The Ashes

[Mambo95]

Let's not beat around the bush here.

A decent proportion of posters on here are on here are British or Australian. So let's stop ignoring the elephant in the room. It's our greatest rivalry.

Now I'm a Pom, so I've suffered from 1989-2003. But now it seems that the convicts won't talk now that the legends have gone. That's not fair. Come out of the woodwork Aussies and take some stick.

At least stick up for your country.

 

[krebs303]

That's cricket right? I really tried for a few weeks to understand the game. But even basic manuals seemed written in a foreign language

 

[Mambo95]

That's cricket right? I really tried for a few weeks to understand the game. But even basic manuals seemed written in a foreign language

It's one of the great sporting contests. An ancient ritual (just don't mention 1989-2003, when the Aussies stumbled on nine or ten of the greatest players ever). But now it's only Punter left. All alone. Poor little Ricky. Ha, ha, ha.

 

[bubblegum]

yeah i grew up in that era, im now 20, and i always thought that the aussies were the only nation that knew how to play, now i realise it was just a freek generation.. fairly sad actually it was the first sport i followed in which all the superstars started getting old and useless.. as a kid i couldnt understand why dizzy got dropped, i was like but he's awesome!

 

[blaxland]

Let's not beat around the bush here.

A decent proportion of posters on here are on here are British or Australian. So let's stop ignoring the elephant in the room. It's our greatest rivalry.

Now I'm a Pom, so I've suffered from 1989-2003. But now it seems that the convicts won't talk now that the legends have gone. That's not fair. Come out of the woodwork Aussies and take some stick.

At least stick up for your country.

Ok Mambo95 So England seem to be playing out of their skin at the moment but as we all know a game of cricket can change in a matter of minutes out on the field.The Poms gave it to us in the first Test(also the second thus far)but with a bit of luck things might change.The biggest problem with the Aussies is they cant bowl.Since the retirement of McGrath,Warne etc no one else has stepped up tp the plate.This could become a very long summer for us Aussies and England look good at retaining the Ashes..
P.s Alistar Cook has been in great form so far this Ashes.

 

[auscyclefan94]

imo england are clearly a better side and I think that certain players need to be give the boot. Firstly with the batters. North definetly needs to go and clarke is clearly injured and not fit to play. Ponting is not in form and his field placings have been hopeless. With the bowlers, lets say none of the are really up to it. I think australia overall would become a stronger country in cricket if our players played more in the state competition and not so much t20.

Then you have Brad Hodge who was dropped afteer an innings of 200 and is one of the best batsmen in the country. He has clearly been robbed of a long and successful career.

Rant over

 

[Broken Spoke]

Hopefully with all the hot weather they've had in Perth the WACA wicket will be like broken concrete and we'll see the back of totals starting with 4's and 5's. I enjoy quality batting but 3/1000 on a pan-flat wicket is just tedious. Maybe it's the over-prepared drop in wickets that are to blame but as good as Cook, Trott and Pietersen look, it bears a striking similarity to a net session in front of a bowling machine.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Hopefully with all the hot weather they've had in Perth the WACA wicket will be like broken concrete and we'll see the back of totals starting with 4's and 5's. I enjoy quality batting but 3/1000 on a pan-flat wicket is just tedious. Maybe it's the over-prepared drop in wickets that are to blame but as good as Cook, Trott and Pietersen look, it bears a striking similarity to a net session in front of a bowling machine.

Unfortunately australia could not make the most of it... 245 on a pitch like this...pathetic.

Pitch should detriorate for tommorow and tuesday.

 

[S2Sturges]

Ok Mambo95 So England seem to be playing out of their skin at the moment but as we all know a game of cricket can change in a matter of minutes out on the field.The Poms gave it to us in the first Test(also the second thus far)but with a bit of luck things might change.The biggest problem with the Aussies is they cant bowl.Since the retirement of McGrath,Warne etc no one else has stepped up tp the plate.This could become a very long summer for us Aussies and England look good at retaining the Ashes..
P.s Alistar Cook has been in great form so far this Ashes.

Adelaide sets to be another draw if the rain sets in, perhaps that's what Australia is hoping for, or praying for.. their front line bowlers are rubbish, Ponting should be axed, same with Clarke and North sent to the bush...
The next three Tests be set for more shellackings from the Poms...

 

[slartiblartfast]

Adelaide sets to be another draw if the rain sets in, perhaps that's what Australia is hoping for, or praying for.. their front line bowlers are rubbish, Ponting should be axed, same with Clarke and North sent to the bush...
The next three Tests be set for more shellackings from the Poms...

I read an interesting theory that the falling standards in Aussie cricketers is due to the demise of the Aussie back yard. Housing blocks are smaller than they used to be. People are keen to build new McMansions which extend as close as possible to their boundaries. With no cricket sized back yards available kids just can't get out and have a tonk after school like they used to.

Getting back to cycling, lets hope that kids are still able to tear them selves away from their PSPs and Nintendo DSs long enough these days to go for a ride on the treadlie.

 

[Mellow Velo]

I can't understand it. We've gone from Pitiful Poms to 'Orrible Ozzies, in such a short space of time.
England seem able to rape and plunder the Aussie attack at will. Not something they can ever be accused of in the past, even against lesser opposition.
Australia look totally pathetic, lacking in confidence. Catching like kids, too.

Having said that, with dodgy weather forecast, we may well end up with stalemate two matches in and the only possible outcome gone is Ricky Ponting's whitewash hogwash.

 

[movingtarget]

The Poms have played well. Batted well, held their catches and bowled better. We were spoiled for so long with one of the greatest test side's ever. With our current bowling lineup. I can't see us getting 20 wickets in any test. Poms will feel ripped off if the weather stops them winning, tomorrow. It's all up to Haddin and Hussey again. Cannot see Marcus North lasting long in his current form.

 

[Anonymous]

It's one of the great sporting contests. An ancient ritual (just don't mention 1989-2003, when the Aussies stumbled on nine or ten of the greatest players ever). But now it's only Punter left. All alone. Poor little Ricky. Ha, ha, ha.

Interesting time frame that...

 

[Ferminal]

At least you guys brought the weather with you

A pity we are the only one's bad enough to get ourselves out on these lifeless wickets. Hopefully two goods come from our inevitable defeat: 1) Widespread changes to the team, 2) Curators stop deliberately making total roads.

 

[auscyclefan94]

So we lost to England this morning by an innings and 71 runs! God we suck! Bring in brad Hodge! Please! The guy can actually bat!

 

[Martin318is]

give it up ACF.
Getting into the Australian side stopped being about talent in the mid 90's.. Since then its about popularity and being on the good side of selectors.


some Twitter quotes (taken from where they were posted on theage.com.au) since the English win:

Dave Hughes (well known Aus comedian)
"The only thing the Aussie bowlers are worse at than batting is bowling,"

And even on the one piece of bad news for the English - that fast bowler Stuart Broad was returning home with a side strain - turned into more payouts for our struggling team.
"Stuart Broad is going home with a bad side...not sure where the Australian team will sleep though, he's only got a two bed flat," @AndyPattinsonOz tweeted.

Not to be out done, @alistairjhogg tweeted: "Ha ha. Joke's on you England! What on earth are you going to do for an entire day in Adelaide?"

 

[Ferminal]

lol @ Brad Hodge, he retired from First Class cricket over a year ago. If you could get over your biased Victorian outlook you would realise that what Australia needs is fresh players, not the mid-30s junk we have been parading for the last few years.

 

[Mellow Velo]

Rain on the horizon, coming to save the day. 6 wickets in hand. Hold on until the afternoon session and maybe?
Nope.
Until recently, that exact same scenario would have played out in Australia's favour; England past masters of the middle order capitulation.

Even worse than the most rabid of England fans could have hoped.

 

[patswana]

imo england are clearly a better side and I think that certain players need to be give the boot. Firstly with the batters. North definetly needs to go and clarke is clearly injured and not fit to play. Ponting is not in form and his field placings have been hopeless. With the bowlers, lets say none of the are really up to it. I think australia overall would become a stronger country in cricket if our players played more in the state competition and not so much t20.

Then you have Brad Hodge who was dropped afteer an innings of 200 and is one of the best batsmen in the country. He has clearly been robbed of a long and successful career.

Rant over

Excellent rant. Agree that Hodge has been robbed but it's too late for him now. Time to put in the youth.

I believe the children are our future. Unless we stop them now.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Excellent rant. Agree that Hodge has been robbed but it's too late for him now. Time to put in the youth.

I believe the children are our future. Unless we stop them now.

I guess that applies when Australian selectors put in Bollinger, Harris and North into the team.

Though what you are saying is correct.

Shut up Ferminal, it is hardly bias. You don't have to be einstein to work out that the guy is excellent batsmen. you can not deny that Hodge has been robbed over his career. Australian selectors are to thick to go with youth espeially when the put in haddin, harris, bollinger & north. I also think that the selectors leave players in the side too long. Even though Hussey has hit form, he has had two very average years and the slectors are too stupid to drop him and give someone else a go. They just leave them in expecting them to find form. Same with Johnson except they finally dropped him because of pressure from media and general public.

Why doesn't he get a go in the T20 or ODI team? One of the best T20 batsmen in the world and you can not argue with that.

 

[Ferminal]

It is bias, an objective person would see that Hodge could have had a reasonable international career in all formats in another time or another country, a Victorian is up in arms in outrage!

Hodge is not alone, Phil Jacques and Phil Hughes have had equally brief but competent test careers. Sometimes you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time and can't fit into a team. Players often get into the team because of injuries, knowing that there's little they can do to keep the spot once the injured player returns. Hodge is unlucky that he had to compete against an amazing array of middle order batsmen for most of his career. You would never pick Hodge for a permanent spot in the middle order ahead of the likes of Langer, Ponting, Waugh, Waugh, Lehman, Martyn, Clarke or Katich. Of course Hodge is not far below (if not equal to some) the level of these players, but it makes no difference to the side, you could interchange them and it wouldn't overly matter. He wasn't robbed of anything, he was unlucky to exist at a time where he was competing against such a rich crop of cricketers. Australian cricket would not be any better/worse for the last 10 years with or without Hodge.

As a T20 player, he lacks the firepower to be a matchwinner on an international level. There's no point getting rid of Clarke for someone like Hodge. Hussey x 2 and White are much better middle order T20 players and Warner/Watson is a great opening combination.

He should be in the 2011 WC squad, his domestic form is un-ignorable and might even be a big player if there is some spillover from losing the Ashes on the likes of Ponting and Clarke. ODIs are largely irrelevant so I don't see a problem picking the best squad to achieve short term goals like the WC. Of course this is still no guarantee, as his insistence on lambasting the selectors at every opportunity has clearly resulted in a blacklisting.

I agree that selectors are too conservative - especially in the last 4-5 years when its been clear that we would eventually lose our edge over our rivals.

 

[Siriuscat]

As a Scotsman I am duty bound to hate cricket but there's something about the Ashes maybe because my grandfather watched cricket all summer long even in black and white. Also being Scottish genetically I pretty much bound to support anyone but our sassenach neighbours but in this case anything that lets me hear more of Pointing and the Aussie media whining like a two year old is okay by me...;0)

 

[auscyclefan94]

It is bias, an objective person would see that Hodge could have had a reasonable international career in all formats in another time or another country, a Victorian is up in arms in outrage!

Hodge is not alone, Phil Jacques and Phil Hughes have had equally brief but competent test careers. Sometimes you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time and can't fit into a team. Players often get into the team because of injuries, knowing that there's little they can do to keep the spot once the injured player returns. Hodge is unlucky that he had to compete against an amazing array of middle order batsmen for most of his career. You would never pick Hodge for a permanent spot in the middle order ahead of the likes of Langer, Ponting, Waugh, Waugh, Lehman, Martyn, Clarke or Katich. Of course Hodge is not far below (if not equal to some) the level of these players, but it makes no difference to the side, you could interchange them and it wouldn't overly matter. He wasn't robbed of anything, he was unlucky to exist at a time where he was competing against such a rich crop of cricketers. Australian cricket would not be any better/worse for the last 10 years with or without Hodge.

As a T20 player, he lacks the firepower to be a matchwinner on an international level. There's no point getting rid of Clarke for someone like Hodge. Hussey x 2 and White are much better middle order T20 players and Warner/Watson is a great opening combination.

He should be in the 2011 WC squad, his domestic form is un-ignorable and might even be a big player if there is some spillover from losing the Ashes on the likes of Ponting and Clarke. ODIs are largely irrelevant so I don't see a problem picking the best squad to achieve short term goals like the WC. Of course this is still no guarantee, as his insistence on lambasting the selectors at every opportunity has clearly resulted in a blacklisting.

I agree that selectors are too conservative - especially in the last 4-5 years when its been clear that we would eventually lose our edge over our rivals.

I would not have Hussey x 2 in the T20 squad. I think Hughes is different in that he is still young and will have many more opportunities to play for australia in his career.

I just think your age argument is wrong, so many players that are currently in the side are old and are still selected for their first test match. I personally think it is time for Ponting to just do test matches. Then he would be able to focus on them. He might be able to do better.

I personally think there is too much international cricket. Especially T20's.

Also, have you noticd how much Warne always criticises ponting? I think those two would of had plenty arguements over the years. You can tell they don't get along.

 

[sublimit]

Australia might be better going with 4 pace bowlers, The spinners dont cut it.

Johnson is still a dangerous bowler if he gets it right, Tait should be persuaded to play, this could prove difficult though But Siddle is a reasonable bowler and maybe stick with Harris.

North, Doherty look like minor counties players and are useless.

 

[Archibald]

Ricky Ponting: "can't bat, can't bowl..."