1st Test: England v Australia

[irottev]

England definitely in front. They started to form partnerships after lunch. Aussie's strength is their batting so England will try pull up towards 400 i'd say

 

[pcfan123]

If we get 400 I will be happy, we have to come out attacking with jimmy and broad. Pepper Hughes like a bland steak.

 

[aussie1st]

Into the battle of the lower orders. Hopefully we can get England's out quickly or we could be facing 400+.

 

[nikhil_99]

End of day 1 and Eng 336/7,still it is evenly balanced,Aus would like to get those 3 wickets as early as possible,but still Broad can bat and if Anderson stays there on crease and gives Broad the support he needs,Eng can get close to 380/400,if they reach to that total then it will be really interesting to see..

 

[Raj_Aryan]

Middle order played well for Eng,but they got 50+ score and then nobody was able to convert it to a big one, Siddle got 2 imp wickets,it would be a good 2nd day ,lets see how Aus plays on Day2

 

[RoboRocks]

A disappointing batting performance really. Not one of the batsmen could get a big score and all we really needed really to get a big first innings score and now we are relying on Broad and Swann to get us to 400. A lot also down to soft dismissals as well with Pietersen, Collingwood, Bopara and Cook all playing indifferent shots.

Credit to the Australian bowlers though. Hilfenhaus was outstanding today and a good decision from the selectors to play him as I thought Clark was a certainty. Siddle also showed why he could be a good bowler for Australia in this series but had no luck until the end.

 

[Therbs]

I'd say Australia are a tad in front but need to get the tail out fairly quickly to capitalise. Big mistake going in with Hauritz. Very negative move. Clarke is a far better bowler, a genuine wicket taker. I'm also disappointed with the lack of aggression from Australia.

 

[IanG]

I'd shag that blondie.

You and me both

 

[piriyanth]

336 for 7 mmmm...... not a bad score by England, hopefully they don't reach 400 or it's going to be tough for Australia

 

[Howsie]

England are in front for mine. If they can scrape through to 380-400 they should really be in the driver's set for the rest of the game. It was good to see Flintoff bat the way he did yesterday too.

 

[mattfb]

A good last session for us, good too see Siddle pick up 2 wickets as he really deserved them. I feel asleep at about just past 2 so I missed the last hour or so and didn't see the Siddle wickets . But gotta love Hauritz getting KP out haha, I was delighted. Hilfy kept up his good form to and deserved his wicket. We are'nt safe yet with Anderson and Broad at the crease with Swann to come.

Feelin Blue? added 2 Minutes and 17 Seconds later...

But this pitch isn't going to get any better Sean. Flintoff may be out, but he'd done the damage already.

I think the pitch only got better as the sun came out and the day went on. Bouncers went from 136km/h to 145km/h.

Feelin Blue? added 3 Minutes and 49 Seconds later...

But they can spell them perfectly. What's your point?

And that is why Hauritz is a danger in this series; Because KP is an absolute bell end.

Exactly what I was trying to tell CDM. Hauritz would have got him the exact same way if we bowled him just before lunch but I dont care at least he got him.

Matt 1
Society 0.

 

[Left_Hander]

Stayed up all night and got to bed at 3:30am. In the end it was worth it. It was great to watch Test cricket again, nothing better than the ebb and flow of a Test match. There were times in the second session where I wanted to throw things at the TV but seeing Haddin take that ripper catch turned the game for me. Siddle's deserved a wicket and the ball he got Prior with was a beauty. I reckon it could of hit the stumps even if he hadn't hit it. I would of thought Johnson would of bowled more overs but Hilfenhaus was defiently the best of the bowlers. I thought Hauritz didn't bowl that bad either, the wicket of Pietersen was smart bowling as he bowled it a little wider and Pietersen couldn't control himself. They showed the pitch map for Haurtiz to Pietersen and all of the delivers were in the same area except for the wicket ball which was almost a wide. Would of thought that Pietersen would of played the reverse sweep instead. The first 5-10 overs of Day 2 will probably decide who gets the points from Day 1. If Australia bowl England out before 350 they would be delighted, but they would probably take around 375.

Also, it's great to see the forum alive and buzzing in this thread in the first hour or so of the day. I enjoyed reading other people's thoughts on the game.

If you read all of that, points for you

 

[Howsie]

I fell asleep and missed the last hour but Matt Prior and Andrew Flintoff actually looked pretty good, mind you it was only the highlights that I caught. These two could form a pretty good combination during the ashes, both of them are very attacking and being at the crease at the same time they could take the game away from the Aussie's in a flash.

 

[karnog]

Saw the whole day. Didn't miss a ball. A lot of people saying its even stevens but tell you what to lose 2 quick wickets in major succession just before the end of play puts Australia in an advantage. They were facing the prospect of 340/5 but through just reward for Siddle the last two, well-set recognised batsman were bowled out. Personally i thought Hilfenhaus deserved 4. He should've had Pietersen and he kept the pressure with both wicket-taking potential and run stopping balls. Siddle was impressive but leaked runs and pressure. Johnson was good in patches. Kinda reminds me of when he first began his international career. Pick of the bowlers was Hilfy by a mile. Siddle bowled fantastic spells but also bowled average spells too.

 

[pcfan123]

Could anyone look up the average 4th innings score at Cardiff, I would but I am leeching wireless internet of a neighbour and its slower than Inzamans running between wickets!