Ashes debate thread.

[kodos]

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.

Lots of options? I don't think so and even many of the experts say England have better backup options then Australia.

 

[Gilchrist]

Hodge? No way. He isn't right to play test cricket, he simply is crap.

 

[hondeyho]

Lots of options? I don't think so and even many of the experts say England have better backup options then Australia.

In pace bowlers yes, and some very good backups as well. But in Spinners and decent batsmen, then we don't fare so well.

 

[Radaga]

As the two sides are pretty even i think it will come down to knowing and handling the conditions better, which should be Australia.
In the last ashes series the pitches were very slow and broke up quickly, i doubt you'll see that in Australia, especially at the Gabba or WACA.

 

[kodos]

In pace bowlers yes, and some very good backups as well. But in Spinners and decent batsmen, then we don't fare so well.

Yep, the pace bowlers are sorted and I think England do have more than comptent back upo batsmans. They still have Shah, Joyce, Key and Cook(that is if he is replaced by Vaughan). Spinners, yes it is a problem but its been a problem for the last few decades and I think Monty Panesar is a more than decent spin bowler.

 

[James219]

Nah, there are plenty of globally unknown options over here, who could be called upon if needed. People ignore the pace depth because selecors refuse to play alot of them at A level and the like- and there are quite a few decent bats who are now familiar with the English brand of bowling.

As the two sides are pretty even i think it will come down to knowing and handling the conditions better, which should be Australia.
In the last ashes series the pitches were very slow and broke up quickly, i doubt you'll see that in Australia, especially at the Gabba or WACA.

But then again, the WACA surface hasn't been extremely characteristic of late....- it is expected to return to its old self, though. By the way, correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard a while ago that the boundary ropes in all venues were to be brought back to the fence or something, starting this summer?

 

[Gilchrist]

Why? No. The boundrey should stay the same.

 

[Radaga]

Weren't the boundaries already brought in for the series against the West Indies and South Africa?
Bringing them in further than that would be ridiculous.

 

[irottev]

I think they're talking about putting them back.

 

[JamesyJames3]

In pace bowlers yes, and some very good backups as well. But in Spinners and decent batsmen, then we don't fare so well.

I disagree. At the moment we have better back up batsmen than bowlers. Mahmood, Plunkett, Lewis, Tremlett and Bresnan will all do a job, but aren't good enough in my opinion. For us to have decent back up bowlers we need the following 100% fit: Flintoff, Harmisson, Jones, Hoggard and Anderson.

Batsmen we have loads of cover. When Vaughan comes back it will probably be Cook to drop out. So, we will have Cook, Bell, Shah, Key, Butcher, Joyce (?) and more that I cant think of right now. Our batting is more secure than the bowling.

 

[Kal-El]

Hodge? No way. He isn't right to play test cricket, he simply is crap.

Tell that to the 200 he scored.

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.

He's a slogger. He can makes big scores on small grounds, like in England. However if you look at his test average overseas (outside England) it's only 34. He gets found out on the larger grounds. The same with ODIs his average drops to 47 (not including Safrica, 434 runs were recently scored in an innings there), which while still impressive, is far less than his average including games in England.

 

[evertonfan]

He's a slogger.

No he isn't. Have you seen him play? Although he likes to hit the odd six, most of shots rely on timing and finding the gap.

Also may see Watson back in the team to do the Freddie role.

Shane Watson, really? I've seen him a few times and I don't think he is up to international standards, although i'm sure you have seen him more than I have. You would be better off just playing with 7 batsmen (keeper included), and 4 bowlers.

 

[JamesyJames3]

Tell that to the 200 he scored.


He's a slogger. He can makes big scores on small grounds, like in England. However if you look at his test average overseas (outside England) it's only 34. He gets found out on the larger grounds. The same with ODIs his average drops to 47 (not including Safrica, 434 runs were recently scored in an innings there), which while still impressive, is far less than his average including games in England.

Im sorry, you're judging him on two away tours? Pakistan and India, where he did ok. I'm sorry if he doesn't meet you're extremely high standards but he is anything but a slogger.

And small grounds in England? There is only one real small ground in England which is Taunton which we don't play International Cricket at.

 

[evertonfan]

The same with ODIs his average drops to 47 (not including Safrica, 434 runs were recently scored in an innings there), which while still impressive, is far less than his average including games in England.

Why are you discarding the Safrica series anyway? That 400+ game was a complete freak and will not happen again in the next few years! If anything you should be praising the fact that he scored 434 runs in his debut tour!! Pietersen is just as much a slogger as Brian Lara or Sachin Tendulkar, he is just a powerful bloke, and that makes clearing the boundaries a little easier!

 

[embi]

He's a slogger. He can makes big scores on small grounds, like in England. However if you look at his test average overseas (outside England) it's only 34. He gets found out on the larger grounds. The same with ODIs his average drops to 47 (not including Safrica, 434 runs were recently scored in an innings there), which while still impressive, is far less than his average including games in England.

Just coz KP can hit big sixes (like many other batsman, e.g. Flintoff) doesn't make him a slogger. In fact, his best ability is his improvised shots.
And don't forget, England is his home country, so he is obviously going to feel more confident playing there.

Unlucky to be flamed by everyone for that remark mate, but this is an Aussies vs Poms thread...

You just can't deny though, that he hasnt made an impact on the England team.