England in Australia

[Chimp132]

lol, just lookd on the bbc website, no chance of a storm lol :P

 

[Sureshot]

Are you forgetting Australia dominating the first test in the last ashes and what was the result there?

We played alot better then. Albeit not a lot we did alright.

We just have to put this test behind us come the next one.

I agree with JJ3, Ricky has given us a small chance of saving this test.

Saj pitches it up. That's what they need. Harmy should bowl about 40 overs in the nets each day and get his rythem.

Harmison has to correct his action before bowling any kind of long spell. His action is all over the place, his arm is doing ok, but his head is like a dogs out of a car door. He's unbalanced, thus the poor control.

 

[Sando]

IYou can argue with it all you like, it's within the laws of the game.

Very true, so too was bodyline, within the laws of the game. I'm entirely sick and tired of these idiots moaning about the 'spirit of the game', who cares about that....

On a side note, I would bet my house and all my worldly possessions that if was Australia that were employing this tactic, there would be widespread condemnation...

As for the Test, big challenges now for England. Will be interesting too see how they play if swing isn't a factor in the series, anyone can hold serve at home when conditions suit, the true character of a team is tested when they have to win dirty.

I was proud of the way the Aussies played in England last time, they had no clue where the bowlers were hooping the ball, their bowlers didn't have the skill to do the same, and they grassed more vital chances than I recalled going down over the entire previous calender year, but they were still in the game. Will be interesting to see if England can do the same when things aren't falling their way.

 

[aussie1st]

Anyone here on PC from Brisbane? Any chance of a storm in the next 2 days?

You are dreaming lol, Brisbane is in major drought season right now so you won't be seeing any rain to save the English.

 

[Sureshot]

I've never seen Monty bowl in a match - but it seems he might be a bit overrated when just looking at the figures. In 10 Tests taken 32 wickets (3.2 per test) and he's averaging 32.41 with the ball. That's not really what I was expecting after hearing all the hype from the English.

So I thought I'd compare him with Giles recent record. Since 2003, Giles has played 27 Tests (not including this one), has taken 76 wickets (2.81 per test) with average of 37.8.

Worse figures yes - but consider his value with the bat. The problem with the England side is that they need to play an extra bowler to cover for Flintoff, which makes their tail longer, meaning that 1 or 2 of their bowlers need to be able to bat a little bit.

By the numbers, assuming they both take 3 wickets per test, Giles will concede 16 more runs (3 x 37.8 = 113 for Giles, 3 x 32.41 = 97 for Monty) with the ball.

With the bat in those 27 matches, Giles has scored 805 runs at 23.68, while Monty averages 10.2 (after only 5 innings, but I think this will be a fairly accurate number). If England bats twice, as they most certainly will against Australia, then Giles has value of 23.68 x 2 = 47.36, Monty 10.2 x 2 = 20.4, a difference of 26.96

Numbers can be misleading (and boring for some of you), but just from the naked eye - Giles seems to have improved since 2005. Sure Michael Clarke got into him a little bit, but Clarke is a great player of spin.

I can't blame Fletcher for taking the more defensive decision to play Giles. England holds the Ashes, so they are entitled to play more defensively to retain them.

Ashley Giles last 10 tests.... 19 wickets taken, 1082 runs conceded. A mighty average of 57....

Can people just stfu about Monty Panesar and Giles. I think it's quite obvious that we all think Monty should be playing but it won't do any good.

If you want to bitch about bowlers, bitch about Harmison and his second slip wides like the newspapers are. The fast bowlers were terrible.

You compare the way McGrath, Lee and Clark bowled with the way Harmison, Hoggard and Anderson bowled. There is the major problem right there. The English bowlers are not in their class. Australia could give England 3 bowlers like Tait, Gillespie and Johnson who can't make the Aussie team but would all do better then H,H and A.

The Australian's are well prepared and the English arn't.

Giles isn't performing well, but that was the first innings. Who actually expects a spinner to be dominating on the first day of a test on a non-responsive? Not me! If the England bowlers don't buck up their ideas in their second bowling effort (if they get one which looks doubtful) then I would play Panesar and Giles!

Hoggard is better than those 3 mentioned.

 

[evertonfan]

You are dreaming lol, Brisbane is in major drought season right now so you won't be seeing any rain to save the English.

Looks like your due a bit of rain then.

 

[aussie1st]

They can live for another 2 days while we take care of the Poms then the Heavens can open up

 

[gilly204]

Are you forgetting Australia dominating the first test in the last ashes and what was the result there?

Yeah, and all England need is for McGrath to step on a ball again.

 

[BigCrickNan]

We just needs kaspa in the squad for the next test with his old getting back in the team tricks .

 

[barmyarmy]

Just a note for all those on Giles-watch that he was dropped on 0 so we nearly didn't get 20 runs...

 

[aussie1st]

We just needs kaspa in the squad for the next test with his old getting back in the team tricks .

Haha it would help if he was in the Qld squad, hes injured

 

[evertonfan]

Just a note for all those on Giles-watch that he was dropped on 0 so we nearly didn't get 20 runs...

As if Fletcher cares...

 

[irottev]

Hoggard is better than those 3 mentioned.

I disagree. 2 of them we don't really know because we havn't seen them and the other a few years back was the best bowler in the world.

Hoggard's form seems to be on the decline lately. He is under-prepared. It will be interesting to see if he improves by the time the 5th match comes along.

 

[BigCrickNan]

One positive about Giles playing is that it is likely Monty will play in Adelaide, and his confidence won't be totally destroyed as it would of been if he got carted at the Gabba.

 

[aussie1st]

He may well get carted at Adelaide, it would have been easier for him to be playing at the Gabba first up as Warne has shown there is turn in the pitch. Adelaide on the other hand is a road.