The Ashes 2009

d'Oracle

super182 wrote: »

me tinks bopara gonna fire in next test:D

He'd want to be, in fairness.

legend73

flintoff is a big a problem as symonds was to australia, he's a known pisshead, given gifts beyond most and that aint bitter them's the facts.

break a leg as they say.... mwhahahaha. I would delight in such an occurence. Thats my god given right as an Aussie and a person who has never been a fan of the English, the Queen or warm beer.

come on Aussie come on.

simonrooneyzaga

you can almost smell the headline in 3 days time...

"Manou double ton levels ashes series"

legend73

Just good if Ponting breaks the Aussie record for most runs and gets on with playing the game. The shackles might come off!

Cant see a result in this test with rain forecast for Sat & Mon

legend73

what a disasterous start for the 2nd day if youre an Aussie, great start if youre an arse kissing queen lover. All the pressure of Watson and he can't make a dig of it.

Washout

legend73 wrote: »

Cant see a result in this test with rain forecast for Sat & Mon

cant believe 2 wickets first up

Big Vern

Onions and Anderson doing the business for England, 202 for 6 now. Bad second day for the Aussies....

Big Vern

202 for 7 now Anderson again!!! Johnson out for a duck...

legend73

One can only hope the umpires are as generous with their LBWs - Clarkes missing leg, Johnson over the top!

I thought lady luck was coming the Aussies way until the umpires sent her back to the English camp.

mike65

legend73, reading your comments, bitter much?

legend73

sweet as sugar..... got anything constructive to say?

mike65

Only that I'd like the Aussies to go to bed feeling bad and waking up feeling even worse.

legend73

Only if they wake up with some fat brumbie totty riding their knobs.

legend73

It seems the ball is moving a mile - it wouldnt hurt Australia to have a crack at the English in the next hour or so, after posting a modest 300 o.n.o (that is if the tail does a lot of wagging)

Even Ponting would be happy with that at this stage and all of sudden Watson is looking like he played a master class in the Aussie innings.

DJ Dodgy

300 seems a big ask now. But thats a useful 25 from the last pair so far, give the bowlers a chance to catch their breath. 254 for 9 68 overs.

Dubliner28

Why have the Aussies gone so down hill.
Not a big cricket fan but didnt they beat England 5-0 in the last Ashes and should have won the 1st test.

Has that affected them you think ?

DJ Dodgy

Dubliner28 wrote: »

Why have the Aussies gone so down hill.
Not a big cricket fan but didnt they beat England 5-0 in the last Ashes and should have won the 1st test.

Has that affected them you think ?

Same as you in terms of cricket knowledge. Think Aussies bowlers not winning on Day 5 Test 1 gave England momentum for Test 2. I thought the way the Aussies hung on in Test 2 might have helped them but getting the win under the belt has England in a good place. Aussies will have to force the pace a little to try to get a win (especially with the rain threatening all the time) while the English can just hang around. Don't know if we can judge how good/bad this 250 is until the Aussie bowlers have a go shortly.

mike65

The Aussies have lost half thier brilliant side (okay not so brilliant they couldn't lose the 2005 ashes of course) when the likes of Warne, Ponting and the Waughs, Martyn all retired they were bound to be a lesser team.

Australia 263 all out

legend73

I tell ya - if the Aussies can get Strauss - that will bring Bell to the crease. The Aussies could have 3 or 4 before tea and its game on. 50mins of play. Bopara as streaky as always at the start - good to send him on his way, but I'd love the scalp of Strauss early to let the guys have a crack at Bell.

If the Aussies can claw 3 wickets here ít will make for a very interesting final session. If Strauss and Bopara are there until tea, the Aussies will be looking for a regrouping and an inspired speech.

Beasty

legend73 wrote: »

One can only hope the umpires are as generous with their LBWs - Clarkes missing leg, Johnson over the top!

I thought lady luck was coming the Aussies way until the umpires sent her back to the English camp.

Clarke was clearly out LBW to Onions nine overs earlier, but it was not given. As for Johnson, Warne stated "if you don't play a shot, on yer bike".

Aussies are clearly rattled!!!

Judgement Day

Draw looks likely if weather stays this bad. Anybody think England can reach 385 runs in this innings? I just had a small punt with Paddy Power as I think the outfield will be slow when play starts and wickets could come quite quickly.

Marshy

Well if there's a full day's play tomorrow then England will look to bat the entire day I'd imagine and aim for about a 150-200 lead. It all depends how the pitch plays, if the conditions are like those of yesterday morning then England may struggle to get past the Aus total but if the ball doesn't move about batting will probably be easy enough.

Draw definitely most likely outcome.

Rjd2

Dubliner28 wrote: »

Why have the Aussies gone so down hill.


Has that affected them you think ?

Yes they are brutal right now :rolleyes:
You do know they are still ranked number one in the test arena and number two in the ODI arena?
The way that some were going on you think they were as bad as the West Indies.

Beasty

Dubliner28 wrote: »

Why have the Aussies gone so down hill.
Not a big cricket fan but didnt they beat England 5-0 in the last Ashes and should have won the 1st test.

Has that affected them you think ?

I suspect the loss of Warne, McGrath, Langer, Gilchrist, Symonds and injury to Lee probably has something to do with it. Only Ponting, Hussey and Clarke from the current team were regulars in the 2006/7 series in Australia. In addition, they are playing in English rather than Australian conditions, and the last time they did that, England won.

Marshy

England eventually all out with a lead of 113. Pretty good going considering they lost a few early wickets today.

Still time left this evening. If they knock over a couple of the Aussies before the close you never know...

CZ 453

Whose winning as it stands today

dfx-

Unless England get one or two out in the remaining overs (46-0 now), it should be a draw..

But England are the only team who are in a position to win. Australia need probably another 350 runs and 10 wickets inside a day to win

CZ 453

So they win now so?2 out now

mike65

Australia 57-2 Katich and Ponting

ArmaniJeanss

So explain something to me, cricket gurus.

Why the hell didn't Australia declare when they were say 220 ahead and 20 overs remained (or some combination of the above).

England couldn't win, and there is the odd chance Australia could take 10 wickets in 20 overs. Why settle for a draw when you can't lose?

kmart6

So Michael Clarke and Peter North could try and get the 100's!

Marshy

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

So explain something to me, cricket gurus.

Why the hell didn't Australia declare when they were say 220 ahead and 20 overs remained (or some combination of the above).

England couldn't win, and there is the odd chance Australia could take 10 wickets in 20 overs. Why settle for a draw when you can't lose?

Well there'd be a greater chance of England chasing down the runs (albeit very very slight needing 11 runs per over) than Australia picking up 10 wickets in that time.

Dismissing a team in 20 overs in a Test match is pretty much unheard of. For a 5th day pitch it was also offering very little for the bowlers.

IH77

Marshy wrote: »

Well there'd be a greater chance of England chasing down the runs (albeit very very slight needing 11 runs per over) than Australia picking up 10 wickets in that time.

Dismissing a team in 20 overs in a Test match is pretty much unheard of. For a 5th day pitch it was also offering very little for the bowlers.

The thought had crossed my mind also (about putting England back in for 20 overs or so) but as stated above there wasn't much in it for the bowlers, and it really would have been a long shot for Aus to win (too long in fact). If England had of been put in, there was no incentive for them to go for it (i.e. go for 220 odd runs off 20 overs), it would have fizzled out into a draw. Maybe if Clarke hadn't of taken so long to get his 100 Ponting may of declared?

sfc 1892

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

So explain something to me, cricket gurus.

Why the hell didn't Australia declare when they were say 220 ahead and 20 overs remained (or some combination of the above).

England couldn't win, and there is the odd chance Australia could take 10 wickets in 20 overs. Why settle for a draw when you can't lose?

never thought of dat your right why the hell not ?

padd b1975

how can it be a five day old pitch?? over a day lost because of rain

Mysterypunter

The Ashes is evenly matched, but not of a high standard, Ponting struggling in 2nd & 3rd tests, Aussies making Graeme Swann look like Warne, why dont they just smash him out of the attack, they are too defensive.

Also England batting is OK but what about 51 all out in Jamaica this year, they will collapse at some point in leeds or the oval and the open top bus around London will be cancelled, Stuart Clarke could be called up, strikes me as an ideal bowler for Headingley, Aussies can still win but the balance of their side is wrong, Chris Rogers should have been picked.

all in all its painful viewing, but England have been the better team since Cardiff.

kyp_durron

Mysterypunter wrote: »

why dont they just smash him out of the attack, they are too defensive.

They are not good enough to smack him around.

Rjd2

Mysterypunter wrote: »

, Chris Rogers should have been picked.
.

Brad Hodge would have been a much more sensible choice,he has a super test record and is very experienced in England. David Hussey is another who has impressed recently and could feel unlucky not to be in the test side.

boccy23

Freddie Flintoff is out.

Sandeman

Mad build up for this test , Flintoff out, and loads of uncertainty around Clark, Prior and Hauritz. Not to mention Brett lee. Wonder if they get passed fit what is the actual risk of any of them lasting only mid test

Washout

Sandeman wrote: »

Mad build up for this test , Flintoff out, and loads of uncertainty around Clark, Prior and Hauritz. Not to mention Brett lee. Wonder if they get passed fit what is the actual risk of any of them lasting only mid test

only 1 draw in last 11 matches at this ground.

hopefully Johnson will finally fire.

Euro_Kraut

Poor start for England. 39-3. Strauss, Bopara and Bell all gone.

BBC live text are having problems. Very slow to update unfortunatly.

Washout

Euro_Kraut wrote: »

Poor start for England. 39-3. Strauss, Bopara and Bell all gone.

BBC live text are having problems. Very slow to update unfortunatly.

www.cricinfo.com

you can also listen to it on bbc radio from that same bbc page

Washout

42/4 now

Royale with Cheese

That decision to play an extra bowler is going to hurt them now, not a particularly smart one anyway when you have Ravi Bopara in your team.

Euro_Kraut

Collingwood gone for a duck!

dereko1969

i've tickets for the 3rd and 4th days, looks like i may not be needing the latter!! ah well, suppose we'll just have to go on a day trip to York instead.

Euro_Kraut

And now Cook is gone. England 63-5!

purple_hatstand

Cook gone for 30 (63-5). This is a shockingly bad morning for England! Headingley is a proper Test wicket and England's shortcomings with the bat are being found out all too easily.

Euro_Kraut

I wonder what England lowest total in an Ashes innings is? They look to be on course for that today.