Bookies have Ozzies favourites for the first test? Surely not!
plenty of rain around so I'd be wary of betting either way, also England have not really been tested yet.
They've not lost at Brisbane for 17 years, last time to a great WI side. Bookies going with history, tough place to play England not quite ready draw looking favourite though
True but the Aussies haven't had such a shit side for long time either.I think an England win is possibly worth a punt and an England win at the Gabba would knock the stuffing out of them.Luv to see Shrek explaining that to the Aus media.They've not lost at Brisbane for 17 years, last time to a great WI side. Bookies going with history, tough place to play England not quite ready draw looking favourite though
I reckon a draw is the most likely result if there is some time lost due to rain. No rain then an England win is the value bet.
England will win the series. Aussies are simply not good enough either with bat or ball.
England are always nervous in the first innings of the first test so a draw is likely. But it's only a few months since they last met so could be a result.
Still think England will win it 3-0
Still think England will win it 3-0
The law of averages states that MJ will have at least one of his moments in five tests, so in going with 3-1
Like broad, he's unplayable on the odd occasion he is on song...
I've just read an article by Simon Hughes who is suggesting that this will be Andy Flower's last series as England coach.
Anyone aware of this speculation?
If it is rainy, it will nullify Swann, but help Anderson. Sadly, the Kookaburra ball doesn't swing for long. Im going for a result either way.
I think its going to be close one. England were lucky in the summer and the score didn't reflect the play. Cook and Trott will have to score a lot more runs and the choice of the fourth bowler will be critical.
I like the look of England with Carberry at the top and Root down the order. A bit more aggression up top and I think Root will score heavily later on.
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mark_farrell/10950752513/ ]Hahahahahaha![/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/mark_farrell/ ]Mark-Farrell[/url], on Flickr
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! 😆
I think its going to be close one. England were lucky in the summer and the score didn't reflect the play. Cook and Trott will have to score a lot more runs and the choice of the fourth bowler will be critical.
We weren't lucky, we played a lot of average cricket and raised our game at key times. Australia on the other hand folded when it mattered.
"We've identified what we need to work on'
Well, in your case, David, how to hold a bat would be a start!
England were lucky it rained in the third test as the Aussies had a great chance to win that match. If they had then I think England would have wobbled. If England were only average in the summer I'm not sure they are going to be better than that on pitches that are more suited to the Aussie bowlers. I want England to win but I think it will be a close one.
i love the rubbish the bogan media come out with do they really think it gets under the England teams skin? are they really that thick? only a few of the ex players seem to talk any sense. where do they get these moronic scribes from?
I was under the general impression that even sports journalism had to involve an element of truth. That's just making things up!!!!
Ian Chappel article recently was wondering why the Australian media are talking as if Australia had just won the last Ashes 3-0 instead of the other way round. And there's Shane Warne of course. 🙄
England should win but closer than last time. Not sure I buy the 'England were lucky' line either. No they weren't consistent but they stood up when it mattered every single time.
In the home series, Englands Top order didn't fire, but they still won. This time, I back Cook, Carberry, Trot and Pietersen to score big. Add to that the runs from Root, Prior, Broad and Swann - I see a big Eng win!!
They had Beefy on R4 about Flower's possible retirement a couple of weeks back.
He said he hadn't heard anything and that it was pure speculation and the man to make the decision and the announcement would be Flowers when he felt the time was right...
England were lucky in the summer and the score didn't reflect the play. Cook and Trott will have to score a lot more runs and the choice of the fourth bowler will be critical.
Conversely. Trott, Cook and Pietersen will all expect to score good runs, they are all quality players and won't continue to fail time and again. We made 400 in the first dig only once in the smmer, talent and experience tells me that won't be the case this time.
Can't wait.....
We weren't lucky, we played a lot of average cricket and raised our game at key times. Australia on the other hand folded when it mattered.
Precisley. Good sides find a way to win when they're not playing well. As noted above, only Bell really fired in the summer: if Cook, Trott and Pietersen get going, Aus are in for a tough time.
No idea what they were on about here...
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Trott, Cook etc won't automatically score runs just because they didn't in the summer. That's a bit like when people talk about football teams being too good to go down.
Not saying it's automatic, I'm saying they will have analysed and corrected the faults that caused them to fail.
Cook has changed his technique slightly and will naturally play better on bouncier pitches where his back foot game comes to the fore. Trott just needs to calm down a bit. Pietersen is, well, Pietersen, and is one who you'd say is 'due' - which goes against what i said but when you're as good as him, the phrase about exceptions and rules comes to mind.
The Aussies really should spend a bit more time looking after their own garden. Lets be frank about this - their batting unit is pretty poor and as Sir Geoffrey would no doubt say, `my gran would love to bowl to that lot!' 😀
For all this talk about them finishing the last series well, it was England who yet again stood up when it mattered with that run chase on the last day after Clarke thought it would be a great idea to provoke England.
The non-bogan Australian newspapers are far more boring....
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mark_farrell/10967653186/ ]Slightly less bogan headline![/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/mark_farrell/ ]Mark-Farrell[/url], on Flickr
No team in which Steve Smith can get a game in a test is going to trouble the current England set up.
Oh how the Aussies must be wishing the likes of Matthew Elliot, Jamie Cox, Stuart Law, Andy Bichel, Greg Blewett, Stuart MacGill, Darren Lehmann and many others hadn't played in an era when they couldn't get a game!
Getting a little excited now. Got the day off tomorrow so going to stay up and watch an hour or 2 then a few hours sleep before watching the end of the days play.
Not long now! Going to watch the first hour i think.
I've just got back from Oz and was surprised how little mention the ashes got over there.
Listening to the news the sports bit was a brief mention that the England team had arrived in Perth, a snippet about a Moto GP race at Phillip Island, some AFL stuff I didn't undersatnd, and then hour upon hour of disussions about a racehorse which is pregnant. I knew the Aussies love the horse racing but though cricket would get more of a mention than that.
I knew the Aussies love the horse racing but though cricket would get more of a mention than that.
If they'd been winning recently they'd have a lot more interest.
Glad we are bowling first actually. Will the Aussies stand up and be counted? Lots of pressure on this batting lineup
Not heard any of the "experts" but that pitch looks well dry & tame to me - am I missing something ?
A good start 😆
oh I say !
more lively than it looks, that pitch
Good that it was Broad too.
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Here comes the walking LBW Shane Watson.
Broad again \o/
aye but I wont last much longer its 2 :10 am here
Batting pitch this by the sounds
What do you call an Australian who can handle a bat?
And in Watson's defence, at least he's opted for a variation on his usual method of dismissal...
This has been quite delightful so far today. To borrow one Ashes-winning Captain's words:
"Talk is cheap"
England's game lose from this position.
Batting pitch and England have lots of good batsmen!
Aussies have lots of poor bowlers.
I can see a 200+ lead here.
Well, that was fun.
I particularly love the ability of the Aussie press to make themselves look ridiculous...one match report will apparently have to deal with an unnamed 'medium-pace' bowler dismissing the first five batsmen.
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Someone's been having fun on wiki - check out the editor for the Courier Mail.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Courier-Mail
(Thanks to Aggers for the heads up!)
