lot more wickets than Harmison or Hoggard last season, would have been a better bet.
A depressing start then, but I'm convinced our bowlers will improve, I just hope that it's not at the cost of the first test!
A depressing start then, but I'm convinced our bowlers will improve, I just hope that it's not at the cost of the first test!
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From what I saw that pitch offered NOTHING for our bowlers BUT after all the talk of setting the tone for the series should Harmison have been given the new ball? He has been wayward for a while and that wide can't have helped. Surely Freddie and Hoggard should have opened for a bit more control?
Not a good first day but we were always going to struggle on a flat pitch with bowlers who just don't look fit.
Not a good first day but we were always going to struggle on a flat pitch with bowlers who just don't look fit.
Scoffers
Well-known member
Seagull over NZ said:
The difference being, the Aussies have the bowlers to make something happen on a flat wicket - view the comparison :-
McGrath's nagging accuracy VS Harmison' wayward wastefulness
Warne's accuracy, variation, incredible ability to turn the ball on any surface VS Giles - A good bowler, but not likely to trouble the Aussies too much on a flat track until the second innings
Lee - Not as accurate as McGrath, but can be relied upon to bowl that unplayable delivery ever now and again - VS Anderson - An improving bowler, but will need time to adjust
To counter this, of course, we have Hoggard and Freddy, but the Hoggmeister is at his best when it swings, and we've seen precious little of that so far. As for Freddy, the man is a genius, a real strike bowler who can change the game with bat or ball, the problem is if the above bowlers don't carry their weight, how long will Freddys fitness last bowling all those extra overs!
Scoffers
Well-known member
ChapmansThe Saviour said:
Good point, Freddy should have opened!
Withdean Wanderer
Banned
Bloody convicts.....
Marshy
Well-known member
The ommision of Panesar is quite frankly staggering considering the summer he had, shows a total lack of belief by the selectors and Fletcher in particular.
Scoring runs in Australia is the easy bit, its taking 20 wickets thats the problem, and for that reason alone Panesar should be playing,we always f*** it up on the first morning of the first test in Aus.
Scoring runs in Australia is the easy bit, its taking 20 wickets thats the problem, and for that reason alone Panesar should be playing,we always f*** it up on the first morning of the first test in Aus.
- Thread starter
- #210
Wanderer said:
He was very sensible today though - he bowled very short spells - his longest was 4 overs so he certainly wasn't overdoing it.
The concern is, I guess, that he feels the need to step it up some more if everyone else continues to fail to deliver.
A fair assessment. On a flat track like that you need your quickies to be patient and nag away just outside off stump. What you don't need is Harmison charging in at 200 miles and bowling (literally) every other ball about 6 feet wide. And Anderson looked every bit a second rate bowler too. Hoggard bowled alright without looking threatening. Flintoff was the only bowler who looked capable of causing the Aussies any trouble.ChapmansThe Saviour said:
On that form, we should've opened with Freddie and Hoggard - Harmison should've been getting the drinks. And maybe an argument for two spinners?
It's certainly looking like that. Pick a player who hasn't played a competitive match for 12 months and who didn't play in the last tour warm up match over an in-form spinner.Trigger said:
Bollocks decision. Then again, based on Harmison's wank performance, I'd rather we played both spinners ahead of GBH.
NS Herald
Well-known member
Just got back.
Very hot in the stadium and very partisan crowd with a bit of bother here and there but nothing serious.
Beer was very refreshing at about 2 pounds a glass.
Our bowlers didn't really do much except Freddie who really led by example. We did well to keep them to 350 but our tactics were pretty negative.
If Ponting and Hussey can acceperate the run scoring in the morning we could be out of the game by tea and looking to survive 3 plys days against Warne and McGrath who I expect would get soemthing out of the pitch.
Still we live in hope and the sun will be shining in the morning.
Night all
Very hot in the stadium and very partisan crowd with a bit of bother here and there but nothing serious.
Beer was very refreshing at about 2 pounds a glass.
Our bowlers didn't really do much except Freddie who really led by example. We did well to keep them to 350 but our tactics were pretty negative.
If Ponting and Hussey can acceperate the run scoring in the morning we could be out of the game by tea and looking to survive 3 plys days against Warne and McGrath who I expect would get soemthing out of the pitch.
Still we live in hope and the sun will be shining in the morning.
Night all
have woken to the news and unable to see any of the game but have read the threads. i often get accussed by my team mates at the cricket club i play for of being negative about our chances down under but often my predictions for what they are worth tend to be based more on a gut feeling, previous experience and sadly self fulfilling prophecy!!! if aussies post 550+ then on paer there is no reason that we cannot get near to that but it just never works like that does it? and i dont just mean england. i can imagine the aussie attack being right fired up however flat the wicket and 550 is gonna look a long long way off, if we lose early wicket or two it will take a monumental effort to get out of the hole and i hope to god we can...i was vilified for my 4-0 prediction and hope its the worst guess opf my life...but when Monty was dropped so did my head...i hope when i wake up friday morning i see england 250-0...congrats to all who watched thee whole night
MikeySmall
Well-known member
dwayne said:
The ultimate optimist. This is a batting pitch. As has been said before if we had been put into bat we'd be hoping for a similar score. The Aussies have a fantastic result at the Gabba - a draw here would be a fantastic result.
And you wonder why we are called "Whinging Poms". Get behind the boys (and that includes the albion!!)
Scoffers
Well-known member
MikeySmall said:
I'm pessimistic because of the way Harmison and Anderson bowled. Harmy was almost always off line and Anderson too short !
Billy the Fish
Technocrat
Anderson got better as the day went on, near the end he was actually bowling quite a good line and length. I think it just comes down to the fact that they haven't bowled enough overs.Wanderer said:
Personally I enjoyed watching last night, even though we were a bit toothless in the attack. It's test cricket and on a flat wicket batting sides will go on and get 400+ runs. We just need to hope that we can bat for a couple of days and play for the draw because I can't see us getting 20 wickets.
Dick Knights Mumm
Take me Home Falmer Road
Jack Bannister on Talksport said the bowlers were simply "undercooked" and had not bowled enough in the run-up.
Sounds like sense to me.
Sounds like sense to me.