Ashes debate thread.

[The Spin]

Ashes already! Ok then...

As an Englishman, I have to say come on England!

 

[evertonfan]

As a professional he shouldn't let crowds bother him. As shown by Dominic Thornley recently, this isn't always the case. He was a bit of an arse for doing what he did.

If crowds say things, then you have to let them go. Even if they are personal things, like a dig at your family or partner, they don't know them so let it go.

Professional footballers probably get some of the worst abuse around, especially when playing at away grounds and most of them play through it. The best way to respond is to play to the top of your game and get goals in football or in Monty's case, take wickets. Hopefully if he gets any in the winter, he will use it as a motivation pill.

Totally agree, he handled it well in England, and although the Aussie crowds are a lot tougher and more abusive, I think he can cope with it down under too. Also, Monty seems like nice bloke so I doubt he'll do a Thornley!

 

[.::Stevo::.]

Aussie crowds are a lot tougher

Damn right.

 

[JamesyJames3]

They're a lot tougher than the opposition crowds he has come accross so far. He was accepted in India and by the English crowds. But the aussie crowd tougher than the English, haha, not a chance. There will be plenty of English there to back Monty up!

 

[evertonfan]

Damn right.

It isn't exactly something to gloat about. At the end of the day it's whichever set of fans consumes the most ale which is the toughest verbally. I'm backing the Barmy Army!!

 

[James219]

Well, our crowds can be abusive, but not to the extent some make out. As for the English- I'm not really sure, but I do know they have better material, better songs and make a whole lot more sense at times than the Australian ones do! Anyway, a select number of players will cop ALOT, but as JamesyJames stated, they should have the capacity to ignore that and move on- that's not always the case, though.

 

[BigCrickNan]

If Englands bowling attack gets together then England should be able to do very well in the series, but we should win if we have Hoggard, Harmy and Anderson fit. Freddie better be fully fit aswell....

As for batting we need Tres and KP on form, Vaughan to be back and Flintoff to regain some form as his batting hasn't been spectacular since the ashes.

 

[evertonfan]

If Englands bowling attack gets together then England should be able to do very well in the series, but we should win if we have Hoggard, Harmy and Anderson fit. Freddie better be fully fit aswell....

As for batting we need Tres and KP on form, Vaughan to be back and Flintoff to regain some form as his batting hasn't been spectacular since the ashes.

Totally agree with you there. I think the sooner Vaughan comes back and takes the captaincy, the sooner Fred can perfrom at his best again. IMO when Fred was captain he tried to hard to play 'captain's' innings rather than playing as a shotplayer like he normally does.

 

[RoboRocks]

England need a full squad or they won't stand a chance.
Australia have a lot of options and unlike England they have a lot of players in form at this minute.
I won't be surprised if they give Cosgrove or Hodge a chance.
They have been sucessfull for there respective English counties.
Australia look dead favorites.

 

[Sureshot]

Damn right.

You invented casual violence after all

 

[aussie1st]

Our batting will be fine, we got tons of backup too. It's the bowling which is the worry.
Dizzy was awesome in the domestic season over in Aus so I can see him going on with that form into the Ashes. McGrath should be more than fit for his comeback. 3rd bowler will be the interesting one. Also may see Watson back in the team to do the Freddie role.

 

[Englishandproud]

Dizzy was awesome in the domestic season over in Aus so I can see him going on with that form into the Ashes. McGrath should be more than fit for his comeback. 3rd bowler will be the interesting one. Also may see Watson back in the team to do the Freddie role.

No Brett Lee ?

Most people were writing England off again before the last ashes and even more so after the first test, but the best team won overall, and who knows what will happen between know and the start of the ashes with injuries etc. As it draws nearer it will become clearly who are the favorites, and as current holders shouldnt that be England ?

 

[aussie1st]

Lol yea forgot about him. Of course he'll be there, with McGrath back he'll be even better than he has in our previous games.

 

[James219]

There are LOADS of support options over here, which further emphasizes the significance of the home advantage as they can quickly slot into the squad- of course, that's all well and good in theory, but doesn't always mean anything in practice. Still, I'd say Australia do have the advantage, but England have the firepower, and will obviously need their key figures to be fully match fit. A driving factor behind their recent Ashes success was that of them devising specific plans for all players in all aspects of their games, and more importantly, executing them, so it'll be interesting to see how they've altered them to cater for the southern hemisphere.
By the way, KP's got the edge over many of his teammates due to his thourough knowledge of Australian conditions- firstly, he was rared in SA, which boasts similar climatic and pitch behaviours, and played Grade cricket in Sydney for several years.

As it draws nearer it will become clearly who are the favorites, and as current holders shouldnt that be England ?

No, not necessarily, purely on the basis that things don't always work that way- for instance, England are by no means the favourites to retain the Rugby Union WC next year. But still, they won't be going into this Ashes series as underdogs, as we're all aware of their abilities.

I won't be surprised if they give Hodge a chance.

I would be; seeing him face the English pace quartet (or trio...) won't exactly be great viewing, regardless of which nation you're actually supporting...

 

[embi]

I reckon the key player for England will be KP. He has had several good innings, and he is a huge talent, and has the ability to make huge hundreds.

Shame about Simon Jones missing the Ashes, he was one of our most important players last time.