The Ashes series starts tomorrow

[Rickster59 70]

Nothing wrong with the decision to bat first. I liked it.

But sadly...we just wern't up to it.

 

I guess the selectors had no choice other than to apoint Clarke as Captain.....but he is struggling with his batting at the moment. He is (very) lucky to be in the team.

 

Chris Tremlett (hope I spelt it right this time!!) was the pick of the bowlers for mine....very unlucky not to have more wickets. He is going to be a great fast bowler....destined for greatness. I must also admit that Swann is also a class act. He is very patient....and very shrewd.

 

Not a bad debut by the young Aussie bat......while he is no Ponting.... he looks a class batsman with a great attitude.

 

Looks like its up to Hussey and Haddin (again) to get us a respectable total. Very disappointing day for Australia.

 

The day belonged to England. But there is a long way to go in this Test.

Even though we have lost the chance to get the Ashes back.....I still have enormous interest in this match....and feel it has been a great series.

 

Looking forward to day 2!

Edited January 3, 2011 by Rickster59

[Kippax 5]

rickster59 you seem to know you cricket,can you tell me why Clark is so unpopular in your country

[cluster 14]

rickster59 you seem to know you cricket,can you tell me why Clark is so unpopular in your country

 

Clark is percieved as a bit of a mummy's boy..... just my 2 cents!

 

Cluster

[Basil B 46]

gonzo have you been at the drink again sunshine!134-4 that's poor ,why the fuck did Clark choose to bat first?nice to see you giving the nice little Muslim lad a go tho!on a more serious note those bloody floods are terrible.i hope everyone stays safe Ive got family not far away.

 

To avoid the humiliation of the follow-on?

[Rickster59 70]

rickster59 you seem to know you cricket,can you tell me why Clark is so unpopular in your country

 

Michael Clarke has been a very high profile sports star from day 1. He was often in the headlines for things other than cricket. He former girlfriend.....model Lara Bingle didn't help his cause. But Clarke seemed to thrive on the constant publicity.....such as buying her a huge ring....buying her a sports car etc. When it all went pear shaped....he didn't want to speak to the media. I think he may have learned from this.

 

He is even unpopular in his own State. Critics highlight the fact that he scores his runs when they are not needed......when Australia is already on top. When we are in a crisis situation....he has failed on most occasions.

 

His friendship with Ricky Ponting helped him to the Vice-Captaincy.....ahead of more senior players. While the players won't criticize him publicly....I feel there is some resentment from a couple of senior players. Andy Symonds had a huge falling out with him....and the usually mild mannered Simon Katich had him by the throat in an incident in the sheds after a game.

 

IMHO Haddin, Katich and Hussey are more deserved of the Vice Captaincy....they have far more experience, and have great tactical skills that we will never see.

 

But this is all only my opinion. Others may disagree.

[Kippax 5]

well my aussie cousins,it looks like its all over.i believe the weather forecast is looking a bit grim.so do you think this match will be drawn.i cant see Mr Clark as the Australian captain, hussey should be captain.well done England you have done us proud

[cluster 14]

Watson just commits suicide - ridiculous when we are so far behind - Broom Time..... the selectors should be the first to go!

[ozijeff 9]

The English team have been far too good this series and good luck to them. Well done.

 

Now here is my little conspiracy theory in regards to Australian cricket.

 

Before the Summer even started, sponsors committed themselves to advertising campaigns using various members of the Australian Squad.

They obviously did this believing these players are recognisable and have market appeal for their products.

After committing big bucks to advertising suddenly players x, y and z are dropped (or should be) from the Australian team.

Sponsors are not happy about this and may rethink their marketting next time.

Does this place some pressure on the (moron) Australian selectors to keep someone in the team who is very obviously under-performing?

 

Another problem is the ACB ands out big contracts ahead of the season. Under-performing payers get paid shitloads of money whether they are successful or not. Sure they get winning bonuses but to me this system does not make the players hungry enough for success.

If I get well paid if I do my job well or not where is the great incentive? Its not like I am going to go hungry? Pride?.. havent seen it.

Also the contracts are locked in and dont really allow for an up and coming player to rapidly advance through the system because the ACB is committed to 'contracted' players. The moneys are committed.

In the case of Mr. Beer, he would be getting paid fuck all and is probably just grateful for being in the team in the first place.

 

A BIG shakeup is needed from the top down if Australian cricket is to thrive again.

 

To my English friends, be happy you dont have to sit through the Ponting and Clarke adverts on TV between overs.

 

JMHO

[ashboy 22]

The Ashes series starts tomorrow

 

and thank fook, it finishes tomorrow. If not today.

 

Well played poms, too good , did their homework, had a plan and stuck to it. Except that Bell coont, who plainly cheated yesterday.

 

 

Hilditch has to go, as does whoever the coach is this week. (Really, they just renewed his contract? BEFORE an Ashes series? Fook me!) When Simpson was coach PC's hadn't been invented. He spent his time working with the players, ironing out their shortcomings. Now its all stats and pie charts. The players should be compelled to go back to grade/shield cricket and get it right. The pampered nancys might think about diverting a large chunk of their match payments to the McGrath Foundation while they're at it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only ray of sunshine is that Warnie's TV show got the chop.

 

About 3 weeks too late.....

[Kippax 5]

gonzo are you watching sunshine...your boys are taking one hell of a beating.i can see a big bender coming on.....again

[atlas2 4,329]

my mate in england will buy a load of papers tomorrow and wrap his Aussie work colleague's christmas presents up in them next xmas.

Edited January 6, 2011 by atlas2

[Gonzo 419]

gonzo are you watching sunshine...your boys are taking one hell of a beating.i can see a big bender coming on.....again

Listen china, I have practiced teetotalism since Christmas. Have your day in the sun, after not having achieved much in sporting events for such a long time. Our women cricket team beat England yesterday in the first of three ODI fixtures at the WACA in Perth. Australia is the better sporting nation by a country mile. It always has been. Now leave me alone, I am concentrating on the winter sports in Europe at present, something your country is totally useless at and mostly unaware of. Oh, I forgot Eddie the Eagle such a long time ago. He was brilliant and made me laugh by just being the idiot he made of himself, when he annoyed the real ski jumpers.

Again, Congratulations to a great Ashes victory over our boys.

[judd 2]

This Pommy side is a good side and will take some beating in the world cup.their attack is good and they have a good batting lineup.wost thing about them is "the barmy Army" a pack of pests when your at the game . anyone in Sydney stay clear of the Paragon hotel circular quay tonight it will be full of poms and to make it worse fully loaded on the piss after a well deserved ashes win.

 

To answer the question about Clarke being unliked its because he is a weak man who fell for a gold digging town bike in Lara Bingle against advice of other blokes and he is a asslicker to boot.

 

Haddin should be the captain

Edited January 6, 2011 by judd

[nus01 305]

When the sereis began i thought the Poms looked a fraction better on Paper but the home advantage would be enough for us to regain the ashes

 

But we were flogged even worse than the 3-1 scoreline suggests.

 

From 20 days cricket England probably won 14 , broke even on 3 and we won about 3 and analyze by sessions its probably worse again 60 sessions played , 50 to England

Edited January 6, 2011 by nus01

[Rickster59 70]

An awesome Ashes victory by England.

 

Before the start of the Series.....I had a feeling England were going to be very hard to beat. But I still felt that the local conditions and support would make it hard for them. I also believed for Australia to win, Ponting had to score heavily.....or he would be rubbished and there would be calls for him to be sacked as Captain.

 

Australia were in a commanding position to win the first Test....but England dug deep like never before...and showed great character and composure to draw that match.....I felt if we had won that first Test it may have been different. But England were magnificent....and they never looked back.

 

The facts are that England were too good in all aspects of the game.....they batted with more patience and composure...they bowled very well...the back up bowlers were exceptional....and their fielding was outstanding....the best Pommie fielding side I have ever witnessed.

England had the one blemish in Perth...and they learnt from that loss and it made them even better and more determined.

 

Every batsman except Collingwood scored centuries.....with 'keeper Prior joining the run feast today in great style and gusto. I doubt the English selectors will be sacking Collingwood....he is a great fieldsman and more than a handy bowler.....and it is only a matter of time before he gets back into the groove with the bat. English selectors are wise and patient....lol

 

Captain Anderw Strauss was outstanding....and I wont ever forget his batting onslaught in Sydney...he took it away from the Australians. He stood up and gave it to our bowlers against the new ball. Outstanding and inspirational. What a great leader and Captain he is!

 

England selectors would not have surprised anyone if they didn't select Cook and Bell...given their ordinary performances in the past against Australia. But they stuck with them....they had gained a lot of experience now...and were ready to produce and prove their point. They did it with style and grace.......and rewarded the English selectors faith in them.

 

I hope our selectors will learn from that.

 

Congratulations to the English team, selectors, the Barmy Army....and every long suffering English supporter. Your team has delivered an historic Ashes victory in Australia.

Amen.

[Torres09 0]

An awesome Ashes victory by England.

 

Before the start of the Series.....I had a feeling England were going to be very hard to beat. But I still felt that the local conditions and support would make it hard for them. I also believed for Australia to win, Ponting had to score heavily.....or he would be rubbished and there would be calls for him to be sacked as Captain.

 

Australia were in a commanding position to win the first Test....but England dug deep like never before...and showed great character and composure to draw that match.....I felt if we had won that first Test it may have been different. But England were magnificent....and they never looked back.

 

The facts are that England were too good in all aspects of the game.....they batted with more patience and composure...they bowled very well...the back up bowlers were exceptional....and their fielding was outstanding....the best Pommie fielding side I have ever witnessed.

England had the one blemish in Perth...and they learnt from that loss and it made them even better and more determined.

 

Every batsman except Collingwood scored centuries.....with 'keeper Prior joining the run feast today in great style and gusto. I doubt the English selectors will be sacking Collingwood....he is a great fieldsman and more than a handy bowler.....and it is only a matter of time before he gets back into the groove with the bat. English selectors are wise and patient....lol

 

Captain Anderw Strauss was outstanding....and I wont ever forget his batting onslaught in Sydney...he took it away from the Australians. He stood up and gave it to our bowlers against the new ball. Outstanding and inspirational. What a great leader and Captain he is!

 

England selectors would not have surprised anyone if they didn't select Cook and Bell...given their ordinary performances in the past against Australia. But they stuck with them....they had gained a lot of experience now...and were ready to produce and prove their point. They did it with style and grace.......and rewarded the English selectors faith in them.

 

I hope our selectors will learn from that.

 

Congratulations to the English team, selectors, the Barmy Army....and every long suffering English supporter. Your team has delivered an historic Ashes victory in Australia.

Amen.

 

 

Rickster,Collingwood announced his 'retirement' from test cricket 30 minutes before the start of play on day 4,he will continue as 20/20 captain & is also available for the 1-dayers...I think his timing is brilliant ,honest & honourable,I've loved his gritty style of play & his feilding sets standards that the rest have all tried to follow.Well done Colly .

 

The rest of your post is spot on & very truthful.Thanks.

[Kippax 5]

Listen china, I have practiced teetotalism since Christmas. Have your day in the sun, after not having achieved much in sporting events for such a long time. Our women cricket team beat England yesterday in the first of three ODI fixtures at the WACA in Perth. Australia is the better sporting nation by a country mile. It always has been. Now leave me alone, I am concentrating on the winter sports in Europe at present, something your country is totally useless at and mostly unaware of. Oh, I forgot Eddie the Eagle such a long time ago. He was brilliant and made me laugh by just being the idiot he made of himself, when he annoyed the real ski jumpers.

Again, Congratulations to a great Ashes victory over our boys.

bollocks your on the drink again... i can tell ,you sound like a 10yr old kid.get a fucking grip and give your head a wobble.its a game of cricket for fuck sake.cmon i thought you was better than that,i wont bother you again,i don't want you to start crying sunshine.i only came on for a bit of banter.i fucking hate cricket!

[กษัตริย์ 2]

. Now leave me alone, I am concentrating on the winter sports in Europe at present, something your country is totally useless at and mostly unaware of. Oh, I forgot Eddie the Eagle such a long time ago. He was brilliant and made me laugh by just being the idiot he made of himself, when he annoyed the real ski jumpers.

 

 

Australians Rattled.

[กษัตริย์ 2]

. Except that Bell coont, who plainly cheated yesterday.

 

Glass houses, stones etc...

 

 

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8192482

[cluster 14]

Well the pain is finally over - The English have well and truely beaten us 3-1, and completely outplayed our boys along the way. Conratulations to all involved from the old dart!

 

The only good thing to come out of the series for the Aussies, is they will now be forced to make changes.... starting with Hilditch & the other selectors, then onto the players themselves.

 

From the top of the order - We really missed Katich when he went out with injury - we are a better side with him playing. Watson is NO opening batsmen, time to give up on that experiment - Cook showed us all what a class opening batsman is all about - get a start then go onto a very big score. Watson does not have the ability to play that kind of innings. Phil Hughes is sadly out of form, and should go back to domestic cricket for a while. Ponting seems to have lost his way, and I feel the game is passing him by. Kahwaja - looks ok, but needs to do an apprenticsehip in the team, by batting at 6. Clarke - also sadly out of form, we know he was good back a while, but perhaps he has too many distractions in his life, outside of cricket? M. Hussey - saved us from total embaresment - he is getting on in years, but should be retained. Haddin - serviceable, but also getting towards the end. S. Smith - is neither a top 6 batter, or a quality spin bowler - not sure what to make of him - he needs to improve to be picked again. Johnson - so frustrating - has ability no doubt, but is so inconsistent. He needs to see a shrink! Siddle - tries hard, but bowls too straight. Hilfenhaus - No good once the shine is gone, and bowls a predicatble line. Beer - did not impress really on a spin friendly wicket. Others - North - had plenty of chances but could not cement a place, Harris - bowled well in Perth, but injured.... again. Doherty - not a test match bowler sadly.

 

So where to from here for the Aussie's?

 

We need to unearth the type of talent that seems to be flowing from the english camp - In particular some tall fast bowlers - Tremlett types.

 

Now not that the Aussie selectors would take any notice, but for what it's worth we need to start re-building, now, today, this minute, if we are to get even close to the poms in 2 years time in England - if not we will go down 5-0!

 

So gazing into the crystal ball in 2 years time the Aussie team will look a little like this..... I hope.

 

Katich, S. Marsh, Kawaja, Clarke, Fergusson, Maddinson, Haddin, Johnson, A Spin Bowler?, Pattinson, George.

 

Lets also hope the aussie selectors, whoever they may be, recognise that cricket is played in all the states of Australia, not just New South Wales!

 

My 2 cents

 

Cluster

[Kev 178]

Oh well score is now

 

Aussies 31

Poms 30

Draws 5

 

Have a nice day

[Gonzo 419]

bollocks your on the drink again... i can tell ,you sound like a 10yr old kid.get a fucking grip and give your head a wobble.its a game of cricket for fuck sake.cmon i thought you was better than that,i wont bother you again,i don't want you to start crying sunshine.i only came on for a bit of banter.i fucking hate cricket!

 

[onelilley 6]

Rickster59, cluster, ozijeff and ashboy, all fantastic posts on the state of Australian cricket.

 

Congrats to England, by far the better side that plays as a team under Strauss. If you only drew this series it would have been a massive injustice to the way you played.

 

Now we'll wait and see if these pathetic cretins running the game in Australlia learn from their mistakes, take a big broom and start with the selectors.

[Basil B 46]

Commiserations to the people of Rockhampton who fell victim to Australian cricket fans prays.

[Funky 87]

Well that was a hell of a drubbing boys.

 

Out with the old and in with the new I thought Steve Smith showed a bit of promise but

although I expected an England win winning in Australia by that margin I would never of dreamt of....

 

 

Been a good thread this, the Aussies have been a fantastic side for many a year but I think this England team

has all the ingredients to go right to the top......