1st Test: England v Australia

[Howsie]

Just look around then.

Or you could of just told me

 

[SciD]

Or you could of just told me

Its most hilarious stuff to read on in PC. Oh that January 7th.

 

[Howsie]

Its most hilarious stuff to read on in PC. Oh that January 7th.

As I could imagine. Aussie_ben verse the rest of India was it?

 

[mattfb]

And me! haha nah Aussies vs india

That didn't have it's on thread though. India in Australia is high in the replied threads of Planet Crickets history but if the Ashes stayed in one thread it would end up higher. I mean over 2,400replies just for the First Test. Not to mention the old Ashes thread would had 800 replies, then the tour match had 300 then all the discussions about selections!

 

[Owzat]

I stayed up till 4am to see Anderson and Monty hang on by the skin of their teeth. Even though Australia drew the game it was kind of worth it. Well done to Collingwood, if it wasn't for him the game would of been over before tea. One of the Fox commentators after the game said "that even though there wasn't many runs or wickets for an hour and a half, it was still fascinating cricket. This is something that you don't get in Twenty20". I defiently agree with that.

Who said Test cricket is dead?

Quite agree, Collingwood was the one batsman who dug in and became an obdurate obstacle to the aussies.

The aussies should have won, having got us five down by lunch they should have been able to take out the rest of the order. Watching the highlights brought home what the tail managed, seven down with 30+ overs to go is some kind of batting. England always looked just a few overs away from defeat even late in the day. I say well done especially to Monty and Jimmy, holding out resolutely albeit the aussies were not exactly causing them all kinds of problems. Monty deserves much credit as a bit of a rabbit and he must have known his place was in doubt, might explain the subdued expression on his face as he walked back into the pavillion.

THE WELSH MIRACLE - ENGLAND'S 2nd INNINGS

England 20/2w (7 overs) - close of play day four, leaving England 219 runs behind with only eight wickets in hand and an extended day to play (98 overs)

England 70/5w (26.3 overs) - half the wickets gone and still another 11.3 overs until lunch. One end relatively open with Collingwood the only specialist batsman left and still 78.3 overs left to be bowled

England 159/7w (66.4 overs) - down to the last three wickets and still 38.2 overs left in the day, aussies looking odds on for a win with England still 80 runs behind

England 221/8w (86.1 overs) - Swann had given England hope, but still there were 18.5 overs to bat and now just Anderson and Panesar left to come in

England 233/9w (93.3 overs) - Collingwood gone and the stable door now so wide open ALL the horses should have bolted. 11.3 overs left for Anderson and Panesar to bat, England now just six runs behind but the overs left equation still favouring the aussies IF they could get Monty out.

That's not a "history lesson", it is intended to show just how big a hole England dug themselves out of. England finally faced 105 overs, to make it there from five down with 78 overs left, seven down with 38 overs left and for the last pair to survive 11 overs should put it into perspective.

Collingwood batted over twice as long as the other five in the top six combined and faced nearly four times as many deliveries. Broad (47), Swann (63), Anderson (53) and Panesar (35) all put in huge efforts to keep Collingwood company.



I don't like kneejerk reaction selection policies, but frankly Panesar and Broad should not have played, and Cook was lucky to be in the side to pick off hundreds against the West Indies. Bopara perhaps should be retained, but I think Collingwood should bat no 3. The problem sticking with the same side is that the same weaknesses would be retained and we simply can't afford to be that toothless bowling and for so many batsmen to get in and not go on to big scores - a recent failing of Cook. The rest of the order need to get their act together, convert 50s or be dropped. Problem is Vaughan was identifying this ages ago, but the batsmen do just enough to retain their place without ever resolving the problem. Someone said during the 1st Test that the batsmen need to take responsibility and not leave it to someone else, a few less thrown away wickets might go some way towards that. We may not like crawling along at 2.5 rpo like the dark old days, but the fact is if that is how we are to make 500+ then so be it.

 

[Hooper]

Keep consoling yourself Hoops. It's, literally, the first game in years England have been happy with a draw. Usually, it's us failing time and time again to bowl out the opposition.

Uh, you only got 6 wickets the entire match? So whats new? Why the celebration?

 

[.::Stevo::.]

You know your crap when Hauritz takes just as many wickets as your entire team.

 

[Gilly Fan]

You know your crap when Hauritz takes just as many wickets as your entire team.

The sig should read:

Hauritz - 6
England - 6

 

[Hooper]

Haha! That is a good idea, Sean. Stevo, sig change effective immediately please.

 

[irottev]

You know your crap when Hauritz takes just as many wickets as your entire team.

LOL OWNED!

That's actually pretty hilarious.

 

[King Pietersen]

I posted the comparison during the Test yesterday. Quite depressing.

 

[Leicester Fox]

We celebrate because we came so close to defeat and managed to get a win, kind of logical really, not like we're going to say, we got a draw but who cares we were outplayed.

 

[evertonfan]

You know your crap when Hauritz takes just as many wickets as your entire team.

Yet you still didn't beat us.

 

[Deleted member 13648]

Perfect time to join the thread I see

!x!Culli!x! added 1 Minutes and 20 Seconds later...

The sig should read:

Hauritz - 6
England - 6

Shame that it's;

Australia - 0
England - 0

then isn't it.

 

[Cricketdude]

You are acting as if you won which you clearly didn't. Hardly won a session at that.