It's The Ashes!

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crackerjack

Well-known member
jenks said:
I know this should be all about how great England have been but Colly has to be dropped and maybe Cook needs someone to have a proper word with him.
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without Colly these Ashes would already be lost and we'd now be playing to draw the series. there's better batsmen than him have failed on this wicket and we're not exactly bursting with replacements
 
jenks

jenks

thread death
crackerjack said:
without Colly these Ashes would already be lost and we'd now be playing to draw the series. there's better batsmen than him have failed on this wicket and we're not exactly bursting with replacements
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Ok, maybe, but he has had a couple of shockers - especially since we lost Pietersen. If Broad +tail hadn't weighed in then we woudl ahve been in a whole heap of trouble in a number of these tests.
 
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crackerjack

Well-known member
jenks said:
Ok, maybe, but he has had a couple of shockers - especially since we lost Pietersen. If Broad +tail hadn't weighed in then we woudl ahve been in a whole heap of trouble in a number of these tests.
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All true, and Colly's a man with obv limitations for all his grit and stickiness. Watching Trott this morning though, I'm wondering if we've just found a ready-made replacement.

Ponting just smacked in the face - fielding at silly mid-off without a helmet, daft twat.
 
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crackerjack

Well-known member
a ton for trott, then a declaration with a lead of 500+?

england should bat until 5, i reckon - they can't run out of time to bowl them out, so grab what they can for another hour, then bag a couple of theirs before stumps
 
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don_quixote

Trent End
fucks sake, i was on a train all yesterday afternoon. not happy. might plan another train journey for tomorrow.

this is going to be thrilling - what's the weather forecast? whatever happens here, it's going to be either a champagne moment for english cricket or something on par with the foundation of the ashes. australia will have destroyed english cricket.
 
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crackerjack

Well-known member
don_quixote said:
fucks sake, i was on a train all yesterday afternoon. not happy. might plan another train journey for tomorrow.

this is going to be thrilling - what's the weather forecast? whatever happens here, it's going to be either a champagne moment for english cricket or something on par with the foundation of the ashes. australia will have destroyed english cricket.
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weather forecast is good

oz need about 100 more than the highest 4th innings winning total in history, and on a broken pitch

if england lose, cricket will be banned in this country for a century
 
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don_quixote

Trent End
youre not wrong.

the fact that flintoff can piss around as a shadow of himself and will still probably claim man of the series is testament to the lack of quality on show.

matt prior is my man of the series for england by the way.
 
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crackerjack

Well-known member
i disagree. you've seen two fairly average teams, but the excitement has come from them being evenly matched and the advantage alternating every match (the last day of the 1st test ---> the last day of the 3rd was the longest it was held by either team).

Flintoff clearly isn't even England's man of the series, and won't win it, barring some heroics today, since it's chosen by pros, not Piers Morgan. Not sure who I'd give it to for England - Strauss perhaps. For the series, Clark or Hilfenhaus.
 
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don_quixote

Trent End
strauss would definitely be if it wasn't for the fact his captaincy has been lacking for me at times.

ironically, stuart broad is a decent shout isn't he?
 
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crackerjack

Well-known member
don_quixote said:
strauss would definitely be if it wasn't for the fact his captaincy has been lacking for me at times.

ironically, stuart broad is a decent shout isn't he?
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well he's man of this match, but until the last day of the 4th test, he hadn't really come to the party - a few decent innings, but not much with the ball. Strauss has steadily improved as capt - bad first test and fucked up by batting 1st in the 4th when their sleep had been disrupted, but he's definitely grown in stature and has handled the bowlers pretty well.

2 wickets down already, and a very good shout by the umpire for watson. marvellous
 
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don_quixote

Trent End
he did take a five-for in the last test. he scored a 50 at edgbaston. two five-for's, two fifties. england's highest wicket taker...

stats speak in his favour.
 
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crackerjack

Well-known member
and if there's a sportsman of the series, then it's Ponting, no contest - he's put up with some rubbish from the crowd, and the papers following his mild but justified criticism of England's delaying tactics in Cardiff. He's also swallowed umpiring which has consistently favoured us without having a whinge (just a few glares when he's out in the middle).

I just hope now he gets out before Clark comes in - the thought of those two together if they get going is a bit (shudder)
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
don_quixote said:
he did take a five-for in the last test. he scored a 50 at edgbaston. two five-for's, two fifties. england's highest wicket taker...

stats speak in his favour.
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someone was making the point on the guardian yesterday that Ronnie Irani has a better average than Flinty both in bowling and batting. Which shows the limitations of statistics.

In Broad's favour, his spell on Friday was described by Mark nicholas and Boycott as one of the great bowling performances of all-time and will most likely win England the series - so he's a hard man to argue against.
 
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don_quixote

Trent End
he has a better bowling average than all the australian bowlers too and he doesnt thrive on the tail; 12 of his 18 have been in the aussie top 6 - including getting ponting 3 times.

but yeah, in the first three tests he was a bit rubbish.
 
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