Australia in England - 2009 Ashes Tour

[Leicester Fox]

Australia don't stand a chance.

You see that sig of yours? It should teach you about silly predictions

 

[King Pietersen]

Oh dear. Why, oh why have you done that, Sir Ian? It really isn't wise to wind the Australians up before they come, in 2005 we didn't get all outspoken, just played hard on the pitch and talking ourselves up 6 months beforehand will not help at all. Yes, with Pietersen at the helm we are looking good, but we need to win well in India, win well in the Caribbean, win well against Sri Lanka (if they are coming now?) before even thinking about the Aussies.

We have played one test with KP in charge and we won, but there were still many areas to look at, and although Australia are losing, we should not be getting cocky at this time. We could well look back and regret this comment.

Beefy actually made similar comments at the start of the 2005 Ashes tbh. He always hypes up England, but although it's not going to be an easy series, if we can regain the passion of 2005 Australia won't have a chance. Pietersen's now world class, not just potential, Bell's grown into a class player (I'm going to predict that he's going to be leading run scorer in the series), Cook's replaced Tresco perfectly, Freddies back firing, Harmison's back firing, Anderson's a better conventional swing bowler than Hoggard and Jones, Broad's going to be class come next summer, and if Prior stays in the side he'll be immense. I'd say our bowling is heaps stronger, and Australia's batting is good for the top 5, but our lower-middle order is far stronger.

Going to be an immense series. We need to play well in the series before the Ashes though.

 

[.::Stevo::.]

Australia don't stand a chance.

If your serious can i sig you

 

[Skater]

I think England will win, but it won't be easy. Certainly not as easy as Sir Ian Botham makes out.

 

[smssia0112]

If your serious can i sig you

I think we'll all be doing it when Australia retain the Ashes in 2009.

Yes, India are causing us a lot of problems, but a few points:
a) It doesn't mean they're the best in the world because of one series. They're beating us in India and are the only team that will have a winning record from a last series against Australia. India do well against us but they don't play this well against a lot of other countries - which makes them capable but not consistently the best. We did beat them in Australia just last year, and while losing Gilchrist is obviously a loss compared with Haddin, Krejza is better than Hogg ever was in FC cricket.
b) England are about as awe inspiring as Tom Cruise's last few years in cinema.

5-0.

 

[Mr.Cricket]

Beefy actually made similar comments at the start of the 2005 Ashes tbh. He always hypes up England, but although it's not going to be an easy series, if we can regain the passion of 2005 Australia won't have a chance. Pietersen's now world class, not just potential, Bell's grown into a class player (I'm going to predict that he's going to be leading run scorer in the series), Cook's replaced Tresco perfectly, Freddies back firing, Harmison's back firing, Anderson's a better conventional swing bowler than Hoggard and Jones, Broad's going to be class come next summer, and if Prior stays in the side he'll be immense. I'd say our bowling is heaps stronger, and Australia's batting is good for the top 5, but our lower-middle order is far stronger.

Going to be an immense series. We need to play well in the series before the Ashes though.

LOL

If these guys are in team in 09 Ashes , we will smash England. These guys would seriously struggle to get a game for a state team in oz .

Gotta love the poms though. We smash them just about everytime, but they still talk up their chances. Keep it up mate.

 

[smssia0112]

I rate Anderson from that list, but that's it. Broad is promising but will struggle against our batting lineup. The less said about Harmison the better, Prior is actually not unlike Haddin, pretty good batsman but not great glovework, and I don't rate either too highly. Bell is definitely overrated by some people IMO.

 

[Mr.Cricket]

I rate Anderson from that list, but that's it. Broad is promising but will struggle against our pace attack. The less said about Harmison the better, Prior is actually not unlike Haddin, pretty good batsman but not great glovework, and I don't rate either too highly. Bell is definitely overrated by some people IMO.

Well when hes on (Anderson) he looks like a world beater. Not many bowlers in world cricket can swing the ball both ways like he can. But one great game in about 20 is just not good enough at this level.

Harmy , Prior and Bell are pretty much standard English cricketers. Very good in county cricket but not good enough to dominate in Int. Cricket.

Broad - yeah he has some talent. But hes overrated by lot of poms. He will be a pretty good player in few years though.

Just the way I see it anyway.

 

[King Pietersen]

Firstly, you've not watched Anderson in the past 12 months clearly. He's probably been England's most consistent bowler. Had Graeme Smith in all sorts of trouble in English conditions mixing his variations of swing.

Harmison is one of the best bowlers in the world, ask Justin Langer, he was on the end of him this summer, and claimed it was one of the toughest tasks of his career. Harmison's back to his best, and 1 poor period of cricket doesn't make a player not good enough to dominate International cricket. He was once the best Test bowler in the world. He'll rip you apart in 2009 if he stays fit and keeps bowling.

Bell's class. You've clearly not seen him on form, he's the most stylish batsman in world cricket when he gets going. He's got shots all-round the wicket, he uses his feet brilliantly, his play against spin has improved massively, he's a brilliant batsman. He just needs to find some consistency, and he'll be immense. If he can regain the form he showed against Pakistan in 2006 he'll be the thorn in Australia's side.

Prior averages over 40 in Test cricket, and that's after a trip to Sri Lanka facing Murali, and after facing India and West Indies at home. He's a proper batsman, and very destructive on his day. He's certainly showed more in his short Test career than Brad Haddin has. Don't write him off.

Broad's not over-rated. He's been magnificent in English Domestic cricket. He's already showed his talent in ODi cricket, and for my money is the 2nd best ODi opening bowler, after Nathan Bracken. Once he truely finds his feet in Test cricket and gets some games under his belt he'll start taking wickets. He's one of the most promising young talents in world cricket.

Don't write us off. We're a far, far, far better team than the circus that showed up in Australia in 2006. Harmison's back on form, Panesar's more experienced, we've got Freddie back firing, Anderson's now pitching the ball up again like in the early days of his career, we've replaced Hoggard and Jones with 2 equally as talented bowlers in Anderson and Broad, and we've got Sidebottom to come in as well, if an injury occurs. Personally I think we've got the better all-round team. Your top 5 is stronger than ours, but the rest of our team is better for me.

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

I rate Anderson from that list, but that's it. Broad is promising but will struggle against our pace attack. The less said about Harmison the better, Prior is actually not unlike Haddin, pretty good batsman but not great glovework, and I don't rate either too highly. Bell is definitely overrated by some people IMO.

Whats Broad got to do with struggling with your pace bowlers.....hes not a batsman. He has good line and lenght which could trouble your openers imo, plus with all the hype and it being in England you never know how things might turn out.

 

[Griffo]

Pace bowlers struggling in India? Wow never would have thought it... SHOCK HORROR

Beefy can say what he wants there is too much time for things to fall apart before you start counting chickens, we seem to be rebuilding and the only thing i see England having the better of us in is a spinner

Im sorry but Ian Bell will have to show his class sometime against us, ive done a statistics assingnment comparing the 05 and 07 series and he was terrible in both

As long as Freddie is drunk in slip we win, his alcoholism isnt funny but its a joke

 

[Themer]

As long as Freddie is drunk in slip we win, his alcoholism isnt funny but its a joke

Lol, Freddie is in no way an alcoholic

 

[evertonfan]

Geez where's all this optimism come from? Australia are still the better team. Let it not be forgotten that this is England, and every England sports team can lose against anyone. Let us also not forget that we're playing Australia, and every Australia sports team has a nasty habit of winning and especially against England.

To say England are already gonna win the Ashes when they haven't even playe India and the Windies yet s a joke. Pietersen's had ONE test match as captain against a South Africa side that clearly weren't arsed with the result. If we beat India and the Windies then you may start saying that we'll win.

And a final note, Bell is not a world class player. He's a bottler.

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Geez where's all this optimism come from? Australia are still the better team. Let it not be forgotten that this is England, and every England sports team can lose against anyone. Let us also not forget that we're playing Australia, and every Australia sports team has a nasty habit of winning and especially against England.

To say England are already gonna win the Ashes when they haven't even playe India and the Windies yet s a joke. Pietersen's had ONE test match as captain against a South Africa side that clearly weren't arsed with the result. If we beat India and the Windies then you may start saying that we'll win.

And a final note, Bell is not a world class player. He's a bottler.

Agree with you 1,000,000%.

 

[smssia0112]

Harmison is one of the best bowlers in the world, ask Justin Langer, he was on the end of him this summer, and claimed it was one of the toughest tasks of his career. Harmison's back to his best, and 1 poor period of cricket doesn't make a player not good enough to dominate International cricket. He was once the best Test bowler in the world. He'll rip you apart in 2009 if he stays fit and keeps bowling.

Part of that was the fact that Langer is currently 37.

And you're right, Harmison was once the best test bowler in the world. "Was once" being the operative words. Glad to see he's good enough to trouble retired Australian cricketers in the county system, but I'm still not too scared. Clearly past his peak and struggling for fitness - I doubt at 30 his luck is going to turn right around.

aus5892 added 1 Minutes and 14 Seconds later...

Geez where's all this optimism come from? Australia are still the better team. Let it not be forgotten that this is England, and every England sports team can lose against anyone. Let us also not forget that we're playing Australia, and every Australia sports team has a nasty habit of winning and especially against England.

To say England are already gonna win the Ashes when they haven't even playe India and the Windies yet s a joke. Pietersen's had ONE test match as captain against a South Africa side that clearly weren't arsed with the result. If we beat India and the Windies then you may start saying that we'll win.

And a final note, Bell is not a world class player. He's a bottler.

I love your honesty so much, the only guy I've ever met so brutally honest, not optimistic or pessimistic, but just honest. You know the way it is and don't expect too many changes. I give you a u: once again.

Love the Bell description too.