England in Australia

[ste_mc_efc]

Shane Warne has never taken a 5 wickets at the WACA


i have saying (not on PC) that giles should be dropped panesar, and if the battign seems weak, drop Anderson for Mahmood (as Mahmood has better batting, the fact id prefer mahmood's bowling is irrelevant really)

 

[Hooper]

I cant believe Warney.....Seems to drop more than he catches these dayz...

 

[irottev]

Shane Warne has never taken a 5 wickets at the WACA

Thats interesting. Probably mainly because this pitch is a lot different then usual, I thin he will play a bigger role. Also probably because the Aussies have generally had the qucikies to bowl teams out without him being needed.

This has defiantly been a bowler friendly pitch thus far, should flatten out sometime soon.

 

[barmyarmy]

Well I think my sig says it all. A shocking decision to play Panesar when Giles could have been bowling. What was the coach thinking?
You don't see Giles getting hit for 17 off an over. Oh no. Plus Giles is 'due a good one' which is a law of cricket that holds true no matter how good the player is.
How England can drop the King of Spain for this young pretender is simply beyond me. Spinners aren't meant to take wickets; they're meant to keep the runrate down and score 20-odd. 3.83 an over is simply not acceptable and I fully expect Ashley to be reinstated for the fourth test.
Now about that splendid Geraint Jones chap...

 

[Sureshot]

Hardly call it bowler friendly, all the bowlers bowled well today. You should still be aiming for 350 on this pitch. Warne wasn't getting much spin in those 2 overs.

Good day for England, slightly annoying at the end but I'd still take that position were we given it at the start of the day. Monty and Harmison bowled brilliantly (Old Trafford anyone?) with the former sticking two fingers up to whoever didn't want him in the team from the selectors, nice to see Giles shaking his hand when he got up the steps.

Batting last on this pitch will be tough chasing anythign as much as 200 will be tough but it seems like we won't be using the 5th day maybe not much of the 4th day either.

Umpires had a good day in general with only McGrath getting a rough decision, although first up it looked out to me anyway (not biassed honest).

 

[rickyp]

Who is sick of Tony Grieg?

seconded

prefer him dead

 

[Sureshot]

Panesar is overrated in my opinion (and my dad's). He bowls to quick with little flight and little turn and doesn't look threatening at all. Giles looks better, at least he can bowl accurate.

If Monty is overrated then what are the Aussie batsman? Martians?

If you'd have posted that before start of play you'd have been alright but come on seriously?

He didn't bowl that well today and has bowled better (Old Trafford and Headingley) but he's taken 5 for at the WACA on the first day in his first Ashes test. Monty did well today but he wasn't at his best. He's normally as accurate as Giles.

 

[kodos]

I wonder will the Warne drop cost another 150 It wasn't straightforward but certainly was catchable. Very much like Flintoff (I think it was since I was watching it on my phone which wasn't too clear) dropped one as well which was quite difficult. England MUST get at least a 100 run lead. Anything under that I see Australia posting a very big lead and weather will certainly not intervene. Pietersen and Strauss are the key men for me tommorrow, if either score a hundred I will be backing England to make a 100+ lead and quite possibly win the test in the 4th day, but saying that we all know what happened at Adelaide

 

[s2sschan]

Its not Flethers fault! He was calling for Panesar to be in the squad...

According to Cricinfo "Duncan Fletcher's face was a picture of inscrutable misery", when Monty took his fifth wicket.

 

[Flintoff Rocks]

I can't beleive that we England bowled them all out on the first day. If Collingwood and Strauss can bat well, then the game is all for England. Whatever they do, I hope they don't play this ultra-defensive nonsense, which cost them the second test. Otherwise, it will just be another disaster

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Have any of you people actually seen Martyn at his peak? I strongly doubt you have because he is by far the best batsmen i have ever seen.

Agreed.

Monty!! Fabulous. And Harmy is back!
C'mon England!
3-2! 3-2! 3-2!

 

[evertonfan]

Although i'm delighted beyond all realms of delight that Panesar has taken 5, i'm more happy with Harmy's return to form; If he's like this for the rest of the series then we have a sniff.

And don't expect Monty to play in Melbourne; His slight fumble in the outfield was costly.:

 

[wolf]

So.

Already has taken 2 more wickets than Giles in this series, and Giles has bowled in 4 innings and Panesar 1. Panesar is already halfway to reaching Giles' wicket haul from the entire last Ashes.

It does beg the obvious question...

And yes I also delighted for Harmy, although I don't think McGrath's was out.

We are going to need 400+ in the first innings, to give our bowlers a chance to set the batsman a reachable total.

 

[lazy_chesnut]

Luckily we have two of our most reliable willowsmiths at the crease overnight. I just hope they both get settled tomorrow morning, because they can both be hard to dislodge once they're set.

 

[Hooper]

Yeah...and then Warnie will bowl Peitersen again when he comes in