Ashes 2011

wicorthered

Big call on the spinner front. Got it wrong IMO. England to win series comfortably!!

booth70

Cremated wrote: »

The team has been named,

Australia squad Simon Katich, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin (wk), Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Xavier Doherty, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger.

Hauritz out and Doherty in...

Australia are there for the taking.... providing Anderson dosen't bowl the first ball of the series to second slip like Harmy did after all the hype last time around!!!;)

JustinDee

wicorthered wrote: »

Big call on the spinner front. Got it wrong IMO. England to win series comfortably!!

Surprising call but not the worst in history by a long shot. Doherty is still a handy bowler. Plenty of footmarks please whoever bowls the other end!

crackit

I'm not surprised about the Hauritz decision but I do find it a bit disappointing. The Aussie selectors can be a strange bunch sometimes.

A year and a halfs work with Hauritz undone by a bad 2 test series in India. All the more stupid for the fact that the lad who is replacing him only has 2 ODI's and 35 first class games to his name. Making that kind of change on the eve of the biggest test series in the world is basically telling Hauritz they think he's garbage and would rather have anyone else in the team.

If it comes off then all well and good but it has massive potential to blow up in their faces. Knowing the way the Aussie selectors work I'd even be surprised if they were quick to recant if Doherty goes around the park in the first test.

crackit

http://www.espncricinfo.com/the-ashes-2010-11/content/story/488002.html

Peter English sums it up perfectly

wicorthered

Hauritz's omission baffles me. He is clearly Australia's best spinner and only a couple of months ago was told he was a shoe in for the Ashes. Better spinners then Hauritz have been carted around India and lived to tell the tale. Warne and Murali didn't exactly light up Indian soil.

While he may not have run through the English batting line up he would have offered control and kept an end tight. How will Doherty respond if KP fancies his bowling?? Hauritz has a good record at home 9 tests 38 wickets at 27 including a couple of fifors. Aussie selectors haven't a clue how to treat spinners.

crackit

They have no patience with spinners since Warne. Someone should tell them that Warne was a once in a lifetime spinner and they are just going to have to live with not having another player of that calibre.

What happens if Doherty does well for 12 months or so then gets splattered in a tough series? They drop him and start again? Bring in O'Keefe and he lasts 6-12 months then ditch him?

38 wickets at 27 in home series. And he gets dropped for a lad with very little experience in any form of the game. If they were going to change why didn't O'Keefe get the nod after a good showing in the A game?

Baffling. They have eternal patience with batsmen and with some bowlers but because there is no Warne II they treat their spinners really badly

Danger_dave1

Very strange decision , big big gamble, also for it to be justified dothery is going to have to go in and have a stormer. 5 + wickets in the match is what he'll need otherwise he be criticized for not doing better than hauritz could have performed.

But will they pick four quicks ? Letting Clarke and north do the spin bowling ?

Really looking forward to the ashes now, going to have a few late nights .

Shall we have a precition game? Most runs? Most wickets? Man of the series?

crackit

Most Runs - Ponting
Most Wickets - Hilfenhaus
Man of the Series - Johnson

I think Hilf will collect more wickets but Mitchy will come good at the big moments and therefore steal the man of the series award.

Ponting for most runs because I think his ego/determination/drive/whatever you want to call it, will see him produce a big performance in his last home series v England

wicorthered

Series England 2-1
Aus top bat Clarke
Aus top bowler Johnson
Eng top bat Pieterson and Man of the Series
England top bowl Broad

kryogen

the decision to drop hauritz now is disappointing

i hope the selectors see something i dont

booth70

48 hrs to go....

Aus 3 Eng 1

kryogen

so close i can taste it!

Moist Bread

You lads staying up to watch it? I would love to, but study is kicking my ass

Beefy78

I'm staying up to watch the first session. Aiming to watch the whole night's play tomorrow though.

Aus 3 - 1 England

Cremated

Series Australia: 3-1
Aus top Batsman: Watson
Aus top Bowler: Johnson
Eng top Batman: Trott
England top Bowler: Broad
Man of the Series: Watson...

crackit

Interesting on the shout for Watson as MoTS. Do you think he'll put that golden arm to good use and nip a nice few wickets or are you basing that mostly on what you expect him to do with the bat?

TrueDub

Really looking forward to this now. The toss is crucial, and the first hour more so. It's about setting the tone.

crackit

Yep Hilfenhaus and Anderson could do serious damage is in the first hour?

Danger_dave1

Series England : 2-1
Aus top Batsman: Katich
Aus top Bowler: johnson
Eng top Batman: Strauss
England top Bowler: Swann
Man of the Series: Strauss

kensutz

England to bat first.

mike65

Overcast and "sultry" according to bbc radio

crackit

I'd have bowled first if I was Ponting. I know he loves a bat but an under pressure Australia team could lose the series in an hour if their under pressure batting line up nick a few to a very in form England bowling unit.

A good toss to lose for Ponting I think.

Danger_dave1

Lets see how much it swings ? . Gonna be sweet, got beers and whiskey and the day off tomorrow , bring on the first ball !

Mothman

Here we go

One down :eek:

Mothman

Strauss out 3rd ball.

0/1 first over

antogz1979

Great start for the aussies. delighted to see strauss go, what was he thinking. Hopefully signs of things to come.

crackit

England can afford that kind of start. Australia couldn't. That's why Aussie needed to bowl first

Danger_dave1

Well now we see if the faith the selectors had in cook is justified

kryogen

What happened with Strauss? i missed the first 10 overs

crackit

Slashed a wide one straight to Gully. Poor shot

kryogen

good!

Johnson pretty ineffective in his first spell, come on big Ben!

good start for the Aussies but the England batting line up is strong throughout really, more or less into the tail so they must keep it up

kryogen

Lunch on day 1

Pretty even i guess, its 86-2, Doherty dropped cook when he really should have caught him imo, would make the score look much better for the Aussies

Pietersen looks in good touch i must say and his stand with Cook is worth 45 at the moment

Hoping for a quick break through after lunch and get stuck into the middle order, If KP can be got out in the next 5-10 overs I will be happy, i think he will get a big score if he is still there in 2 more hours

crackit

Doherty tweaked the first one a mile. Nothing since then. Even the one everyone got excited about was going a mile down leg when he ran past it (nearly).

Terrible drop. I didn't realise his first class bowling average was so bad either. Haurtiz 39 wkts @ 27 in Australia or the lad with the 48 average in Shield cricket.

I bet Steve O'Keefe feels the 2nd most hard done by man in Australia after Hauritz.

Even contest so far. I think 86-3 at lunch would have been huge so the drop may be key. The pitch will settle and get better now

Xavi6

Two quick wickets including Pietersen. Happy days.

Xavi6

BOOM! A Siddle hattrick has England gone from 197-4 to 197-7

First player to score a Test hattrick on his birthday.

Beasty

241-8 - hopefully Bell will see us past 250 - currently 65no, and holding the innings together

Mothman

260 all out

Aus 25/0 off 7 overs, included 10 off an over from Swan

An eventful first day

JustinDee

Excellent first day from Aussie. A 400 total would really make England sweat for it.
Pitch will be nice and pacy on day two and come on to the bat nicely.

mike65

After that start 260 looks like a small victory!

kryogen

260 should not feel like a small victory to England tbh

The Aussie attack wasnt actually very impressive with the exception of Siddle obviously

great first day and looking forward to seeing what can be done with the bat

booth70

Folks....for those of us lucky enough not to have Sky Sports just a reminder that Ashes highlights on every night at 10 pm on ITV4!:)

kryogen

but for those of us who work late and cant tape on ITV4 we have to get sky in for the month! unless someone can tell me how to record on ITV4 on sky subscription, its only on Other Channels

JustinDee

kryogen wrote: »

260 should not feel like a small victory to England tbh

The Aussie attack wasnt actually very impressive with the exception of Siddle obviously

great first day and looking forward to seeing what can be done with the bat

Fairly true for sure.
However the bowling changes made usually resulted in if not a wicket then the pinning down of the batsman.

ianrush

booth70 wrote: »

Folks....for those of us lucky enough not to have Sky Sports just a reminder that Ashes highlights on every night at 10 pm on ITV4!:)

I'm on UPC and according to its own tv guide, at that time on itv4 it says the cricket cannot be shown in Ireland?

Dozen Wicked Words

Some of the first day batting VERY ordinary, was never very hopeful of getting anything out of Brisbane, even less so now. Siddle bowled well, but not as well as England made him look. Regardless of the batting though, an Ashes Hatrick will be something to cherish.

booth70

ianrush wrote: »

I'm on UPC and according to its own tv guide, at that time on itv4 it says the cricket cannot be shown in Ireland?

It's definitely on now on ITV4 on sky digital.......just a pity that it's that moron Nicholas presenting the highlights:mad:

decies

Why is the cricket blocked on itv 4 on chorus,we had the same ****e with the tour de france,when that dreadful station tg4 had it :mad::mad::mad::mad:

booth70

decies wrote: »

Why is the cricket blocked on itv 4 on chorus,we had the same ****e with the tour de france,when that dreadful station tg4 had it :mad::mad::mad::mad:

Don't worry......check out www.cricket-highlights.com for all the latest highlights of not just the Ashes but of all international cricket being played at present!:)

decies

Handy thanks,i see five live sports extra is blocked for tonight so its lw in the scratcher .