1st Test: England v Australia

[mattfb]

Katich is very reliable player,once again he is playing acording to situation,roatating strike and stuff like that,he is a quality player...

He's not really rotating the strike that much. But he hasn't even really been troubled. Hit on the pad a bit but that was only because the ball hit the rough and spun a bit. Never near the edge though. Swann caused some problems when he pitched it shorter to him but he didn't do that enough, as you will know by me saying that for about 2 pages straight lol. Sounds like I actually want Katich to get out when I look back!!

 

[mattfb]

Panesar has lost his nip from the looks of it. He doesn't have the loop anymore and he hasn't been turning it either. Might be time to give up on Monty. County players have also got on top of him as well.

He managed to find the rough a few times tbf. When he did it spun a mile but not a lot of spin from the pitch.

 

[Howsie]

He'll probably give up one dayers soon enough - Just like Steve Waugh before him... I reckon he'll come close... Sachin's a master there's no doubting... I reckon it'll be close...

Form comes and goes - It helps the subcontinent teams get to play most of their games against sub par competition. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Zimbabwe!?!?!?

Forgot to add NEw Zealand to that list...

The Aussie's play NZ far more then the Indian's do. Still Tendulkar has a 1700 run lead on Ponting. That would take over a year just to chase that down alone.

 

[m_vaughan]

Good session for Australia. England have not bowled well though apart from Freddie and Swann. Still a long way to go though, so talking about lead at this stage is a bit premature.

But kudos to Ricky Ponting. 11,000 test runs is a fantastic achievement. A legend in every sense. Also noted on Cricinfo that he has reached the milestone with a higher average than any of the previous players. I don't care what others say or think, but in my lifetime (uptil now that is), I have not seen a better cricketer.

Punter, take a bow.:hpraise

 

[ajdude]

While slightly off-topic, I must point out from about 5 or 6 pages ago, that we now have a new word in our English dictionary.

So aggrestic.

I like it.

 

[mattfb]

Lol at Dizzy. When asked if this pitch was similar to the one he scored the double ton on:

"Oh nah I don't think so. The Bangladesh pitch was seaming a lot, heaps of carry. You had to be really good to score runs out there"

Dizzys a character haha. Good bloke.

 

[thewiseguy]

The Aussie's play NZ far more then the Indian's do. Still Tendulkar has a 1700 run lead on Ponting. That would take over a year just to chase that down alone.

If ponting had played as many innings as Sachin has at his current average he'd be on over 13000 runs... I reckon he might give sachin a run for his money...

BTW Sachin has played NZ 19 times... Punter's played em 13...

 

[mattfb]

If ponting had played as many innings as Sachin has at his current average he'd be on over 13000 runs... I reckon he might give sachin a run for his money...

BTW Sachin has played NZ 19 times... Punter's played em 13...

You need to consider how many years they have played though.

 

[Themer]

Next 30 minutes of play could decide the way this match is going to go. England need wickets to try and get on top if they don't then Australia are looking pretty well set to get up to our score and past it.

 

[Sureshot]

We need 3 wickets in this evenings session. Fred and Swann on from the start of the session.

 

[thewiseguy]

You need to consider how many years they have played though.

Sachin started in 89 - Ponting in 95... That's a six year deficit...

 

[RoboRocks]

He managed to find the rough a few times tbf. When he did it spun a mile but not a lot of spin from the pitch.

It was only occasionally. Hauritz has spun the ball more an further if we put it into perspective.

Hopefully Onions will playing the next test with the pitch being more seamer friendly.

 

[Howsie]

If ponting had played as many innings as Sachin has at his current average he'd be on over 13000 runs... I reckon he might give sachin a run for his money...

BTW Sachin has played NZ 19 times... Punter's played em 13...

Even if Tendulkar only makes another 1000 runs he will be pretty close to 14,000. It is going to be very hard for Ponting to chase that down. Unless his form picks up, because he has been pretty average for a year now.

Howsie added 0 Minutes and 59 Seconds later...

Sachin started in 89 - Ponting in 95... That's a six year deficit...

Tendulkar also started as a 16 year old, Ponting didn't make his debut until he was 20.

 

[angryangy]

Katich can get hit on the pad a fair bit against spin, but rarely falls plumb, thanks to his movement across the stumps. Swann's primary mode of dismissing left handers is the variation that strikes them plumb, but his best chance might be to give him more straight ones and the odd one turning away.

 

[mattfb]

Next 30 minutes of play could decide the way this match is going to go. England need wickets to try and get on top if they don't then Australia are looking pretty well set to get up to our score and past it.

Certainly. If England can take 1 or even 2 wickets in the next 30-60 minutes of play it tips the match right back on it's head. If we can only lose a maximum of 1 wicket this session we are easily ahead.