England in Australia

[Stephen Bailey]

I'm getting tired of saying this but we should play Stuart Broad. He and Hoggard are the only players we've got that can actually throw the ball on the cut bit and he can bat. he used to be though of as an allrounder

And I'm getting tired of you saying he should play! He is too young, and whilst he has potential, he needs to keep bowling in the championship to get more experience and learn to keep it tighter than he did last season.

 

[King Pietersen]

Saj mahmood ftl, Jamie Dalrymple should definetly have played in this test, good batsman and decent enough bowler. Stuart Clark has been the star of the series though, amazing find for australia, shame there is no real replacement for Warney. Australia will still be big faves for the next ashes tour. KP was great for england though, proved he has matured his batting with his low strike rate but more runs. Only shining light in englands tour. Also, OUCH at that hit strauss took on day 3, must have cained.

 

[rickyp]

hate to say it, but everyone who thinks if a certain player had played instead of someone else should realise that England wouldn't have won if it was the way they wanted.

ahhh i sure hope that someone got some of the whole series highlights they had at the end of the channel nine coverage, it was so inspiring! i was so pumped up from it.... i wanted to go to the nets straight away!!!!!

 

[IloveGilly]

I can't stop thinking about the ODI series.

A 5-0 whitewash will always be at the back of their minds now, hope they step up for the ODI series.

 

[Leicester Fox]

we're supposed to better at test matches than one dayers. i've not got a good feeling about this

 

[evertonfan]

Oh come on, it would have been the same out-come,
just maybe a little less pathetic, but still a 5-0 whitewash and still pathetic.
A team has to work as a team, and those three players aren't a full team on
their own and with so many of the players playing badly, it's doubtful they
would have made much of an impact because their other team-mates would
have nullified any good performance they did, and if not, the Aussies would of.

We'd still have lost with those players but having a) a 4th seamer who isn't a complete liability b) an opener who isn't as tentative as Cook and c) a world class captain who has proved that he can bat in Australia would have made the victory margin more respectable.

 

[Sureshot]

I can't stop thinking about the ODI series.

A 5-0 whitewash will always be at the back of their minds now, hope they step up for the ODI series.

I can't see Aus being unproffesional against us as they know we'll be out for blood (it'll be like Vampires trying to suck a T-rex to death), we may do well against NZ. We do tend to step up in ODIs against Australia. I wouldn't rule us out, but I wouldn't bet on us either.

 

[Punk_Sk8r]

Congrats to you Aussies but I just want to make a few points (about England obviously)

Now Im not big hitter of tactics and all I only play cricket for my club and used to for school so basically every summer.

Now then Im hearing that England were planning to bowl that horrid lenght which is easy for batsman to just not get out with, Flintoff mentioned somthing aobut the pitch being bouncy so we will bowl back of a lenght or I think it was Jimmy who said that.

Now did we see Australia bowl that crap lenght? No they bowled the basics outside off stump and I dont want to hear no crap about ohh its match practice which there lacking no its bull crap ok maybe the first test or so you may be nervous but what makes you stop bowling good line and lenght I was literally getting mad that they were bowling 3-4 bouncers a over.

Theres no excuse for not bowling Line and Lenght Im not even a bowler but when I am asked to bowl its not no short stuff or some wide stuff its simply line and lenght maybe I drift on the leg side at times but thats because I dont practice bowling at all and what only have 10-15 matces a summer and a pro has what....a whole year of cricket to get things right and bowl outside off.

Look at Hoggard he is the one man I have seen bowl a good lenght not that rubbish short bowling what kind of plan is that say it is your plan then you see its not working, so then change it to the basics like McGrath,Clark and even Lee isnt bad.

 

[A_Whitey]

For the good of English cricket, I hope we have.

Over 9 an over in Test cricket today. Makes him usual 7 an over in ODIs look tight.

 

[Dr.Cricket]

We'd still have lost with those players but having a) a 4th seamer who isn't a complete liability b) an opener who isn't as tentative as Cook and c) a world class captain who has proved that he can bat in Australia would have made the victory margin more respectable.

I can't argue with that, good points. And as much as I love this 5-0 whitewash,
before the series I was hoping for one of the toughest Ashes series to-date
and I'm not all that happy with how the series turned out.

And I'm getting tired of you saying he should play! He is too young, and whilst he has potential, he needs to keep bowling in the championship to get more experience and learn to keep it tighter than he did last season.

I never thought I'd see the day a Pom said "he's too young", I guess this
Ashes series has shown some of you blokes that age isn't all that important
and experience + maturity are the more important.

And, I agree, he is too young. There's no need to sacrifice him to the
wolves this early, it could temporarily de-rail his potential & career if he gets
smashed. Apart from Australia wanting to do that, New Zealand would want
to aswell, so there is a good chance that will happen.

....we could hear McGrath predicting yet another 5-0 result in 2009.

McGrath being McGrath, we're going to hear that line as long as he's alive,
no matter what.

 

[Almost_Austwick]

And I'm getting tired of you saying he should play! He is too young, and whilst he has potential, he needs to keep bowling in the championship to get more experience and learn to keep it tighter than he did last season.

I agree with this, all that'll happen is that he'll get placed on a central contract with the minimum amount of bowling allowed which in turn stunts his development. In short he may face better batsmen but he'll also experience fewer types of wickets and have less chances to develop his game (work on new deliveries etc)

For the damage a central contract can do just look at Harmison. He is someone that needs overs (and a fair few) under his belt before he starts to find his range. Yet they try to manage him and it just leaves him undercooked and injury prone (I firmly believe that you need a certain level of bowling under your belt in order to minimise the risk of injury e.g time to develop muscle memory etc).

 

[puddleduck]

People make a little too much of McGraths prediction, it's exactly what he should be saying. In that he basically says I think we can win every test, therefore we can win 5-0.

 

[Dr.Cricket]

Suprise, suprise... Damien Martyn was at the SCG.

Story here; 'Martyn reappears to celebrate victory'

 

[Inbox24]

Pick your Ashes XI 06/07

Here's mine:

Hayden
Cook
Ponting
Hussey
Pietersen
Clarke
Gilchrist
Warne
Clark
Hoggard/Lee
McGrath

 

[Almost_Austwick]

Hayden
Langer
Ponting
Hussey
Pietersen
Clarke\Collingwood
Gilchrist
Flintoff
Warne
Clark
McGrath

I think most of these will be pretty similar with only one or two players changing due to the poorness of England.

Had to go with Langer over Strauss or Cook even though all 3 were pretty much of a muchness.

Went with Flintoff over Lee or Hoggard as I don't think he bowled that badly and he also offers something different (as well as giving a very long batting line up).