Skater
ICC Chairman
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2004
- Profile Flag
- England
We have actually been better in ODIs of late than we have in tests. But ODIs are still well attended.
Australia in England - 2009 Ashes Tour
- Thread starter Sureshot
- Start date
evertonfan
Chairman of Selectors
So that's why we pack out our stadiums for every ODI then? Even though our fans know we aren't all that good at ODI's they still turn up in their masses to cheer us on. Ya know, coz we're the best and all that. None of our national teams are the best in the world yet the support we get for them is absolutely unrivalled.
Let's see how he fares in these conditions against an attack a little better than that of Derbyshire/Leics/Glamorgan/Gloucs.
I didn't see any of Australia's tour of South Africa so I can't really comment on a lot of their players, like Hughes and North. But I have seen quite abit of England and if you look at there batting line-up there are some big question marks. Cook looked really bad against the Windies, he did score some runs irrc but it was on a flat pitch. Bopara played well against them, but has only played a handful of test's so far. I would also like to chuck in Prior's name, but I'm pretty sure that would get shot down pretty quickly. I just don't rate him for what ever reason.
Strauss
Pietersen
Collingwood
They are the only three batsmen I would expect to do well in this series, Bopara could go well but I'm not sure he is ready for the number three posistion.
Strauss
Pietersen
Collingwood
They are the only three batsmen I would expect to do well in this series, Bopara could go well but I'm not sure he is ready for the number three posistion.
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smssia0112
Chairman of Selectors
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2005
Check out our crowds mate, we fill much larger stadiums than you do.
Skater
ICC Chairman
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2004
- Profile Flag
- England
If we had bigger grounds we'd fill those too.
King Pietersen
ICC Board Member
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2006
- Location
- Manchester
All the talk and all the comparisons seem to come from the 2005 series, with people saying how much weaker England are, seemingly forgetting the last Ashes series in 06/07. The teams are notably different from that series, with Australia's much weaker, and England's side a heck of alot stronger. Here's a little comparison.
Australia were continually set a good platform and got off to a brilliant start by Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, they've both retired, replaced by Simon Katich, who although has had a good 12 months, struggled big time in England, and the young gun Phillip Hughes, who although has alot of potential, is certainly not guaranteed to perform, and I doubt will outperform Hayden's efforts from 06/07, though I may be proven wrong. Scoring runs against 2nd Division bowling for a few months is certainly no indication of how he'll do in the series though.
Then the 2 big players in the middle order Ponting and Hussey who were in majestic form in 06/07 were a shadow of their former selves in the last 12 months, with Ponting averaging 39 and Hussey 31. They'll need to perform much better than that to give themselves a shot.
Then those 4 were supported by Symonds, Martyn and Clarke to start the series off, with 1 retired and the other may as well have retired. Then once Martyn's ship sailed half way through the series he was replaced by Australia's current inform batsman, Michael Clarke. There's no guarantee he'll perform in this series though, especially given his somewhat poor performance in the series in England in 2005, and also the struggles in the T20 WC in England.
Then they had the irreplacable Adam Gilchrist at 7, a man who has since been replaced by Brad Haddin, a man who is not in the same ballpark as Gilchrist, and although his form started to improve against South Africa, he still never really shone, bar 1 solitary innings against NZ.
Then we come to the bowlers which were led by the masters, Warne and McGrath. Both have retired, but we'll be seeing alot of one of them, unfortunately for Australia we'll be seeing him in the Commentary Box. They then had an in-form and massively impressive Stuart Clark, who in the last 12 months has massively struggled with injuries, and only managed 6 Tests in the year, a number surpassed by England's injury prone all-rounder Andrew Flintoff. Then Brett Lee finished off the attack, but he has also been struggling big time with an ankle injury, and his place is now massively in doubt.
Sure Mitchell Johnson has managed to fill the void somewhat, but the rest of the attack have either been more injury prone than our Fred, or are very much an unknown entity. There's certainly no threat of being spun out by a genius spin bowler, with Nathan Hauritz, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich looking set to provide the spin options. Hardly a spin attack to put shivers into the minds of the England side.
This compares with England, who are undeniably stronger than they were in Australia in 06/07. The side in 06/07 was carrying players who simply weren't good enough at the time, in the form of Ian Bell, Ashley Giles, Geraint Jones, Chris Read, James Anderson, Stephen Harmison and Sajid Mahmood. England also had problems with the form of Andrew Strauss who was in a terrible run of form, and Alastair Cook who's technique was ripped apart by Glenn McGrath and Stuart Clark. The side was carried by Pietersen, Collingwood, Flintoff and in the final couple of Tests, Monty Panesar.
We've now got an in form opening partnership, with both Strauss and Cook finding form, averaging 50 and 49 respectively in the last 12 months. Ravi Bopara has come into the side and flourished, scoring 3 Test centuries in 3 innings, a number that surpasses that of Ponting for the 12 month period. Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood have continued their good form, averaging 57 and 53 in the period, and we've got a wicket-keeper that has looked at ease at the crease and has some serious batting talent in Matty Prior.
The bowling attack is also far stronger, with Anderson developing into a genuinely good Test bowler and one of the finest swing bowlers in the world. The young and immensely talented Stuart Broad, the leading Test match wicket taker in 2009 Graeme Swann, Andrew Flintoff and then the option of picking between a guy who's been tearing up the 1st Division of the CC in Graham Onions, the now fully fit Ryan Sidebottom and leg spin prospect Adil Rashid.
I can still see Australia sneaking a series win 2-1, but it's going to be a bloody close series, and certainly will not end in a 5-0 whitewash in favour of the Australian's. They're just not good enough to administer such punishment without the likes of Warne, McGrath, Hayden, and with key players like Ponting, Hussey and Clark in poor form. Unfortunately the gap in talent in that series means that even with Australia losing all that talent, they're still a top side, just one that gives the opposition a better chance of beating them. England definitely have a chance this time round, and if our players perform to the best of their abilities and play as well as they can throughout the series, then we'll have an excellent chance of winning it. Going to be a brilliant series, and is shaping up to be the most even series in a long time!
Australia were continually set a good platform and got off to a brilliant start by Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer, they've both retired, replaced by Simon Katich, who although has had a good 12 months, struggled big time in England, and the young gun Phillip Hughes, who although has alot of potential, is certainly not guaranteed to perform, and I doubt will outperform Hayden's efforts from 06/07, though I may be proven wrong. Scoring runs against 2nd Division bowling for a few months is certainly no indication of how he'll do in the series though.
Then the 2 big players in the middle order Ponting and Hussey who were in majestic form in 06/07 were a shadow of their former selves in the last 12 months, with Ponting averaging 39 and Hussey 31. They'll need to perform much better than that to give themselves a shot.
Then those 4 were supported by Symonds, Martyn and Clarke to start the series off, with 1 retired and the other may as well have retired. Then once Martyn's ship sailed half way through the series he was replaced by Australia's current inform batsman, Michael Clarke. There's no guarantee he'll perform in this series though, especially given his somewhat poor performance in the series in England in 2005, and also the struggles in the T20 WC in England.
Then they had the irreplacable Adam Gilchrist at 7, a man who has since been replaced by Brad Haddin, a man who is not in the same ballpark as Gilchrist, and although his form started to improve against South Africa, he still never really shone, bar 1 solitary innings against NZ.
Then we come to the bowlers which were led by the masters, Warne and McGrath. Both have retired, but we'll be seeing alot of one of them, unfortunately for Australia we'll be seeing him in the Commentary Box. They then had an in-form and massively impressive Stuart Clark, who in the last 12 months has massively struggled with injuries, and only managed 6 Tests in the year, a number surpassed by England's injury prone all-rounder Andrew Flintoff. Then Brett Lee finished off the attack, but he has also been struggling big time with an ankle injury, and his place is now massively in doubt.
Sure Mitchell Johnson has managed to fill the void somewhat, but the rest of the attack have either been more injury prone than our Fred, or are very much an unknown entity. There's certainly no threat of being spun out by a genius spin bowler, with Nathan Hauritz, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich looking set to provide the spin options. Hardly a spin attack to put shivers into the minds of the England side.
This compares with England, who are undeniably stronger than they were in Australia in 06/07. The side in 06/07 was carrying players who simply weren't good enough at the time, in the form of Ian Bell, Ashley Giles, Geraint Jones, Chris Read, James Anderson, Stephen Harmison and Sajid Mahmood. England also had problems with the form of Andrew Strauss who was in a terrible run of form, and Alastair Cook who's technique was ripped apart by Glenn McGrath and Stuart Clark. The side was carried by Pietersen, Collingwood, Flintoff and in the final couple of Tests, Monty Panesar.
We've now got an in form opening partnership, with both Strauss and Cook finding form, averaging 50 and 49 respectively in the last 12 months. Ravi Bopara has come into the side and flourished, scoring 3 Test centuries in 3 innings, a number that surpasses that of Ponting for the 12 month period. Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood have continued their good form, averaging 57 and 53 in the period, and we've got a wicket-keeper that has looked at ease at the crease and has some serious batting talent in Matty Prior.
The bowling attack is also far stronger, with Anderson developing into a genuinely good Test bowler and one of the finest swing bowlers in the world. The young and immensely talented Stuart Broad, the leading Test match wicket taker in 2009 Graeme Swann, Andrew Flintoff and then the option of picking between a guy who's been tearing up the 1st Division of the CC in Graham Onions, the now fully fit Ryan Sidebottom and leg spin prospect Adil Rashid.
I can still see Australia sneaking a series win 2-1, but it's going to be a bloody close series, and certainly will not end in a 5-0 whitewash in favour of the Australian's. They're just not good enough to administer such punishment without the likes of Warne, McGrath, Hayden, and with key players like Ponting, Hussey and Clark in poor form. Unfortunately the gap in talent in that series means that even with Australia losing all that talent, they're still a top side, just one that gives the opposition a better chance of beating them. England definitely have a chance this time round, and if our players perform to the best of their abilities and play as well as they can throughout the series, then we'll have an excellent chance of winning it. Going to be a brilliant series, and is shaping up to be the most even series in a long time!
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King Cricket
International Coach
You missed Gilly.
King Pietersen
ICC Board Member
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2006
- Location
- Manchester
I also missed Langer and Martyn, was more of a final summary, and they were all mentioned earlier in the post so I didn't feel they needed to be mentioned again.
King Cricket
International Coach
^ Anyway, that was some bloody good analysis. Wish I could give you some reps. But first I need to "spread" some around me
Yeah I was trying to give him reps too, one of the best post's I have seen in a long time.
King Cricket
International Coach
Hey Skater, will you play for Australia?
Skater
ICC Chairman
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2004
- Profile Flag
- England
If you compare the line ups:
Strauss - Katich: Strauss
Cook - Hughes: Tie
Bopara - Ponting: Ponting, on current form it's close
Pietersen - Hussey: Tie, on current form Pietersen
Collingwood - Clarke: Clarke
Prior - Haddin: Prior
Flintoff - McDonald: Flintoff
Broad - Johnson: Tie
Anderson - Siddle: Tie
Swann - Hauritz: Swann
Onions - Hilfenhaus: Hilfenhaus
England 4-3 Australia
Strauss - Katich: Strauss
Cook - Hughes: Tie
Bopara - Ponting: Ponting, on current form it's close
Pietersen - Hussey: Tie, on current form Pietersen
Collingwood - Clarke: Clarke
Prior - Haddin: Prior
Flintoff - McDonald: Flintoff
Broad - Johnson: Tie
Anderson - Siddle: Tie
Swann - Hauritz: Swann
Onions - Hilfenhaus: Hilfenhaus
England 4-3 Australia
coolz_hari
International Coach
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2008
- Location
- City of Destiny
Prior - Haddin: Prior ..definitely haddin is better
