The Ashes

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by tendulkar23

Did you get a chance to watch the match at all? With all of the morning the rain, the pitch had a lot of bite to it. Really nice to see the battle between bat and ball. Going to be an intriguing match, especially if there is still some moisture left for the Indians to exploit.

No, just followed the ball-by-ball

[Imported_Aussie]

Originally Posted by NBC

The diggers are in an absolute shambles. Poor selection, poor batting and very poor bowling. Talking about utilizing a rotation policy in an Ashes series is ridiculous. The selectors, the captain and the players are completely bereft of ideas.

I love this.

It is pretty much a complete role reversal from the late 90s/early 2000s, where England had maybe 1-3 guys who would have a chance of making the Aussie team, had constant pressure due to insipid performances, etc

Right now I think the Aussie Selectors should slash and burn - they never planned for the golden generation retiring, and only promoting older guys to the team has left them without a long term core of players.

Hussey and Haddin should be the only players 100% safe.

Ponting inherited a team that was used to winning and had both the talent and the mental edge over opponents. He doesn't have the tactical nous to captain when not in the ascendancy.
Unfortunately, his heir apparent, Clarke, has shown little in terms of tactical abilities either.

A lack of forward thinking planning 5 years ago has lead to this mess now.

[NBC]

^ Well said.

[Da_Chief]

India should really look closely at Aussies right now. Their "golden generation" isn't far. The bowling has never been up to par and once Sachin, Dravid, Laxman depart thats 3, 4, 5 all gone and should rattle them.

Aussies are done for few years. Looks like England's reign has just begun.

[tendulkar23]

Originally Posted by Da_Chief

India should really look closely at Aussies right now. Their "golden generation" isn't far. The bowling has never been up to par and once Sachin, Dravid, Laxman depart thats 3, 4, 5 all gone and should rattle them.

Aussies are done for few years. Looks like England's reign has just begun.

That's the best part about cricket right now, there is no clear heir to the throne right now. With the Aussie's golden age over and India only having a couple years left with their batting giants, it's wide open. I would say South Africa shows the most promise, but they are well known underachievers.

It's great to have that excitement back in cricket, there is no telling who will win the the next world cup. It was getting pretty boring when there was Australia and then everybody else.

[tendulkar23]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

No, just followed the ball-by-ball

There are a couple websites that stream the matches for pretty cheap. I think ESPN is one of them. Anyways, you should look into it if you really want to watch, the amount of movement and bounce that Morkel and Steyn were getting was amazing to watch. I love great batting, but there's something about that hostile bowling, I just love it. Hopefully we can see Sharma bowl a similar spell to Morkel's.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by tendulkar23

There are a couple websites that stream the matches for pretty cheap. I think ESPN is one of them. Anyways, you should look into it if you really want to watch, the amount of movement and bounce that Morkel and Steyn were getting was amazing to watch. I love great batting, but there's something about that hostile bowling, I just love it. Hopefully we can see Sharma bowl a similar spell to Morkel's.

I'm at work!

[tendulkar23]

The Aussie's are officially back in it thanks to Johnson. He salvaged their first innings with his bat and now he's brought them completely back into it with the ball. Amazing performance by him, completely in awe.

[tendulkar23]

Johnson almost single-handedly gives the Aussie's an 81 run lead! What a performance!

[NBC]

Wow. Didn't think that this would be the case upon waking up the am. This will be hard for England to salvage. They need to skittle the diggers for no more than 200. But the wicket will deteriorate and there will be lots on offer.

Geoffrey Boycott thought that England needed to bowl them out for 200 in the first innings and the 268 might come back to haunt them. I'd tend to agree.

[Da_Chief]

Day 2 finishes with Aussies leading by 200 and the dangerous duo of Watson and Hussey forming a good stand. Both their wickets will be key tomorrow, get em early and they still have a chance but if they take the lead to 350+ then its all over for English in this match. Didn't think Mitch Johnson would be the key returnee, Hillfenheus didn't pick up a wicket.

Day 2 going in Africa and Saffies are only few runs behind with LOTS of batting to come. India in trouble, big time.

[NBC]

Apparently the wicket at the WACA isn't expected to deteriorate. Still lots of green on it. Strauss probably should have batten having won the toss. But an inspired spell from one of his quicks could turn the tide yet again.

[Imported_Aussie]

Thats the thing with Mitch Johnson - when he is on a roll, he is one of the best in the world, but when he is off he stinks. Great fast bowlers, such as McGrath in his heyday, when they weren't at their best, they weren't leaking easy runs everywhere.
Johnson is a guy who is the perfect #2 in an attack, ala Gillespie to McGrath, you don't rely on him, and give him the freedom to make mistakes, so when he fires, he wins you games, but when he doesn't you aren't stuck with no other options.

With 3 days to go, if Australia want to win, they have to bat out as much of the day as possible. If they can survive the first hour, the next 3 will let them build a platform.

[tendulkar23]

Originally Posted by Imported_Aussie

Thats the thing with Mitch Johnson - when he is on a roll, he is one of the best in the world, but when he is off he stinks. Great fast bowlers, such as McGrath in his heyday, when they weren't at their best, they weren't leaking easy runs everywhere.
Johnson is a guy who is the perfect #2 in an attack, ala Gillespie to McGrath, you don't rely on him, and give him the freedom to make mistakes, so when he fires, he wins you games, but when he doesn't you aren't stuck with no other options.

With 3 days to go, if Australia want to win, they have to bat out as much of the day as possible. If they can survive the first hour, the next 3 will let them build a platform.

Definitely agree with that, Johnson is better than almost any fast bowler in the world when he's bowling well. He just severely lacks the consistency that makes a great bowler like McGrath.

I'm really surprised with the pitch though, the curator has definitely done wonders, a low-scoring pitch usually always provides more excitement than a flat track. There's something about seeing a batsman work for his runs, it's really refreshing, considering so many pitches are tailor-made for batsman these days.

On another note, India is being demolished by the South Africans. It's embarrassing how bad that Indian batting lineup did. On top of that, 2 fifties and 2 hundreds by the 4 S. African batsmen that have been at the crease so far.

[GirlySports]

If anyone is still up!

So here we gooooo the stage is set. Australia bowled out in their 2nd innings and lead by 390.

If England get 391, they retain the Ashes. If Australia bowl them out before they get 391, then the series is tied 1-1 with all to play for in the final two tests.
The most important sequence of events of the 2010 Ashes begins now!

Time is no longer a factor, it cannot be a draw as there are 7 sessions left.

[GirlySports]

Cook is the first to fall.

England score only 23 for the 1st wicket. Advantage Australia.

[GirlySports]

Strauss the captain falls next.

England in trouble, 37/2

[Da_Chief]

Aussies with a huge comeback after getting embarrassed the 2nd test. This should end early on day 4, likely before lunch.

As for SA, wow, AB just set scored the fastest test century in Saffies history. With a lead of 455 and still 62 overs in the day, the Indians better dancing for rain. This could be a 700+ run lead before the declare. I'd say bat it out today and declare with few over left in the day and see if you can get rid of Sehwag early.

[NBC]

Poor effort. Very poor.

[Imported_Aussie]

Originally Posted by NBC

Poor effort. Very poor.

That game was the worst capitulation by England in a while, thinking back to Adelaide test in Dec 2006 - http://www.espncricinfo.com/ausveng/...ch/249223.html
Where the Aussies were on the ropes, the lower order gets the score close, Warne does in England on day 5 and then the Aussies chase home the rest

Ponting may miss next test - broken pinky finger - so it will be interesting to see who comes in. Also, taking 4 quicks in Melbourne and especially Sydney is not wise, so does Beer come in? Is Hauritz recalled?