Australia in England - 2009 Ashes Tour

[0601731]

England are no longer favourites. Looking at the how the two teams are going in West Indies and South Africa. Australia are beating SA quite easily although, as you said, SA haven't played like they should be and England are struggling to beat the WI.

England's bowlers are not taking wickets and the likes of Sidebottom and Harmison are looking so non-threatening. With Australia's batting line-up, England have an uphill task to be able to bowl Australia out twice.

a lot of it has to do with the standard of pitches provies in the west indies,i think the english bowling attack with be fine once get better conditions.

 

[RoboRocks]

The ball will move for Harmison but he doesn't have the pace and venom that he showed in 2004.
Sidebottom's injuries have cost him the pace he needs to trouble batsmen with his swing.

The standard of pitches doesn't help but both of them have lot that nip that they had.

Broad and Anderson will be fine and I'm sure Broad for one will want to bowl on some more helpful conditions but England will need another seamer. Simon Jones preferably.

 

[0601731]

The ball will move for Harmison but he doesn't have the pace and venom that he showed in 2004.
Sidebottom's injuries have cost him the pace he needs to trouble batsmen with his swing.

The standard of pitches doesn't help but both of them have lot that nip that they had.

Broad and Anderson will be fine and I'm sure Broad for one will want to bowl on some more helpful conditions but England will need another seamer. Simon Jones preferably.

it would be good to see jones back and i am pretty sure flintoff will be back to his best against the aussies and i am prety sure by then sidebottom will be back to complete fitness,harmisson remains an enigma but lets hope for england's sake that he fires.

 

[barmyarmy]

Conditions will play a big part. If we're going to prepare the same kind of pitches the Windies have then we'll get beaten.
I've noticed a lot less pace and bounce in English wickets over the past few summers and dropping Old Trafford certainly won't help that.
I can't see many grounds for optimism going into the series when we've lost to all and sundry recently but we might yet be suprised. Hardly ideal preperation losing to the West Indies though while Australia are crushing South Africa.
The irony of course is that this is a weaker Australian team than the one which toured here in 2005 and there for the taking in many ways.

 

[Yorkshire_No1]

The pitches are to blame IMO. Yesterday I thought everyone bar Khan bowled pretty well especially young Broad.

In the right conditions Broad, Anderson and Sidebottom will prove a major threat to anyone. England will blow away the Windies over here and then regain the Ashes. To do this they need to go with 5 bowlers though including 2 spinners

 

[King Pietersen]

The Australian's are talking about losing to South Africa pumping them up, surely England losing to West Indies will have the same effect? I think we'll bowl a heck of alot better in English conditions. Broad's proven he can take wickets on flat decks with no swing, so he can do it in England, Anderson's going to be our main weapon with conventional and reverse swing, then we'll hopefully have Flintoff back, plus either Monty or Swann and then a 3rd seamer.

As for that 3rd seamer, it's between Mark Davies, Simon Jones or Stephen Harmison for me. Jones and Harmison go ahead of Davies if they are fit and firing at the start of the county season, but that's not looking likely, not Test Match levels of fitness and form anyway, so if they're not upto Test Cricket then it's Davies all the way. He's a very Hoggard-esque bowler, but better. He had a much, much better season than Hoggard, who was actually outbowled by Davies, Harmison, Anderson and Amjad last year in County Cricket! Davies has been fantastically consistent, in his last 4 full seasons these are his figures:

2004: 1826 balls, 75 Maidens, 50 wickets at 18.76
2005: 1780 balls, 94 maidens, 49 wickets at 16.53
2007: 1756 balls, 81 maidens, 34 wickets at 24.23
2008: 1526 balls, 72 maidens, 41 wickets at 14.63

He's also performed for England A during the tour of New Zealand, taking 4-54 in his 1 game so far. He is a fantastic bowler, deadly accurate, gets seam movement, is of Hoggard-esque pace and he also gets wickets whilst tying the opposition down. He should be launched into the side, as he's exactly the kind of bowler Australia could struggle against. Get him in the side.

With Davies in my team, my XI for Cardiff would be:

Cook
Strauss *
Shah/Bopara (if Shah fails in England against West Indies, he's out)
Pietersen
Collingwood
Prior +
Flintoff
Broad
Swann/Panesar (Probably Swann for balance at this stage)
Anderson
Davies

I seriously don't think our bowling attack is as bad as people are making out. We've just had some ridiculously flat tracks to play on in the West Indies, and I just hope we get some decent pitches in England for the Ashes. That's the team I'd go with, with Davies in for Amjad, and Flintoff in for one of the spinners. You don't need 2 spinners in England, and picking 2 when you've got a couple of perfectly good seam bowlers would be madness. Davies and Flintoff in for Amjad and Panesar would be my changes to the current England team, with the possiblilty of Bopara coming in for Shah if he fails at home against the Windies.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Phillip Hughes is going to absolutely murder the living daylights out of Stuart Broad's bowling.

I'd suggest you Englishmen get your tickets quick to come see this magnificant talent play because when you're older then you'll be able to tell your grandchildren that you saw Phillip Hughes bat live.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Also...

I think Owais Shah's goal will eventually be to get his batting average higher then Stuart Broad's bowling average. Although, the possibility of this happening seems quite unlikely.

The guy is struggling on placit pitches against bowlers averaging over 40. Can't believe there was talk of this guy being a better batsman then Shane Watson, TBH. I think that he is really going to struggle against Mitchell Johnson & Pete Siddle when the conditions are doing a bit in England later this year. Both of them will probably be too much for him, in my opinion.

Why don't you bring in Samit Patel? Last time I checked he averaged 47 in first-class cricket, which is the highest average, only second to Kevin Pietersen.

 

[King Pietersen]

Shah is better than Watson. What's Watson done with the bat at Test level? Watson had 4 Tests against India to make some runs, and failed every time. Shah came in in 2006 for a Test in India, and made 88 on debut. He was also unlucky to run himself out on 57, as if he'd not done that he'd have surely gone on to score a hundred on what was a very flat track first up. He's a far better batsman than Watson.

We'll have to see how Phil Hughes goes in England, I don't think it'll be easy for him adapting to English conditions, although he is being helped out by being given a Middlesex contract =/ I think Jimmy Anderson's late swing both ways could possibly cause him some problems. Broad's going to surprise you as well Ben, he's bowled much better in this series on placid tracks, and is averaging in the early 30's for the series, which is very impressive considering the wickets. Nice to see you massively hyping the lad after 2 Tests though.

Fats Patel isn't fit enough frankly. He's been warned by England and Notts, and has subsiquently been dropped from the ODi squad. He's not working hard enough at his fitness, and although he may be a good batsman, if he's not got the detirmination to get fitter, he's not going to have the detirmination to make it at Test level. Bopara's better as well. One of the most naturally gifted batsmen in England, turned up at the West Indies after 41 hours on a plane, didn't sleep, then played a Tour game in the morning and made a hundred, then made one in the Test match as well. Class batsman, and he's next in line, and could be the man in posession come the Ashes.

 

[aussie_ben91]

James Anderson trouble Phil Hughes? I think not. Dale Steyn has bowled several massive inswingers to Hughes already during the South African tour, which Hughes has accounted for easily with a nice straight bat. He doesn't seem to be phased by the swinging delievery. The only real flaw his got in his technique is gloving the ball down the legside, which can be avoided easily by simply leaving the ball and latching onto anything loose outside offstump.

None of you may know this but Hughes has only just turned 20 and has already scored well over 60 hundreds in his life. Which is incredible, given that his spent the majority of the last 6 years of his life playing junior state & junior international level cricket and playing first grade cricket, which is virtually a similar standard to county cricket in England.

Broad has bowled well on flat pitches but look at the batsman? Gayle, Sarwan, Chanderpaul? None of them match up to the likes of Hughes, Katich, Ponting, Hussey & Clarke. When Sarwan gets 291 on you, regardless of the conditions then you know you're in trouble. Especially when that's his first score of over 140 against the only minnow in world cricket - Bangladesh.

 

[Skater]

Gayle, Sarwan and Chanerpaul are better than all Aussies other than Ponting.

 

[King Pietersen]

LOLLOLLOL. You've surpassed yourself there Ben. Chanderpaul not better than Hughes, Katich, Clarke and Hussey? Considering your dependance on averages I thought you'd rate Chanderpaul highly. He's averaged over 100 in his last 2 years, and is averaging 73 this year. He's a class act, and although those players are very talented, there's no way they've achieved more or are better batsmen than Shiv Chanderpaul yet. Chanderpaul averages 48 against Australia, 71 against India, 55 against England, 47 against Sri Lanka, 47 against Sri Lanka, he's a top class batsman. There's no way you can say any of those players bar Ponting are better, or have achieved more than Chanderpaul.

Sarwan's a class act as well, he's one of the biggest underachievers in the world game. He's been in a real purple patch in this series, failing on only 1 ocassion, with 3 hundreds and a score of 96. He may not be as good a player as some of those mentioned, namely Ponting, Clarke and Hussey, but he's a very talented batsman. Look at his ODi record for example, 141 games, 4594 runs at an average of 44.17, if that's not a class batsman I don't know what is.

Broad's got the good batsmen out on at least 1 occassion in the series, getting Chanderpaul 3 times, and Brendan Nash twice, who's looked a very calm and composed player, and has made some good runs in his early Test career. He's also got Gayle and Sarwan on 1 ocassion. He's bowled fantastically on very batsman friendly pitches, and in England will be far more threatening than he was earlier in his career.

As for Anderson troubling Hughes, we'll have to wait and see won't we. No point making sweeping judgements yet as Hughes hasn't played in England, and Anderson's not bowled to Hughes.

 

[manee]

Conditions will play a big part. If we're going to prepare the same kind of pitches the Windies have then we'll get beaten.
I've noticed a lot less pace and bounce in English wickets over the past few summers and dropping Old Trafford certainly won't help that.
I can't see many grounds for optimism going into the series when we've lost to all and sundry recently but we might yet be suprised. Hardly ideal preperation losing to the West Indies though while Australia are crushing South Africa.
The irony of course is that this is a weaker Australian team than the one which toured here in 2005 and there for the taking in many ways.

I think the weather may dictate conditions - all predictions I have read points to a dry summer which means quickish pitches and reverse swing.

The Australian's are talking about losing to South Africa pumping them up, surely England losing to West Indies will have the same effect? I think we'll bowl a heck of alot better in English conditions. Broad's proven he can take wickets on flat decks with no swing, so he can do it in England,

Keep in mind that Broad has an average domestic record and 15 Test wickets at 46.46 in England and so he has some improving to do.

Anderson's going to be our main weapon with conventional and reverse swing, then we'll hopefully have Flintoff back, plus either Monty or Swann and then a 3rd seamer.

I think we could see a series free of reverse swing if it is anything like last years horribly damp summer.

As for that 3rd seamer, it's between Mark Davies, Simon Jones or Stephen Harmison for me. Jones and Harmison go ahead of Davies if they are fit and firing at the start of the county season, but that's not looking likely, not Test Match levels of fitness and form anyway, so if they're not upto Test Cricket then it's Davies all the way. He's a very Hoggard-esque bowler, but better. He had a much, much better season than Hoggard, who was actually outbowled by Davies, Harmison, Anderson and Amjad last year in County Cricket! Davies has been fantastically consistent, in his last 4 full seasons these are his figures:

2004: 1826 balls, 75 Maidens, 50 wickets at 18.76
2005: 1780 balls, 94 maidens, 49 wickets at 16.53
2007: 1756 balls, 81 maidens, 34 wickets at 24.23
2008: 1526 balls, 72 maidens, 41 wickets at 14.63

He's also performed for England A during the tour of New Zealand, taking 4-54 in his 1 game so far. He is a fantastic bowler, deadly accurate, gets seam movement, is of Hoggard-esque pace and he also gets wickets whilst tying the opposition down. He should be launched into the side, as he's exactly the kind of bowler Australia could struggle against. Get him in the side.

Davies is the obvious selection (took a second four wicket haul for England A, btw), but don't count on him succeeding at his pace, especially against Australia.

The guy is struggling on placit pitches against bowlers averaging over 40. Can't believe there was talk of this guy being a better batsman then Shane Watson, TBH. I think that he is really going to struggle against Mitchell Johnson & Pete Siddle when the conditions are doing a bit in England later this year. Both of them will probably be too much for him, in my opinion.

Don't count on easy adaptation to English conditions, remember that Doug Bollinger found the transition very difficult a couple years back and he tends to succeed in Australia. The conditions are helpful once you get the hang of them, but getting the hang of them is something which has often proved troublesome for touring seamers

Broad has bowled well on flat pitches but look at the batsman? Gayle, Sarwan, Chanderpaul? None of them match up to the likes of Hughes, Katich, Ponting, Hussey & Clarke. When Sarwan gets 291 on you, regardless of the conditions then you know you're in trouble. Especially when that's his first score of over 140 against the only minnow in world cricket - Bangladesh.

Saying that Chanderpaul does not match up to any of the Australian batsmen is unbridled ignorance. Since 01/01/07, Chanderpaul has 1765 runs at 98.05 with seven hundreds and twelve fifties. He has had 11 not outs in the 29 innings but even so, that is 60.86 runs per innings and it is a tribute to the man that he has carried his bat so often.

Broad's got the good batsmen out on at least 1 occassion in the series, getting Chanderpaul 3 times, and Brendan Nash twice, who's looked a very calm and composed player, and has made some good runs in his early Test career. He's also got Gayle and Sarwan on 1 ocassion. He's bowled fantastically on very batsman friendly pitches, and in England will be far more threatening than he was earlier in his career.

Broad is talented but raw and England have been mistaken in using Test cricket for him to mature as it has potentially cost them results and cost Broad in the long term. If Broad had been spending the time constructively in the nets and in the gym, he may have perfected the cutters and in swingers which are currently hugely under-cooked in the case of the latter and may have sorted out his stamina which hinders the conversion from ODI to Test cricket and prevents a lot of long spells from being bowled. He has so much talented and it may have been partially squandered through him being selected too early.

As for Anderson troubling Hughes, we'll have to wait and see won't we. No point making sweeping judgements yet as Hughes hasn't played in England, and Anderson's not bowled to Hughes.

Will certainly be a contest as I am sure Anderson will take the new ball - I'll make sure to bring it up, whatever happens.

 

[Dare]

Broad has bowled well on flat pitches but look at the batsman? Gayle, Sarwan, Chanderpaul? None of them match up to the likes of Hughes, Katich, Ponting, Hussey & Clarke. When Sarwan gets 291 on you, regardless of the conditions then you know you're in trouble. Especially when that's his first score of over 140 against the only minnow in world cricket - Bangladesh.

Chanders owns everyone in world cricket since 2007, go back and watch the last time Australia was in the Caribbean. Toyed with your best.


also them signatures with Hayden>> are a joke. Doesn't even compare to half the guy in there.

 

[Sureshot]

I have been very impressed by Phil Hughes and his FC record is second to none.