Commonwealth Bank Series

[symonds_sixes]

When KP got hit my dad was like "he's gone" coz he's broken many ribs I was like, I doubt it because he'd be wearing rip protection (like many players) and it turns out he wasn't

 

[Mars Maximus]

Yea strange that huh? Especially since he advances down the pitch to McGrath often. Hmm I guess he thought he'd never miss it...

 

[aussie_ben91]

i have no idea what point you are trying to make here?

I wasn't trying to make any point. I was just merely replying to you're post.

 

[harishankar]

It seems that when England goes through a rough patch (which is quite often in ODI cricket for a while now) most of their top players are either injured or have personal problems... I wonder if England really sees any future besides the Ashes. I think the revival of England will depend on their being focussed on World cricket and not just the Ashes.

5-0 is hard to take - agreed. But they should put that behind them quickly and One-Dayers are a whole new ball game. Sadly it appears that England's Cricketing fortunes revolves entirely around the Ashes. I think they need a change in mindset quite quickly. I think they're mentally beaten whenever they take the field against Australia. The scars are very evident.

 

[evertonfan]

Sorry to reflect on past glories, but you can't say a team who wins 8 Test matches in a row against three different opposition - in which none where Australia - of focusing entirely on the Ashes.

 

[harishankar]

Well then get over it and start winning. I hope England seriously recovers from their bad form. In the past I know that many English commentators considered every other series that England plays as "preparation" for the Ashes. It always irritated me for some reason or the other. That's why my above post. I also think that the whole concept of the Ashes has got to change. Not many teams play 5-test match series any more. It becomes boring when the some teams play each other so much of Cricket in one season.

 

[evertonfan]

Did you have a moment of madness when you said this? Australia is always hard to beat on home soil and the lads were hurting from losing the ashes last time. As for the odi's, we have some of the heaviest hitters and miserly bowlers in the world. I would be surprised if we lost two matches. New Zealand always gives us a hard time and may just knock us over at some stage but Australia will be a clear winner at the end of the series. P.S. If you poms separate the test team you have now, you'd be crazy! They have a heap of talent and should be nurtured without the insecurity that goes with being a member of the U.K. national team. Get rid of the has-beens that control U.K. cricket.

If you think that MUFC was being serious when he said that then you need to get some conception of the word sarcasm. And it's the ENGLISH NATIONAL TEAM!!!

 

[puddleduck]

Well then get over it and start winning. I hope England seriously recovers from their bad form. In the past I know that many English commentators consider every other series that England plays as "preparation" for the Ashes. That's why my above post. I also think that the whole concept of the Ashes has got to change. Not many teams play 5-test match series any more.

If only it were that easy :

And don't listen to the commentators, they are paid to talk, the players are payed to play. I've always found it strange that because fans and pundits spout a load of rubbish, opposition fans will latch onto that and accuse the team itself of having the same mentality.

The players will want to win every time they play cricket, they didn't win every series they played for 2 years because they wanted to beat Australia, they did so because they want to be the best at what they do. Yes they are having a tough series, but they are still ranked the second best test side in world cricket, and they are a young side who have some promising players that will only get better. It isn't quite all doom and gloom as some people like to think, as long as the young players in this squad learn from this tour and become better players from it, then it will not have been as disastrous as it looks on paper.

 

[surendar]

is KP sure out of the tournament?

If so, England's spinal cord is broken! Testing time for England.. Infact 90% Kiwis and Aussies are favourites to battle in finals!

Evn Today, Kp was battling.. everytime he is almost like a lonely warrior... Only way to compensate this loss, the whole team have to be at their level best especially Strauss and bowlers!

 

[harishankar]

puddleduck, I saw England playing this first ODI match of the series and apart from Pietersen and Flintoff to an extent, none of the batsmen could get the ball away at all. Also my point was that when the same team keeps playing all the time, things start to get predictable, particularly when they're not evenly matched. I think the Ashes is a huge problem in this regard, because the Test series is simply too long for the modern day cricket fan and I'm sure a 3-test Ashes would be a much better idea. I know it breaks from tradition, but really, this craze for the "ashes" has been bugging me for a while now... It also affected England mentally to have to play such a strong side again and again to get beaten so badly. 3-0 would have been bad enough, but 5-0 was infinitely worse for them...

Maybe it's time to reconsider this? Too radical maybe? I don't know... it's up to English and Australian Cricket administrators...

Specifically for England though in the CB series, I think they will need to reconsider their batting order because they are too defensive early on for being successful...

 

[evertonfan]

A 3 Test Ashes? That's ridiculous, why not just reduce the pointless ODI's instead?

 

[harishankar]

Why not? Most teams around the world plays 3-test series these days. Would it be too much to expect Australia and England to remain in step? What's so great about the so-called traditions?

As I said, the choice is up to the cricket boards... but I doubt whether things will change anyway. Doesn't mean I'm not entitled to my opinions

 

[evertonfan]

Three test series are often decided by the first test result and a lot of them end up in draws. Let's roleplay, If Australia win at Lords in the first Test of the newly reduced 3-Test Ashes series then all they need to do is draw one of the remainging Tests and they have the Ashes. Five-test series are the best possible way to get a positive outcome instead of playing 3 Tests and countless ODI's.

 

[puddleduck]

I think you'll find just about every English and Australian wants it to remain a 5 test series. Since they are the two countries involved doesn't make much sense to change it does it?

One of the main reasons other countries have reduced their test series down is because it's the Odis that make them all their money, in this case though they will still pack most grounds for 4-5 days of every test, so financially as well as it being what the majority want, it makes sense to remain unchanged.

Talk of this mental scarring I think is all mostly rubbish. People that aren't actually playing are the ones that talk about it, if they are good enough to play International cricket then they will come back stronger in the next Ashes.

What's the players not being able to get the ball away got to do with anything other than our batsman just not being good enough at the shorter format of the game?

 

[harishankar]

What's the players not being able to get the ball away got to do with anything other than our batsman just not being good enough at the shorter format of the game?

Yeah, that was unrelated to the other part of the post... Read it as a commentary on the current series and not the point I was making before.

And by the way, you do accept that England is more interested in winning a Test series than becoming a good ODI side? As most of their players seem to be more interested in the longer variety of the game?

I don't say it's wrong, but if that's the case, maybe England shouldn't worry a whole deal about the World Cup as it's just another useless ODI tournament along the way...