Australia in England - 2009 Ashes Tour

[Howsie]

Lets say Collingwood or Bopara have a horror start to the Ashes, is Ian Bell going to be the replacement. Or do England have someone else.

 

[King Pietersen]

Yeh would probably be Belly tbh, but Samit Patel would be a MUCH better option, but they won't select him because he can't get off the pies. He'd be much better than Colly.

 

[Ollie_H]

Prior has a good record and all, but him not having the gloves and playing only as a batsmen could affect his batting. I'm guessing if that happened England would just drop Foster, but is he really good enough to play as a batsmen only.

You would think that if he was only playing as a batsmen it might bump his record up. He then wouldn't have to worry about his keeping and would have a free mind when it comes to batting. If his batting did drop they probably would drop foster and put Prior back keeping, because although Foster has an FC double hundred which means he can certainly bat he probably wouldn't be able to fill the void as keeper/batsmen.

Before anyone gets on my back, in no way am I suggesting we should drop Prior I just thought it would be a good discussion point as Foster is an exceptional keeper.

 

[King Pietersen]

You would think that if he was only playing as a batsmen it might bump his record up. He then wouldn't have to worry about his keeping and would have a free mind when it comes to batting. If his batting did drop they probably would drop foster and put Prior back keeping, because although Foster has an FC double hundred which means he can certainly bat he probably wouldn't be able to fill the void as keeper/batsmen.

Before anyone gets on my back, in no way am I suggesting we should drop Prior I just thought it would be a good discussion point as Foster is an exceptional keeper.

I don't really think Prior's keeping is a real problem in England in a Test match. He only seems to struggle in the subcontinent when the bounce is unpredictable. I don't think we can honestly go in with 5 batsmen and then Fred and Foster, just wouldn't be enough batting against a quality bowling attack that includes the likes of Johnson, Clark and Siddle. We need as much batting as we can get.

 

[Howsie]

v India 2007-2008 5 9 2 161 53* 23.00 368 43.75 0 1 1 12 0
v Sri Lanka 2007-2007 3 5 1 165 79 41.25 389 42.41 0 2 1 20 0
v West Indies 2007-2009 10 14 3 739 131* 67.18 985 75.02 2 5 2 90 5

I was just looking at his record and he really hasn't done that much. He has a real good average against the West Indies, a pretty good one against Sri Lanka and a poor one against India. Could Matt Prior be a tad overrated as a test batsmen?

Batting records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | Cricinfo.com

 

[King Pietersen]

His poor record against India comes from the 1 poor series he's had with the bat, in the home series against them. He performed far better with the bat in India in December. Forget the stats as well, he looks the part at the crease. He's very good technically, he's strong all round the wicket and looks capable of playing a big innings at a good pace. He's basically a batsman that has learnt to keep, and he's a very, very good batsman at that. He might be a little over-rated, but he's performed in all but 1 series, can't ask for more than that.

 

[mattfb]

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.

Your right there, but then you've contradicted yourself by comparing Katich to the 05 series, Yes it helps because it tells you about how he goes in England but his recent form simply cannot be overlooked. He is so reliable and solid, I always feel safe when he's there - if he has survived the first 5 overs. Hughes is young, he's inexperienced and there is simply no way to predict how he will go. But the fact that he is coming off good form and he is playing so well in England atm is encouraging. I think our opening partnership will be solid.

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.

Your right there. Our 3, 4 and 5 has been terrible recently and I feel so nervous thinking about them playing in the Ashes as they could shine and score tons or they could continue there crappy form. And I'll tell you what, playing in the English swing is no way for Ponting, Hussey or Clarke to get into good form. When they are on form they can all kill swing bowling, but when they are out of form you pack the slips and you will get an edge eventually.

Our back up behind them is really shaky too. It's chopped and changed so much but I think if we can get 1 or 2 solid players in there who can constantly guarantee us a 30+ every time I will be happy. Because eventually you are going to convert those scores to a ton. I'm not looking for a number 6/7 who scores at a strike rate of 100+ and averages over 50. I want a solid batsmen we can rely on.

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.

Personally I'm not worried about Clark. His conditions suit England so well, it's mouthwatering thinking about what he can produce. You can look at it like he's had an alarming lack of match time and could be out of form, or you can look at it like he has had plenty of time to regain to full fitness and he will be coming straight into the ideal conditions for him. He will star for us imo. I'm excited about what Clark will do.

Johnson is our Lee. He has done a full 360 the last 12 months and has gone from that shite player who can't do anything to the guy that manages to pick up 4 wickets every time. I hated him before, but he's earned my respect. I love him now. But I have no idea how he will go on England, he drags it across a lot and I think the cold might not be good for him. If he's not warmed up enough I can see him bowling a lot of half volleys for the likes of Bopara and KP who will just kill them.

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 opening partnership is a worry, but I'm just thanking my lucky stars they arent Right handed. Like I previously said, I don't know how Johnson will go in those opening few overs and Right handers might be able to feast on him. I hope I'm wrong though.

Bopara looks really good and I can see him smashing Johnson. I think Clark will really tie him down and give him a real test of character but I hope Johnson performs well and doesn't bowl to many stray balls to let him off the hook. Either way he is a big worry.

Overall I agree with a lot of things there, and the England batting line up really worrys me. I think if they play to their best and our batsmen keep under performing you will bat us out of the game every time. Unless Clark and Johnson really fire up and Hauritz can star. Haurry has potential, so I'm just hoping for the best.

 

[King Pietersen]

We better make sure we leave a few stray cricket balls around the outfield when your boys are warming up then. Could do with Clark, Siddle and Johnson out of the series......

 

[mattfb]

Haha, you should get a job at Cardiff or Lords or something and leave a few balls around before we start the warm-ups

 

[Ollie_H]

Surely the Aussies can't be that stupid to tread on a few cricket balls? Surely? :o. They'll probably steal them

 

[Themer]

Now we're both out of the Twenty/20s it gives both teams a good period to get ready for the Ashes.

I think it'll be close as either team is capable of beating the other on any given day my prediction would be 2-1 either way with me leaning toward the Aussies.

 

[Will_NA]

I wonder what the banter will be like during the Ashes. It's my first one since joining.

 

[Sureshot]

Weren't you here for the last one down under?

 

[karnog]

How much 5 day cricket has Sidebottom played since his return from injury? I wouldn't imagine a lot so he might be underprepared for this format. Might as well stick with Onions unless Side has proved test form and fitness.

 

[Howsie]

I thought I would do a quick un-biased rating of each posistion.

Cook-Hughes
Strauss-Katich
Bopara-Ponting
Pietersen-Hussey
Collingwood-Clarke
Flintoff-North?
Prior-Haddin
Broad-Johnson
Swann-Hauritz
Sidebottom-Siddle
Anderson-Clark

4-3 to Aus.