2009 Ashes

[TheEastTerrace]

Not looking good for England. Fancy North and Clarke to notch up tonnes. Strauss looks a bit lost TBH, and I think that's what shows how good a captain Vaughan was. Could come up with something a bit different when it's needed.

Aussies to get 200-250 ahead. England will prey for rain.

[Mibbes Aye]

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Not looking good for England. Fancy North and Clarke to notch up tonnes. Strauss looks a bit lost TBH, and I think that's what shows how good a captain Vaughan was. Could come up with something a bit different when it's needed.

Aussies to get 200-250 ahead. England will prey for rain.

And they've got it.

Big psychological impact for the rest of the series after the events of the last three days I suspect. Essentially the English have been put in a position where Australia are saying to them "We're superior".

Good thing about the rain is the chance to hear Michael Kasprowicz sharing some anecdotes about his time in state cricket in Australia etc. TMS have a knack of finding entertaining and insightful ex-players from Oz for the Ashes commentaries

[Hibbie_Cameron]

I feeling the rain wll save England here. If no rain then i would imagine the Aussies would bat more than half the day before declaring and trying to bowl England out in what would surely be a no lose situation

[GhostofBolivar]

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I feeling the rain wll save England here. If no rain then i would imagine the Aussies would bat more than half the day before declaring and trying to bowl England out in what would surely be a no lose situation

England can't afford to lose the first test and go to Lord's one down.

The Australians haven't lost there since 1934.

[H18sry]

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England can't afford to lose the first test and go to Lord's one down.

The Australians haven't lost there since 1934.

Thats the declaration 239 ahead with 4 1/2 sessions left go Aussie's

[--------]

Forecast not good.

The weather will save the Aussies.

[blackpoolhibs]

I dot know much about cricket, other than you have to score more runs than the opposition, the aussies seem to be much better batters than england, and their bowlers seem better too. For those reasons i predict a series win for the aussies. And no honours this time for a team who win a competition that only has two teams in it.

[--------]

The Aussies were handing out a hammering here, mate.

Unfortunately the weather forecast for South Wales tomorrow is for showers, so it's unlikely that we'll see a full day's play.

But if by chance we do, England will need to bat with total concentration and commitment to see out a draw.

I don't say they can't, but they didn't exactly show the capablility to do so in the first innings.

England had to avoid defeat in this match - as Ghost says, the Ausralians have a very good record at Lords. And maybe that's why the match was put to a ground that regularly gets lots and lots of rain....

[Mibbes Aye]

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I dot know much about cricket, other than you have to score more runs than the opposition, the aussies seem to be much better batters than england, and their bowlers seem better too. For those reasons i predict a series win for the aussies. And no honours this time for a team who win a competition that only has two teams in it.

To be entirely accurate, to win you have to bowl the other side out twice and exceed their run total. That's why a team can go out and post a big, big total like the Aussies did with their 674-6 and potentially stand little, some or a huge chance of winning, depending on the circumstances.

Agree with you that we're looking at the Australians probably winning the series, let alone merely retaining the Ashes. They've outbatted and outbowled England and the much-maligned Nathan Hauritz has outperformed Monty and Swann combined, on the spinning front. Cook's been dismissed twice in less than forty balls. This venue, with the teams as they were, was being touted as England's strongest chance for a win. Psychologically it's a massive blow to England IMO.

As pointed out before, they are up against it next time out at Lord's. Still think England might have the capacity to win a match, but regardless of this Test's outcome I think the Australians can win at least two.

[blackpoolhibs]

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To be entirely accurate, to win you have to bowl the other side out twice and exceed their run total. That's why a team can go out and post a big, big total like the Aussies did with their 674-6 and potentially stand little, some or a huge chance of winning, depending on the circumstances.

Agree with you that we're looking at the Australians probably winning the series, let alone merely retaining the Ashes. They've outbatted and outbowled England and the much-maligned Nathan Hauritz has outperformed Monty and Swann combined, on the spinning front. Cook's been dismissed twice in less than forty balls. This venue, with the teams as they were, was being touted as England's strongest chance for a win. Psychologically it's a massive blow to England IMO.

As pointed out before, they are up against it next time out at Lord's. Still think England might have the capacity to win a match, but regardless of this Test's outcome I think the Australians can win at least two.

Well it looks like there's only one team capable of doing that. FWIW i think its so bloody boring, cant wait for the football to start.

[Mibbes Aye]

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Well it looks like there's only one team capable of doing that. FWIW i think its so bloody boring, cant wait for the football to start.

I think cricket does come across as boring, until or unless you get drawn into it. If you do, you then start to engage with the complexities of it and it's impossible to put down after that. It's much more subtle than most sports and is as much about individual battles as team ones (and often about individual battles going on and contributing to the team battles). Does it in a way that other team sports just can't match. It's also completely at the mercy of environmental factors - the kind of pitch and the weather have a huge impact.

I got into it while in Australia - knew little about it before and cared less. Over there it is the summer sport and has as much saturation coverage as we give football. In the winter it tends to fragment into rugby league and union and 'soccer' depending to an extent on geography and ethnicity. I got drawn in because there was a huge media debate going on about a player called Dean Jones and whether he should be recalled to the national side. 'Deano' was a bit of a maverick, although undoubtedly talented so it was familiar stuff for a football fan

Anyhoo, every day spent not embracing the joy of Test Match cricket (and perhaps more importantly, 'Test Match Special') is a day wasted

[Sir David Gray]

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Well it looks like there's only one team capable of doing that. FWIW i think its so bloody boring, cant wait for the football to start.

I've tried to get interested in cricket but I just can't.

I've watched it occasionally over the past couple of years and although my understanding has improved slightly, I still find it incredibly monotonous.

I've watched a bit of the Ashes this year and I couldn't really keep it on for any longer than 10 minutes at a time. It can go on for about 10-15 minutes without anything of note actually happening.

Apart from anything else, how could you possibly get excited about holding a 4in urn in the air?

In saying all that, I sincerely hope that Australia does the business. The hysteria that followed the English win in 2005 was ridiculous.

[--------]

Cricket was invented to give Englishmen some faint concept of eternity.

Then the Aussies came along, and cricket became the Englishman's Awful Warning of what Hell will be like - always trying SO hard, sometimes getting a wee smiudgin of success, but always and inevitably doomed to crashing humiliation...

Seriously, there is nothing in sport so copmpelling to my mind as the sight of a top-class spin bowler like Warne or Muralitharan (or Lance Gibbs or Derek Underwood or Bishan Bedi in days past) pinning a batsman down and slowly but surely luring him to his doom.

Or a confrontation between a top-class batsman and a top-class pace bowler with neither giving the other any quarter. A few years ago Alan Donald of South Africa reckoned he'd had Mike Atherton of England caught behind the wicket. Atherton looked at the umpire, the umpire gave 'not out', so Atherton stayed put at the wicket.

Donald was a trifle upset by this, and the next hour and a half saw him bowling as fast and as hostile a spell of bowling at Atherton as I've ever seen. And Atherton ducked and weaved like a boxer, took some blows, played some strokes, finished the day still at the wicket. More like warfare than sport in some ways, but totally compelling.

You either like cricket or you don't, I guess. When you like it, it can be the best game in the world.

[GhostofBolivar]

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Cricket was invented to give Englishmen some faint concept of eternity.

Then the Aussies came along, and cricket became the Englishman's Awful Warning of what Hell will be like - always trying SO hard, sometimes getting a wee smiudgin of success, but always and inevitably doomed to crashing humiliation...

Seriously, there is nothing in sport so copmpelling to my mind as the sight of a top-class spin bowler like Warne or Muralitharan (or Lance Gibbs or Derek Underwood or Bishan Bedi in days past) pinning a batsman down and slowly but surely luring him to his doom.

Or a confrontation between a top-class batsman and a top-class pace bowler with neither giving the other any quarter. A few years ago Alan Donald of South Africa reckoned he'd had Mike Atherton of England caught behind the wicket. Atherton looked at the umpire, the umpire gave 'not out', so Atherton stayed put at the wicket.

Donald was a trifle upset by this, and the next hour and a half saw him bowling as fast and as hostile a spell of bowling at Atherton as I've ever seen. And Atherton ducked and weaved like a boxer, took some blows, played some strokes, finished the day still at the wicket. More like warfare than sport in some ways, but totally compelling.

You either like cricket or you don't, I guess. When you like it, it can be the best game in the world.

I remember that.

Donald was right.

IIRC, it was a classic Mike Atherton dismissal. Early on in his innings - before he'd got his feet moving - he wafted at a shortish delivery outside off stump with his bat about two feet from his body. He either got a faint touch with the outside of the bat or his gloves to the wicketkeeper. I think the umpire was the only one in the ground who didn't think Atherton was out.

That was a tremendous passage of play.

And it's why I don't like T20 and one-day matches. They take that aspect of the game away. Limiting the number of overs someone can bowl and the fielding restrictions are designed to hamstring the bowlers. Their job is not about taking wickets, it's about bowling dot balls. There are no tactics or real captaincy. Field settings are uniform and bowlers don't prey on batsmen's weaknesses. They pitch the ball up every delivery and hope the batsman gets himself out.

The sort of steely determination the Australians bring to Test cricket - which is probably their greatest asset - just doesn't work in an arena like that. Test match cricket is, primarily, an eight-week examination of each player's strengths and weaknesses. It's why it's called Test cricket. Mentality is often far more important than technique. It's why Alan Border was a better batsman than Graeme Hick. Hick probably had more talent and ability, but Border was among the fiercest of competitors and thrived in an environment where Hick was exposed. And that's why it works. Very few sports offer that sort of pressure - where familiarity with the opponent becomes both a strength and a weakness; and where rivalries and grudges are given a chance to develop over a short space of time. I can only think of the playoffs in North American sports - basketball, baseball and hockey - where teams can play up to 7 games against the same opponent within the space of 2 weeks.

T20 isn't about that. It's about big shots. There's nothing wrong with that - Adam Gilchrist's 50-ball hundred in the last Ashes series (isn't it funny how the TV adverts only reference 2005? It's as if 2007 never happened) was truly awesome. But that innings was part of a larger and more complete whole. T20 is a one-trick pony where scoring rate is the only thing that's important. I'm not interested in a form of the game where maiden overs are more prized than 5-fors. Or where strike rate is a better way to gauge a batsman's quality than his average.

[H18sry]

KP gone 34-3 now come on the Aussie's

[blackpoolhibs]

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KP gone 34-3 now come on the Aussie's

They are so outclassed, christ i think scotland could give the aussies a better game.

[Sir David Gray]

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They are so outclassed, christ i think scotland could give the aussies a better game.

We won't have long to find out. Scotland's apparently playing them in Edinburgh at the end of next month.

[blackpoolhibs]

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We won't have long to find out. Scotland's apparently playing them in Edinburgh at the end of next month.

Its squeaky bum time now, 2 wickets to go.

[Toaods]

Great game - superb resistance from Collingwood and the last 3 - put the big heads, oops, I mean big names to shame.

My one and only bet came up too...Swann to score more than 21.5...

[davym7062]

5 days to play a game and still noone wins. what a lot of nade

[Toaods]

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5 days to play a game and still noone wins. what a lot of nade

nope........nobody 'lost'.

See,you just don't get it........

[--------]

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5 days to play a game and still noone wins. what a lot of nade

That was the first of five Test Matches.

There's a long way to go still, and the series could go either way.

Like Toaods said - superb resistance from Collingwood and the England lower-order batsmen, some great play from the Australians, and all to play for in the rest of the series.

What more could anyone want?

This is a game for grown-ups, mate.

[GhostofBolivar]

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5 days to play a game and still noone wins. what a lot of nade

That's no bad thing. In fact, I have often thought that it takes a certain kind of genius to come up with a game that can go on for five days and still end in a draw.

[Hank Schrader]

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Or a confrontation between a top-class batsman and a top-class pace bowler with neither giving the other any quarter. A few years ago Alan Donald of South Africa reckoned he'd had Mike Atherton of England caught behind the wicket. Atherton looked at the umpire, the umpire gave 'not out', so Atherton stayed put at the wicket.

Donald was a trifle upset by this, and the next hour and a half saw him bowling as fast and as hostile a spell of bowling at Atherton as I've ever seen. And Atherton ducked and weaved like a boxer, took some blows, played some strokes, finished the day still at the wicket. More like warfare than sport in some ways, but totally compelling.

Allan Donald trying to knock Michael Athertons block off....

[--------]

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Allan Donald trying to knock Michael Athertons block off....

That's the one. The thing about that spell was the way Donald sustained the aggression. It just went on and on and on....

Atherton should have walked, but then we'd have missed some absolutely awesome Test cricket.

And then there was Mr Ambrose at the WACA.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5G4p...eature=related

Picture quality not so good, but the quality of the bowling is quite first-class.

Especially when you consider whose were the 7 wickets he took in that spell - for ONE run.

[hibbybrian]

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That was the first of five Test Matches.

There's a long way to go still, and the series could go either way.

Like Toaods said - superb resistance from Collingwood and the England lower-order batsmen, some great play from the Australians, and all to play for in the rest of the series.

What more could anyone want?

This is a game for grown-ups, mate.

thought Ponting's comments http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/default.stmabout gamesmanship were a bit out of order

a bit pot kettle black after all

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IDFFmiwCqU

[TheEastTerrace]

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thought Ponting's comments http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/default.stmabout gamesmanship were a bit out of order

a bit pot kettle black after all

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IDFFmiwCqU

If Punter had been in the same position, he would have done exactly the same. The Aussies are hardly angels when it comes to gamesmanship, they pretty much have sledging down to an art form.

[Sir David Gray]

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5 days to play a game and still noone wins. what a lot of nade

That was my thoughts when I heard it ended in a draw.

It's bad enough playing for 90 minutes and coming out with a draw, without playing for five days!

Especially when I don't see what was equal between England and Australia after the five days that could have allowed for the draw to take place.

I realise this is only one Test and the Ashes is played over five Tests but is it not possible for every single Test to end in a draw? If so, that would mean that you would play for 25 days (nearly a whole month!) and still end up with a draw!

[Mibbes Aye]

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That was my thoughts when I heard it ended in a draw.

It's bad enough playing for 90 minutes and coming out with a draw, without playing for five days!

Especially when I don't see what was equal between England and Australia after the five days that could have allowed for the draw to take place.

I realise this is only one Test and the Ashes is played over five Tests but is it not possible for every single Test to end in a draw? If so, that would mean that you would play for 25 days (nearly a whole month!) and still end up with a draw!

It can be hard to talk positively about cricket to someone who isn't like-minded without sounding patronising. I undoubtedly won't succeed

The truth is that the beauty of the game rests in its subtleties and in its ambiguities and in its occasional, or even often, lack of resolution.

Taking the time to learn those subtleties and appreciate how they can shape a cricket match (or not) is what makes it so rewarding IMO. It takes acquiring but it more than repays the acquiring. The initial investment of your time and patience getting to grips with the complexities of the game is rewarded immeasurably. On an ongoing basis.

(Point of order - if all five matches are drawn, Australia retain the Ashes )

[Sir David Gray]

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It can be hard to talk positively about cricket to someone who isn't like-minded without sounding patronising. I undoubtedly won't succeed

The truth is that the beauty of the game rests in its subtleties and in its ambiguities and in its occasional, or even often, lack of resolution.

Taking the time to learn those subtleties and appreciate how they can shape a cricket match (or not) is what makes it so rewarding IMO. It takes acquiring but it more than repays the acquiring. The initial investment of your time and patience getting to grips with the complexities of the game is rewarded immeasurably. On an ongoing basis.

(Point of order - if all five matches are drawn, Australia retain the Ashes )

I can see how someone might enjoy watching the Twenty20 form of the game but Test cricket just seems extremely boring to me.

In saying that, I can also understand how someone might enjoy playing cricket (Test and Twenty20), the challenge of getting runs and trying to claim a wicket by either bowling or fielding seems quite fun to me.

I just don't think that Test cricket is an appealing prospect as a spectator, although if you are a cricket fan, I can see why you would like the traditional form of the sport.

PS-'Mon the draw!