1st Test: England v Australia

[sami ullah khan]

Great batting by Punter. He seemed to be at his very best in this innings. Fluent drives were there to see for all. He did try to pull a few full balls and missed but that was only blemish in an otherwise brilliant innings. Katich was also at his scratchy best. He was very good at stealing singles. Australia are in a very good position and should be looking to score at least 550 in quick time to have a chance of winning the match.

 

[Owzat]

Although this is similar to 2005, we must remember that this England attack is not as potent as 2005. The spinners are looking ineffective and both Broad and Anderson have poorly today and will have to improve if England are to get near triggering a collapse.

Anderson and Flintoff are capable of taking wickets, Swann too and the others could chip in so anything's possible.

Biggy - my point was that a stronger aussie side got off to a flyer and we pegged them back. And the Oval is traditionally a flat track so it isn't as if there was a lot of help. But I'm sure you could have quoted all that I did off the top of your head, instead of talking out of it

 

[Howsie]

I was actually just thinking that Ponting will probably make a 100 here. Especially since the commentators just brought it up.

Haha, Ponting is such a legend

 

[angryangy]

I reckon Swann could trouble Hussey and North, but he just hasn't been able to have a crack at them. Greg Matthews thought the English spinners were too timid and should have baited the batsmen to go down the ground more. I don't doubt that the short straight boundaries favour the batsmen, but in a 200 run partnership you should probably try anything to get them out.

 

[Simbazz]

Mushy seems confident in both Swann and Monty's ability.

 

[Gilly Fan]

Evening/Morning all. In for another all nighter. Any Aussies joining?

 

[Howsie]

Evening/Morning all. In for another all nighter. Any Aussies joining?

Pfft, all nighter. You aussie's have it easy, it finishes at three right. You should try five, now that's an all nighter

 

[King Pietersen]

Love the way that Broad and Swann have already started to be slagged off after 1 poor day. We knew Panesar would be crap, and he will continue to be crap today. I thought Swann has been the pick of the bowlers. People seem to be forgetting the fact that Hauritz got slapped about by our tail before picking up 2 cheap wickets, his first over yesterday cost 4 boundaries, which isn't great for a bowler in the side to contain. Swann did an excellent job of containing from 1 end, and has a superb economy rate, just struggled with his lengths abit and wasn't helped by everyone else bowling tosh at the other end.

On another note, I'm being followed by Bumble on Twitter =] He's back to legend status, unless he says organised more than 3 times today.

 

[manee]

That Ladies and Gentlemen is why we won't win the Ashes. I love our team to bits but we are on the whole, a team full of bottlers with no spine whatsoever. Still, well played to Australia. Ponting proving he's still amazing.

That is oen of the most depressing days cricket I can recall for God knows how long. It's like being in 2001 again.

You guys got smashed at Lords in 2005 and went on to outplay Australia in the last four Tests. It is possible to return from here.

 

[Insomniac]

That Ladies and Gentlemen is why we won't win the Ashes. I love our team to bits but we are on the whole, a team full of bottlers with no spine whatsoever. Still, well played to Australia. Ponting proving he's still amazing.

That is oen of the most depressing days cricket I can recall for God knows how long. It's like being in 2001 again.

I can come up with a lot more depressing days for English fans. A LOT worse in fact - this isn't bad. England still put up a good score that day, and can easily make a huge comeback. All it takes is one session.

zMario added 1 Minutes and 59 Seconds later...

Pfft, all nighter. You aussie's have it easy, it finishes at three right. You should try five, now that's an all nighter

Ahhh, the joys of being in the middle of the cricketing world. England and South Africa to the left, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka petty much the same time zone, and Australia and New Zealand to the right.

The only "issue" is the West Indies, but we hardly ever tour there, so thats alright.

 

[Gilly Fan]

Pfft, all nighter. You aussie's have it easy, it finishes at three right. You should try five, now that's an all nighter

Pfft. You should try the 07 WC or Windies series in 08. Start at 12 and finish at 8. In NZ you can have a 4 hour nap before it starts.

Why you up at 5 watching a neutral team anyway?

 

[manee]

Love the way that Broad and Swann have already started to be slagged off after 1 poor day. We knew Panesar would be crap, and he will continue to be crap today. I thought Swann has been the pick of the bowlers. People seem to be forgetting the fact that Hauritz got slapped about by our tail before picking up 2 cheap wickets, his first over yesterday cost 4 boundaries, which isn't great for a bowler in the side to contain. Swann did an excellent job of containing from 1 end, and has a superb economy rate, just struggled with his lengths abit and wasn't helped by everyone else bowling tosh at the other end.

My head hurts a bit as a result of last night, so excuse me if anything here is incomprehensible but Broad has not had one bad day, he has a poor Test record. He is supposed to be ready for the Australians in this series after a couple years of grooming and although about a third of the first innings, he has bowled in, in the series is obscenely premature, a judgement on him must be made after three or four matches as to whether grooming him was the right move.

I thought Swann and Monty both bowled well. It is a flat pitch though and the Australians played risk free cricket. It must be noted that England threw the majority of their wickets away, and both bowlers have bowled in the right areas and caused a few, not many, but a few, chances. This is a 500 first-innings pitch, and so all bowling performances should be treated as such.

As for Hauritz, I think he is underrated. He is accurate and spins the ball a great deal, when he gets it right, he can be a very good container who can pry out wickets. I don't think it is fair to note that Hauritz got tapped by the tail and then disregard that he got them out. If somebody is taking a swing and the bowler then dismisses them as a result, it is most critical when rating the bowler's performance.

 

[King Cricket]

Evening/Morning all. In for another all nighter. Any Aussies joining?

It's actually afternoon here. Nearly 4'o'clock.

 

[Howsie]

Pfft. You should try the 07 WC or Windies series in 08. Start at 12 and finish at 8. In NZ you can have a 4 hour nap before it starts.

Why you up at 5 watching a neutral team anyway?

Uni break so I'm at home for two weeks. Thought I should try and watch all of it as I wont be seeing much of the other four test matches.

 

[OffCutters]

Monty bowling very well for you Pommies right now.