My Ashes Rant

[Jez]

New ball tomorrow and an early wicket, or England are in big trouble.

That's my big fear. They were on a roll yesterday and it's promising, but all they need is a cheap early lapse in getting back into the groove and that's it; game over. Anyway, I do hope I get to see how it unfolds. It'd be nice to see them able to settle in.

 

They haven't got much left to play with that's for sure and if Clarke or Haddin go, then I would say pretty much game over. Johnson can bat a bit though, but a lot to ask of him all day. If Clarke and Haddin stay in until after lunch, you're in with a shout. Will be very interesting I think. I do hope I will be here tomorrow, giving you a bit of lip, but I am not too sure now.

[Dave]

New ball tomorrow and an early wicket, or England are in big trouble.

That's my big fear. They were on a roll yesterday and it's promising, but all they need is a cheap early lapse in getting back into the groove and that's it; game over. Anyway, I do hope I get to see how it unfolds. It'd be nice to see them able to settle in.

 

They haven't got much left to play with that's for sure and if Clarke or Haddin go, then I would say pretty much game over. Johnson can bat a bit though, but a lot to ask of him all day. If Clarke and Haddin stay in until after lunch, you're in with a shout. Will be very interesting I think. I do hope I will be here tomorrow, giving you a bit of lip, but I am not too sure now.

 

Mate, Clarke and Haddin would have to make another 150 between them for Australia to have any chance and that ain't gonna' happen.

England will lead 1-0 so start sproting your shit now mate

[Dave]

although I still think Strauss made a good catch.

 

Mate, you have finally made a ludicrous post

[glam_junkie]

Howzat?!?!?!?!?!

 

 

Surely they wouldn't claim it anyway....

[Dave]

Howzat?!?!?!?!?!

 

 

Surely they wouldn't claim it anyway....

 

You would think not but Stauss and Jez did

[glam_junkie]

Howzat?!?!?!?!?!

 

 

Surely they wouldn't claim it anyway....

 

You would think not but Stauss and Jez did

 

 

Now there's captain material if I ever saw it!

[Glen]

Howzat?!?!?!?!?!

 

 

Surely they wouldn't claim it anyway....

 

You would think not but Stauss and Jez did

 

Swings and roundabouts.........im sure there will be some borderline decisions which go Australia's way over the next few tests.

[Dave]

Howzat?!?!?!?!?!

 

 

Surely they wouldn't claim it anyway....

 

You would think not but Stauss and Jez did

 

Swings and roundabouts.........im sure there will be some borderline decisions which go Australia's way over the next few tests.

 

Maybe, but I bet it's not 3 of the top 4 batsmen in one innings !!!

[Glen]

What's that I hear..........the sound of the last wicket falling...........

[Jez]

Howzat?!?!?!?!?!

 

 

Surely they wouldn't claim it anyway....

 

You would think not but Stauss and Jez did

 

You can get Photoshop down there then mate

[Jez]

What's that I hear..........the sound of the last wicket falling...........

 

 

Flintoff - Utterly brilliant today and deservedly got his 5 wicket haul. A win by 115 runs in the end, but a definite wobble yesterday afternoon that had myself and a few others worried (it is England we are talking about here ). England miles ahead the best team in this game though and outplayed the Aussies for 3 1/2 days in every way, Strauss' captaincy was really good aswell, so deserved winners for sure. Extra special as it was the first win against the Aussies in 75 years at Lords. The Aussies will bounce back of that I am sure, although their bowlers are gonna have to pull their fingers out by 1000%. I look forward to the next match in 10 days.

[TIM (2)]

Well it's obvious where this game was won and lost. The Aussie bowlers were hopeless. Plus it's good to see a few decisions going against them & Ponting bleat on about injustices. You were shit, and you lost - deal with it knucklehead.

[Jez]

Well it's obvious where this game was won and lost. The Aussie bowlers were hopeless. Plus it's good to see a few decisions going against them & Ponting bleat on about injustices. You were shit, and you lost - deal with it knucklehead.

 

Tell it as it is TIM

[Glen]

where oh where are the aussies? its all gone quiet..........

[Geoff]

We were sleeping.

 

Man this was soooo disappointing. I had these grand plans of staying up until 3am this morning watching this if it went down to the wire.

 

Instead, I went to my mate's house to watch the footy and I was truly elated to see the Eels crush the Melbourne Storm. Our season may be over, but a good win is a good win. Anyway, the game finished at 9pm. So we turn over to the cricket and whoooshka! Game over. The 8th wicket fell just after 9 f*cking PM! I drove home and by the time I got home I was watching the post match presentation. And I must say, I thought Ponting was very humble in defeat. So what if he blew up at a few poor decisions at the time. To act like he's the only one who's ever done that is unrealistic. I personally think he is genuinely a good guy.

 

Anyway, yeah, it was just outright disappointment for me. To see the Aussies get themselves into such a promising position - 209 runs, 5 wickets and a full day at their mercy - and then throw it away. Silly, silly boys. Oh well, here's to the next match, I guess.

[Dave]

 

Flintoff - Utterly brilliant today and deservedly got his 5 wicket haul. A win by 115 runs in the end, but a definite wobble yesterday afternoon that had myself and a few others worried (it is England we are talking about here ). England miles ahead the best team in this game though and outplayed the Aussies for 3 1/2 days in every way, Strauss' captaincy was really good aswell, so deserved winners for sure. Extra special as it was the first win against the Aussies in 75 years at Lords. The Aussies will bounce back of that I am sure, although their bowlers are gonna have to pull their fingers out by 1000%. I look forward to the next match in 10 days.

 

Flintoff proved why he is still the best bowler in the world when it comes to Test cricket and just like Australia with McGrath, when he does retire, his talent you will not be able to replace.

This also goes to prove the point, if you can not bowl a side out twice in a match, 99% of the time you can not win the game and this has now happened on two occassions and I can't see it getting any better with that bowling attack.

[Jez]

We were sleeping.

 

Man this was soooo disappointing. I had these grand plans of staying up until 3am this morning watching this if it went down to the wire.

 

Instead, I went to my mate's house to watch the footy and I was truly elated to see the Eels crush the Melbourne Storm. Our season may be over, but a good win is a good win. Anyway, the game finished at 9pm. So we turn over to the cricket and whoooshka! Game over. The 8th wicket fell just after 9 f*cking PM! I drove home and by the time I got home I was watching the post match presentation. And I must say, I thought Ponting was very humble in defeat. So what if he blew up at a few poor decisions at the time. To act like he's the only one who's ever done that is unrealistic. I personally think he is genuinely a good guy.

 

Anyway, yeah, it was just outright disappointment for me. To see the Aussies get themselves into such a promising position - 209 runs, 5 wickets and a full day at their mercy - and then throw it away. Silly, silly boys. Oh well, here's to the next match, I guess.

 

Ponting is a brilliant cricketer no argument and probably a decent bloke too. He is just an easy target, as he looks like misery most of the time, has made loads of excuses up in the past, when he should just take it on the chin like anyone else usually does. Good to be really passionate about the game, but not at the expense of a bit of a sense of humour sometimes. Good to see him actually laughing today, which I have never seen before. (They must have mentioned Johnson's bowling performance to him or something)

[Jez]

 

Flintoff - Utterly brilliant today and deservedly got his 5 wicket haul. A win by 115 runs in the end, but a definite wobble yesterday afternoon that had myself and a few others worried (it is England we are talking about here ). England miles ahead the best team in this game though and outplayed the Aussies for 3 1/2 days in every way, Strauss' captaincy was really good aswell, so deserved winners for sure. Extra special as it was the first win against the Aussies in 75 years at Lords. The Aussies will bounce back of that I am sure, although their bowlers are gonna have to pull their fingers out by 1000%. I look forward to the next match in 10 days.

 

Flintoff proved why he is still the best bowler in the world when it comes to Test cricket and just like Australia with McGrath, when he does retire, his talent you will not be able to replace.

This also goes to prove the point, if you can not bowl a side out twice in a match, 99% of the time you can not win the game and this has now happened on two occassions and I can't see it getting any better with that bowling attack.

 

I'm pretty worried that Flintoff won't last this series out mate to be honest mate and with Pietersen's injury, he could be out aswell - Major blow for us if that happens. We have Harmison as back up, who admittedly has been in top form recently, but you never know if he is gonna show up or not. Hopefully the ten day break will get the injuries sorted a little, although they aren't going to go away.

[Geoff]

I've seen him laugh plenty of times, especially when he comes over for Christmas dinner!

 

Admit it, you just don't like his facial hair 'cause it hides his glee.

[Glen]

We were sleeping.

 

Man this was soooo disappointing. I had these grand plans of staying up until 3am this morning watching this if it went down to the wire.

 

Instead, I went to my mate's house to watch the footy and I was truly elated to see the Eels crush the Melbourne Storm. Our season may be over, but a good win is a good win. Anyway, the game finished at 9pm. So we turn over to the cricket and whoooshka! Game over. The 8th wicket fell just after 9 f*cking PM! I drove home and by the time I got home I was watching the post match presentation. And I must say, I thought Ponting was very humble in defeat. So what if he blew up at a few poor decisions at the time. To act like he's the only one who's ever done that is unrealistic. I personally think he is genuinely a good guy.

 

Anyway, yeah, it was just outright disappointment for me. To see the Aussies get themselves into such a promising position - 209 runs, 5 wickets and a full day at their mercy - and then throw it away. Silly, silly boys. Oh well, here's to the next match, I guess.

 

Ponting is a brilliant cricketer no argument and probably a decent bloke too. He is just an easy target, as he looks like misery most of the time, has made loads of excuses up in the past, when he should just take it on the chin like anyone else usually does. Good to be really passionate about the game, but not at the expense of a bit of a sense of humour sometimes. Good to see him actually laughing today, which I have never seen before. (They must have mentioned Johnson's bowling performance to him or something)

 

I too think he's a great player....no doubt. As you say missog tho.

[TIM (2)]

Ponting's a decent player no doubt - and he's definitely more tactically astute than Strauss is. Strauss' decision not to enforce the follow-on could've been fatal, and he is just so cautious. I've no doubt his poor decision-making will cost us at least one of the tests...

[Dave]

Strauss' decision not to enforce the follow-on could've been fatal, and he is just so cautious.

 

You are spot on there.....

The minute he did that, I thought we were still in with a chance.

[Geoff]

Okay, speak to me a novice. What does this "not enforce the follow-on" mean? I always thought enforcing the follow-on was just declaring your score when you thought you had enough runs to win? Please explain.

[Dave]

Okay, speak to me a novice. What does this "not enforce the follow-on" mean? I always thought enforcing the follow-on was just declaring your score when you thought you had enough runs to win? Please explain.

 

 

This pretty much sums it up mate !!

 

If team B is dismissed with a score 200 runs or more behind team A, team A has the choice whether to make team B bat again for their "second innings" (called "enforcing the follow-on"), or bat itself to gain a bigger lead.

 

If the follow-on is enforced, team B bats until it is dismissed or declares. If team B's total score from both its innings is less than team A's score from the first innings, team A wins the game. If this is not the case, team A must bat in its second innigs to attempt to score more than team B. If it succeeds in the remaining time, team A, wins. If it is dismissed before this occurs, team B wins (though this is very unusual - teams who enforce the follow-on very rarely lose). If time runs out before either of the above occurs, the game is called a draw

 

Is that as clear as mud to you mate !!!

 

 

For example.....If England batted first and made 500 and then if Australia batted and made say 275, because the deficit is greater than 200, England have the option to ask Australia to bat again {follow on}.

This is what you really call going in for the kill because very rarely do sides that are made to follow on ever win.

So say then Australia were made to follow on and made 400 in their second innings, they would have a lead of 175 and then England would only need to make 176 runs in their second innings to win the match.

 

Hope that is a little more clearer for you mate

[Geoff]

Okay, I see. Thanks for that. So yeah, gotta agree with all you guys then that the English definitely should have enforced the follow-on in that last match. Oh well, turned out okay in the end anyway.