Ashes 2013

Credit to Mitchell too. His action still suggests that when it goes wrong it could go badly wrong, but when it goes right…. wow.

Yeah, he’s always been a devastating bowler when in form, but like most genuine fast bowlers (Harmy, I’m talking about you) when he’s not, you barely need a batsman there to still score runs off him

Yeah – takes me back to the times when i played, I hated bowlers ‘like’ Mitch. I was a top order batter, usually opener, and against a decent bowler you got into a rhythm, you’d pretty well know what you were going to get, succession of length or back of a length stuff to defend or leave, occasionally tuck off the hip, very rarely drive…..

whereas occasionally they’d open up with some gangling kid who hadn’t yet grown into his body but was capable of flinging it down at a rate of knots; only issue was he didn’t have a clue what was coming next so neither did you. It’s hard to get into a routine when it’s bouncer followed by leg side wide followed by a drive ball followed by another wide followed by an unplayable jaffa…..

very very poor from england. it’s not like the top order went to unplayable balls. poor shots, and impatience let them down.

I only saw KP go (warton Junior was up) and he was back to his bad old self. gone was the assured, steady batting of the summer, he was desperately trying to work pretty much every ball into runs, you could see he was getting out 10 balls before it happened.

psychle – Member
Morning all

Welcome back, stranger. Why have you been away from the cricket threads for so long?

I also started supporting England in the late 80s, so this is nothing new – except that nowadays it always seems there is a possibility of them saving it from here (whereas in the mid 90s you’d already know at this stage that the series was lost).

Zokes, my reading of the papers here over the past few weeks was that expectations were for a closer series but that England had the better team. Boycs was highlighting our batting fragility which proved to be correct so far. But we didn’t seem to be coming at this as typical pommie underdogs.

Warnie was confident though!!!

I never know when these “Test” things have finished. Every time I think it has, oops! Here’s another one.

“Cricket is a game that goes on for three days and never seems to start…” (Bill Bryson).

When did they decide to stop playing 5 day tests?

[zokes, re the contrarian bit have a look at the posts that preceeded your very telling and accurate first post! And then you can skim read the UK press. Then decide how much I was making up 😉 ]

And then you can skim read the UK press

The first shot of an Aussie tabloid I posted pretty much summed up the Australian viewpoint of where the teams were at prior to the start of this test, i.e. that in their minds, the results of the last three series have been 5-0 whitewashes to the Aussies.

Any boasting the English have done is grounded in the evidence that we are the holders of the Ashes, and have won the last three series between the two teams, the last two with very large differences in the final series result.

So yes, the Australian press is far far worse than the UK press in this regard.

THM – CBA responding to your cricket trolls, sorry.

I wasn’t meaning to comment on the Aussie press (was using germs words which made it seem like that tough.) My perception was that we were expecting to win a closeR series. Anyway we shall see.

Enjoyed the latest psyco-babble coming from one of our team this morning though.

I also find it strange they way that pundits make firm predictions in the middle of a match when we know in cricket (like tennis) fortunes can and do swing wildly. Thats part of the appeal (sorry). Anyone would think they we climate scientists!!!

“Boasting” of any sort tends to catch you out in the end though!!!

i was thinking yesterday that the Aus total was not a bad score at all for day 1.
good old england, back to the time-honoured collapses.
Going to bed is like being a kid at christmas, thinking when you wake up it’ll be OK. Only its not.
this morning for example, woke up, saw Tremlett had been batting – “what’s he in for already?? ah, must just be a night watchman…. WHAT???”

Will Cook ever get his batting consistency up again or will the role of captain cook weigh heavy and affect his performances at the crease?

Anyone would think they we climate scientists!!!

Yeah, now you’re trolling.

My perception was that we were expecting to win a closeR series.

Notwithstanding today, I think that is a fair expectation, based upon results over the past few years for both teams, and the fact that England have won four of the past five series between the teams.

If I were Cook and Flower I wouldn’t be too worried yet. Any team can get into one of those ‘perfect storm’ moments where a particualr bowler, usually a ‘mercurial’ one like Johnson, just gets it right.

Think South Africa at the Oval 1994.

In fact, think South Africa at the hands of Mitchell Johnson in early 2009(?)

My precise facts may be a bit fuzzy, but I think it went something like:

Aus got 600-odd on a relatively placid pitch in Durban. Then they were 50-odd for three in no time, but effectively five down as Smith and Kallis both retired hurt, broken hand fending off a brute of a ball in Smith’s case and a split chin in Kallis’ case.

The worry is that Johnson has a ‘wonder series’ and just keeps doing this. As a dyed in the wool england fan, I still wouldn’t mind watching it, though. I bowled left-arm quickish when I played cricket and I love nothing more than watching someone bowling quick and aggressively, to the point where they become unplayable.

Just pulling you leg Zokes, it’s a sports thread (and I am not AA) don’t take it too seriously!

That’s a relief Grum, my legs will also be relieved. Nice irony in the post though!!! Sorry about the germ bit, bloody auto spell doesn’t like you nickname and that WAS unintentional.

Personally I’m hoping for MJ’s contributions to the rest of the series to be more along these lines:

Some of this would be quite amusing also:

And for the Australian in the house, this is where Broad learnt what to do when you hit the cover off it:

That’s a relief Grum, my legs will also be relieved. Nice irony in the post though!!!

You did it the last ashes thread just stop with your baiting and saying its others will you – you prod for reactions then pretend you do nothing. That is three folk who have cried troll [ I am the third]on you on one page on day two of a 5 test series – not weeks of this please.

And just to lighten the mood, I think Freddy should come out of retirement, just so we can have a few more moments like this:

Nice vids zokes

Blimey JY get a grip and no you are not the STW police. If I did something wrong, report it. otherwise back in you box.

I misread Grums post and made the point that perhaps we were slightly over-confident. That’s neither baiting nor trolling. Then like Zokes (fair weather joke) I pulled a few legs. SOH required, it’s cricket after all.

So please not weeks of it….

‘Mind the windows Tino’ – excellent.

The Fidel Edwards one is a bit odd though. It was Flintoff who was crocked within three years, Fidel is still earning big in the IPL while Freddie’s on a panel game on Sky.

Funny vid there Zokes, and does lighten the mood. As Martin says funny in more ways that one!

This is becoming quite amusing now though…

Blimey JY get a grip and no you are not the STW police. If I did something wrong, report it. otherwise back in you box.

What a lovely and conciliatory tone you use when called out by folk 🙄

I am only asking you not to do this I am not doing this , you are.
I have not responded in a similar tone I have simply asked , politely , again that you refrain.

lets say it was a great big misunderstanding from us all, you are right we wrong. I dont really care tbh lets just stop please.
Please

ENOUGH!

Everybody just calm down and watch that Freddie video again.

why is it that the same bores always seem to appear on the sport threads?

Please either shut up or piss off.

thanks awfully

Australia 2 down already! Both to to poor shots rather than good bowling.

It could be one of those days – maybe?

No chance of a 5th day!

Record (at the Gabba) 4th innings chase to win already required! Though if they could knock the Aussies over for another 100 you’d think they might have half a chance.

That’s me done. Let’s hope its not another horror to wake up to!

This has been one of those days when I’ve been happily stuck on a delayed plane with no access to the horrors of the Gabbatoir

And what the chuff is up with Swann? he’s bowling pies!

Still up here. Glimmers of hope earlier with the early wickets but all gone now really. Need some of that rain to come back. 🙂

Plenty of it here in Sydney. Wrong sort of rain for Qantas planes apparently. Guess I’ll just have to keep drinking their free wine, which is rather nice.

I might get to see Adelaide again some point today. Maybe…

And now I’m back in Adelaide, I’m not much happier with the cricket

And when it’s not going your way, it really doesn’t go your way. When things like that happen, you might as well just give up and go home…

Dumb

“Mate, there’s some shit on the end of your bat..”

“really?”

“no, the other end”..

Slightly big ask of England then…

Nah, we’ll knock them off in a couple of days 😉

Dumb

“Mate, there’s some shit on the end of your bat..”

“really?”

“no, the other end”..

😐

Would have been a smily face if there was any amusement in what happened. FFS what is it with english sportsman, well, footballers and cricketers specifically? They just seem to fall well below the expected mental temperament required of a professional sportsman. Is this a failure of management? historical pressure? what? We know the quality is there but when pressure situations develop our ball players fall apart…!

Just don’t get it.

It’s not just the English, the man in question there was Trott….

Well, at least we can’t lose any more wickets for the next few hours now…

Doesn’t seem to matter where these guys come from, as soon as they join an english team they absorb the same bloody mental failings. Management and captain must shoulder some blame, it’s their job to make sure these guys are thinking straight and in the best frame of mind to make good (or correct) decisions. No? Sportsman will always have moments of stupidity but english teams seem to take it to a whole new level.

Maybe being a bit harsh but when you see the Aussie’s pick them selves up and completely reverse a pressure situation it really highlights this. Why couldn’t we do what we know we can and just play the game, no need to ‘take it to them’ or drop the guard and pad out the match, just do what you do best and bat yourself back into contention…