The Ashes 2010-2011 .... Official Thread

[Jez]

So, uh... Mitchell Johnson's lady friend. Yes please.

 

Are you sure it's not a man friend? With that moustache, All he needs is a leather cap and a vest to go with it.

[glam_junkie]

don't count england out yet. still a day of really good batting conditions to go, and if england can get a lead of 150-200 they'll have something to bowl at on a 5th day pitch.

 

Well the miracle did happen - brilliant batting from Strauss and Cook, so a draw looks like it is on the cards. Great day for England.

 

 

if you think that was good comeback, at the exact same time in the aussie domestic competition, SOuth Australia were bowled out in their first innings for 55 and were forced to follow on. Their follow on score... 410 (or thereabouts)!!!!

[JamesEagle]

My mate's over there for the entire series, he comes back sometime in Feb I think, then after a couple of weeks jets off another holiday!!!

 

He's a millionaire, right?

 

Nah! But no mortgage helps..haha!

 

Spawny get!

[JamesEagle]

don't count england out yet. still a day of really good batting conditions to go, and if england can get a lead of 150-200 they'll have something to bowl at on a 5th day pitch.

 

Well the miracle did happen - brilliant batting from Strauss and Cook, so a draw looks like it is on the cards. Great day for England.

 

Phew! Bat til lunch then bowl like madmen?

[glam_junkie]

 

 

Phew! Bat til lunch then bowl like madmen?

 

 

I thouhgt thye might have picked up the pace a bit in the final session yesterday. Once they passed the aussies score and still had 9 wickets in hand, they were still only going at 3.0 runs per over.

 

If i was them i would been going a bit quicker in the final session yesterday, batting for 90-100 minutes this morning and setting the aussies 220-240 in 2 sessions on a final day pitch. Play to win i say!

[JamesEagle]

 

 

Phew! Bat til lunch then bowl like madmen?

 

 

I thouhgt thye might have picked up the pace a bit in the final session yesterday. Once they passed the aussies score and still had 9 wickets in hand, they were still only going at 3.0 runs per over.

 

If i was them i would been going a bit quicker in the final session yesterday, batting for 90-100 minutes this morning and setting the aussies 220-240 in 2 sessions on a final day pitch. Play to win i say!

 

I agree, but to be honest the chances of winning are remote, it's got to be a draw now. I think.

[Jez]

Double century for Cook and more importnatly, toothless bowling from the Aussies - brilliant stuff. The first time ever the top 3 English batsmen have each got centuries against the Aussies. A definite draw on the cards, which is a moral victory to England, seeing as 'Fortress' Gaba is The Aussie stronghold.

[glam_junkie]

Cannot see why they are not going for a win.

As much as it will be a moral win for the poms, this means nothing on the scoreboard or for the series. Form is too easy to turn around, as we have seen in this match alone.

 

If you have a chance to win a test, you go for it. England appear to be happy to draw the game, when i think they could have won it. Tha'ts why the aussie have had so many positive resutls over the past 10 years... cos they go for the win when the opportunity present..If the English don't declare in the next half hour, they might aswell pull up the stumps.

 

Just hope this is not going to refelct the whole series otheriwse we've got 20 days or aimless cricket on the way.

[Geoff]

If you have a chance to win a test, you go for it. England appear to be happy to draw the game, when i think they could have won it. Tha'ts why the aussie have had so many positive resutls over the past 10 years... cos they go for the win when the opportunity present..If the English don't declare in the next half hour, they might aswell pull up the stumps.

Yep, from about midday yesterday this was only ever going to go one way and everyone should just have just pulled up stumps and saved the time and effort then. I know it's the way it goes and I should deal with it, but to play for five days only to end up as a draw? I can't think of anything more pointless.

[JamesEagle]

Cannot see why they are not going for a win.

As much as it will be a moral win for the poms, this means nothing on the scoreboard or for the series. Form is too easy to turn around, as we have seen in this match alone.

 

If you have a chance to win a test, you go for it. England appear to be happy to draw the game, when i think they could have won it. Tha'ts why the aussie have had so many positive resutls over the past 10 years... cos they go for the win when the opportunity present..If the English don't declare in the next half hour, they might aswell pull up the stumps.

 

Just hope this is not going to refelct the whole series otheriwse we've got 20 days or aimless cricket on the way.

 

Not sure I agree, they had to make sure they set the Aussies a target they could never get, even if they'd really gone for it with some insanely aggressive batting. The effect on our batsmen's morale of scoring so many and setting records might be more important, thinking about the rest of the Series rather than just the single Test. Certainly an intriguing start to the Ashes, I think it's a good thing as it keeps everyone guessing.

[Glen]

If you have a chance to win a test, you go for it. England appear to be happy to draw the game, when i think they could have won it. Tha'ts why the aussie have had so many positive resutls over the past 10 years... cos they go for the win when the opportunity present..If the English don't declare in the next half hour, they might aswell pull up the stumps.

Yep, from about midday yesterday this was only ever going to go one way and everyone should just have just pulled up stumps and saved the time and effort then. I know it's the way it goes and I should deal with it, but to play for five days only to end up as a draw? I can't think of anything more pointless.

 

Im with you mate. Obviously I havent watched one ball of this so far as sleep is more important, but watching a team score, what 3 an over for 400 odd runs doesnt fill me with glee. Next.

[Jez]

Wow - Cook beating Bradmans record is a mighty fine achievement in itself, never mind anything else.

 

Completely agree with James. England had to get 250 plus to be completely safe - you don't put the Aussies into bat with 50 overs left chasing 200. All the records falling certainly are a morale boost to take to the next games aswell, so this game was far from pointless for the last 2 days in our case - the complete opposite in fact. To be honest, England should have carried on when it looked like a draw and given the Aussie bowlers some more 'medicine' to make them feel even worse and you certainly don't 'pull up stumps' when you are giving the bowling opposition a bit of a thrashing.

Looks like the Aussies maybe changing the squad for the second test already, which is highly worrying for them, although after looking at their bowling performance (Siddle excluded), is pretty much warranted. It's also not a good sign when your own ex team mates are giving you a slating on the Radio after one match, plus The Gabba has more of the Barmy Army in attendence than the home crowd. As I said, a draw at The Gabba is an excellent result for England whatever way you look at it and although it is very early days in this series, I know which team will be feeling a lot happier than the other tonight.

[Geoff]

plus The Gabba has more of the Barmy Army in attendence than the home crowd.

I did notice on the few bits I saw on Sunday that the crowd seemed to be louder in England's favour. Though in all honesty, the Aussies didn't have a single thing to cheer about for the last two days.

 

I know what you guys are all saying and I appreciate it's in the spirit of the sport, but just for me personally I cannot find anything more frustrating or pointless. I tear strips off soccer for making us sit there for a 0-0 or 1-1 draw... and that's only for 90mins. 5 full days without a result? That's f*cking murderous.

[glam_junkie]

 

 

Completely agree with James. England had to get 250 plus to be completely safe - you don't put the Aussies into bat with 50 overs left chasing 200.

 

 

Exactly! That's why they should have been going at quicker than 3 runs per over. With 9 wickets in hand they should have been going a lot quicker than they were. There was no reason that they couldn't have been at a 250 lead by the lunch break.

 

How many over did they bat? 120+

Even lifitng to 4 runs per over would have seen them have real chance to bowl at the aussie for over 2 sessions rather than 1.

 

oh well...

[Jez]

 

 

Completely agree with James. England had to get 250 plus to be completely safe - you don't put the Aussies into bat with 50 overs left chasing 200.

 

With 9 wickets in hand they should have been going a lot quicker than they were.

 

If we had gone any quicker, we would have been 700-1 and embarassed you guys even more

[glam_junkie]

3 wickets... 2runs... nice start.

[Jez]

3 wickets... 2runs... nice start.

 

 

[Geoff]

3 wickets... 2runs... nice start.

 

 

Awesome. I wish I had a radio or something to keep this rumbling in the background.

[Jez]

3 wickets... 2runs... nice start.

 

 

Awesome. I wish I had a radio or something to keep this rumbling in the background.

 

You wouldn't have wanted to listen during the first hour mate.

 

I've got the radio on at work, so am keeping up to date. Could have been 14-5 early on, but the Aussies have recovered to 95-3

[Jez]

3 wickets... 2runs... nice start.

 

 

Awesome. I wish I had a radio or something to keep this rumbling in the background.

 

You wouldn't have wanted to listen during the first hour mate.

 

I've got the radio on at work, so am keeping up to date. Could have been 14-5 early on, but the Aussies have recovered to 95-3

 

 

Make that 96-4

[Geoff]

3 wickets... 2runs... nice start.

 

 

Awesome. I wish I had a radio or something to keep this rumbling in the background.

 

You wouldn't have wanted to listen during the first hour mate.

 

I've got the radio on at work, so am keeping up to date. Could have been 14-5 early on, but the Aussies have recovered to 95-3

 

 

Make that 96-4

Haha... they're f*cked.

 

Yeah, I don't particularly want it for the joys of what I'll hear, just out of curiosity and to dull the bordem a bit would be nice.

[JamesEagle]

245 all out. England on top, but I think the media are getting carried away; we still need to avoid batting like we did in the first innings of the first test, it's far from won. Still, a good start.

[Geoff]

I remember hearing on the radio this morning that Ponting was confident of a result. I think that's why he instructed his team to offer such a poor effort, so that we'll get a result, possibly as early as day three this time.

[Jez]

I remember hearing on the radio this morning that Ponting was confident of a result. I think that's why he instructed his team to offer such a poor effort, so that we'll get a result, possibly as early as day three this time.

 

Very poor today mate i'm afraid, and without Husseys fine batting again, you would be dead in the water. Kudos to England though, as they bowled really well again today. This was definitely a 400 plus wicket, so we shall see what we can come up with tomorrow.

[JamesEagle]

 

This was definitely a 400 plus wicket, so we shall see what we can come up with tomorrow.

 

Good shout, you know your cricket mate! 317-2, very nice. I'm starting to get excited now...