Ashes 2011

booth70

JustinDee wrote: »

A "trundler"??
He'll be the quickest on that oval out of both sides. Moves the ball both ways off pitch at pace. An opening bowler with zip and bags of aggression.

Yep.....sheer class alright:(

Corsendonk

crackit wrote: »

What is the point in Doherty. Reluctance to bowl him. Why pick him then? Then set a sh*te field for him when he does bowl

He's as dangerous as wet meringue. There must be some truth in the rumour that Ponting just wanted a spinner who would not argue with his shi*e field placings.

Also, he is a rubbish fielder

If Ponting loses the series he is gone as Captain and Aussie captains don't hang about after they step down and with Clarke having a poor batting time lately who besides him is in the frame for the captain job?

JustinDee

booth70 wrote: »

Yep.....sheer class alright:(

Disappointing performance for sure. Try not to be quite so reactive on judgment after one test however. I'll bet you never even heard of him before this year.
With this method of assessment, you'd be saying Sreeseanth from your beloved = Good . . . no wait, ordinary . . . good again . . . woeful . . . impotent in attack . . . not so bad . . . poor etc

JustinDee

Corsendonk wrote: »

If Ponting loses the series he is gone as Captain and Aussie captains don't hang about after they step down and with Clarke having a poor batting time lately who besides him is in the frame for the captain job?

I wouldn't blame it on captaincy (he would resign if they lost I believe though). Bowlers just haven't produced enough. I'm not usually one for mid-series changes but there is a serious problem with the form of the attack.
The batsmen couldn't make the same mistakes twice in this test surely? If it does end up a weather affected draw, time between Adelaide and Perth should be taken to have a serious re-think on who takes to the oval. I've always been a supporter of five bowlers, if the batting is good enough. Take a risk Tim Nielsen. Freshen it up and show some urgency about it.

booth70

JustinDee wrote: »

Disappointing performance for sure. Try not to be quite so reactive on judgment after one test however. I'll bet you never even heard of him before this year.
With this method of assessment, you'd be saying Sreeseanth from your beloved = Good . . . no wait, ordinary . . . good again . . . woeful . . . impotent in attack . . . not so bad . . . poor etc

Oh please.....I have seen plenty of Harris before alright....he bowled rubbish for the Deccan Chargers at the IPL.....not surprised that he does the same for Australia....

As for Sreesanth...he's another member of the 'Trundler' club

booth70

JustinDee wrote: »

Take a risk Tim Nielsen. Freshen it up and show some urgency about it.

Yeah....bring back Johnson and Hilfy...that'll sort it

JustinDee

booth70 wrote: »

Oh please.....I have seen plenty of Harris before alright....he bowled rubbish for the Deccan Chargers at the IPL.....not surprised that he does the same for Australia...

Twenty over jazzed-up cricket is a far cry from Test level.

JustinDee

I was actually referring to a second spinner (including omitting Doherty) for the Boxing Day and Sydney tests

TrueDub

All, let's keep this on-topic please - that means discussing the Ashes and what's happening, not anything else.

Thanks

Royale with Cheese

Have barely seen any of this so far, damn time difference. Australian bowlers look to be living up to their reputation so far anyway.

booth70

England 3/834 since being bowled out for 260 on Day 1 at the Gabba......Test cricket at it's best!

kryogen

its been pretty even in bowling terms in fairness, the Aussie batting order failed again, thats the biggest difference imo, the English bowling attack will struggle to take 20 wickets as well as the aussies tbh

Both attacks are short on genuine match winners.

England have the same advantage in this test as the Aussies did in the last one. they are big favorites to get the result but as we saw in the last test, if the batsmen stand up then the bowlers will find it hard to take them out

Mr. Guappa

I think Australia will need a big helping hand from the weather to see out the draw. Englands attack has looked better than the Aussies - Anderson has bowled very well and Swann looks far more effective than Doherty in this test. Clarke is a walking wicket atm and Australia have a very long tail. England need to score at a good rate tomorrow which means Pietersen batting for a good portion of the day. If he and Cook can survive the new ball then they can up the rate and maybe think about a declaration after tea.

Nation 98

Corsendonk wrote: »

If Ponting loses the series he is gone as Captain and Aussie captains don't hang about after they step down and with Clarke having a poor batting time lately who besides him is in the frame for the captain job?

I'd be looking at Shane Watson.

booth70

JustinDee wrote: »

Twenty over jazzed-up cricket is a far cry from Test level.

Dosen't seem to matter to Harris.....he bowls rubbish in all forms of the game

booth70

Corsendonk wrote: »

If Ponting loses the series he is gone as Captain and Aussie captains don't hang about after they step down and with Clarke having a poor batting time lately who besides him is in the frame for the captain job?

Brad Haddin

Gordon Gecko

Marcus North would be a strong contender too and the Aussie media tipped him for it a few weeks ago.

JustinDee

Gordon Gecko wrote: »

Marcus North would be a strong contender too and the Aussie media tipped him for it a few weeks ago.

North is a bit too old. Bear in mind that the Aussie media take on him is also to drop from squad.
That's the media for you.

crackit

Watson - not captain material IMO
Katich - too old to take over
Clarke - is in shocking form and not deserving of a place nevermind the captaincy
Hussey - too old to take over
North - is in shocking form and not deserving of a place nevermind the captaincy.
Haddin - is more of a vice-captain type IMO. Plus he's 33 so maybe having him as a stop gap but nothing more.

None of the bowlers are up to it IMO.

As I said before Australia are on the precipice of finding themselves in some serious, serious trouble.

JustinDee

Clarke will be fine as skipper once he finds form.

dfx-

449 at lunch. 90 runs per session basic makes 620 - should Pietersen and England bat for the day, bets on 650+? What would you declare on?

crackit

I'd push for a lead of 400 by the end of the day then declare. Let the Aussies sh*t themselves for a handful of overs at the end of the day. Then you have a couple of days to bowl them out. If England can pile it up Australia will do well to get 400 they way they are playing so as long as the weather stays good to England they will win late on the 4th/early on the 5th day

crackit

Oh and Doherty has to go. He's a shambles. It's embarassing for the lad. It may as well be me out there.

They need to swallow their pride and get Hauritz back. If they want to replace him at the end of the series with O'Keefe then fine. However, they need their frontline spinner now and whether they like it or not he is theirs. 18 months in the team means he's #1

North's average part time trundling is light years ahead of Doherty. Pretty much says it all.

I don't claim Hauritz can turn the series on its head or anything but Doherty is a waste of space at this level

Dozen Wicked Words

Weather spoilt end of the day, I think Strauss will bat on a bit more, just because they happened to finish on same lead as the one they managed to lose with in Adelaide 2006.

Really enjoying this series so far, long may it continue. (history tells me it probably wont continue for long!)

JustinDee

I'm no fan of his but credit where credit is due, Pietersen's double ton was excellent. He really goes for the bowlers. Looked a bit jittery to some of Harris' bumpers but sailed on regardless.
Aussie need some big innings to see this out then do some rethinking of the omission of Hauritz and what to do with North.

Cremated

crackit wrote: »

I'd push for a lead of 400 by the end of the day then declare. Let the Aussies sh*t themselves for a handful of overs at the end of the day. Then you have a couple of days to bowl them out. If England can pile it up Australia will do well to get 400 they way they are playing so as long as the weather stays good to England they will win late on the 4th/early on the 5th day

The weather is the problem, Nasser Hussain says the weather is meant to be decent for the 4th day and bad for the 5th day,

Australia will hope for lots of rain,

I'm not going to be hard on Doherty but Dockrell would do better, a lot better I think...

crackit

It's not Doheryts fault per se. He's played 35 first class games in 10 years. That means he's spent on average 14 days a year playing shield cricket for a decade. There is nothing there to suggest he was ever going to be capable of bowling in a Test match or against a challenge as big as The Ashes and all it entails.

Even his First Class Bowling average is shocking. It's up at 50. I think (and hope) the press will realise it's not his fault and go easy on him. It was the selectors who messed up.

Hauritz is a good steady Test match bowler. Nothing spectacular but good and steady. If that's the best they have for a few years until someone else pops up or Smith progresses his bowling then so be it. They have to live with it.

Chopping and changing and trying to pull a rabbit from the hat will only end badly.

As for England today. Have a ding for 40 minutes, rack up another 60 if possible then declare and turn the heat on the Aussies and see if they wilt.

JustinDee

If England want a result, declare now

wicorthered

In all honesty, I doubt Doherty would get in the Irish side ahead of Dockrell that's how poor a bowler he is. I think the majority of people were baffled by the pick. Aussies in real trouble now, morale will be in the gutter. The WACCA will probably be a belter for batting too. Cnt't see where they're gonna get 20 wickets in the series let alone in 1 test!!

kryogen

im full of optimism today!

Mothman

JustinDee wrote: »

If England want a result, declare now

Agree and surprised they haven't especially if time is going to be lost

Best chance of wickets is new ball first thing in morning

KevIRL

Mothman wrote: »

Best chance of wickets is new ball first thing in morning

And KP is gone...

riffmongous

Good response so far from the Aussies, 66/0 with lunch a few overs away, they just need to take it session by session now. Whats the forecast?

kryogen

78 without loss at lunch

my optimism is holding so far so good!

Katich is comical when he has to run though

kryogen

lunch made quite the difference, 2-111 now, punter gone early to Swann who has taken both wickets

I cant blame Ponting for his bowling attack, his batting on the other hand does have to be called into question so far this series, improvements seriously needed for the next test.

needed him to occupy the crease a lot longer then that, Clarke looks in good touch however, he and Watson in the middle right now

kryogen

Watson reaches his half centuary, very patient it was too

booth70

4/238....still trail by 137.....its all down to Mr.Cricket now.....hopefully North will justify his place in the team tomorrow

crackit

Excellent effort by both Clarke and Hussey after solid stuff from Katich and Watson.

The game is in the balance but I really wouldn't fancy relying on North to battle through with me if I was Hussey.

Cremated

crackit wrote: »

Excellent effort by both Clarke and Hussey after solid stuff from Katich and Watson.

The game is in the balance but I really wouldn't fancy relying on North to battle through with me if I was Hussey.

Maybe it will have to be Haddin and Hussey again, it was great to see Clarke looking good again and getting a nice score, also there was signs of North getting there in the first innings, although there will be no better time for him than now to do something positive with the bat ...

d'Oracle

Broad out of tour.

whatawaster

Broad out for the series. That's a massive bow for England.

I presume Bresnan will come in. I'm not a fan

Beasty

Hussey gone for 52, caught Anderson, bowled Finn - 261-5

Down to the last batsmen now

Inquitus

Beasty wrote: »

Hussey gone for 52, caught Anderson, bowled Finn - 261-5

Down to the last batsmen now

Yep, Aussies need something really special from this pair to avoid going 1-0 down. Winning two of the last three tests is a big ask, this could be the ashes retained today.

Beasty

Haddin gone to Anderson for 12. 286-6

Feel as if I can go to bed now ....

kryogen

its not the defeat that will hurt so much (and it will hurt) as the manner of this crumbling today

very hard to see how Australia will regain the Ashes now after going behind

Mothman

Feel as if I can go to bed now ....

May as well stay up to end...
Aus trying to finish it in a hurry!

Beasty

.... but had to wait up to see if Jimmy could get a hat-trick. He didn't but Australia are now 287-8, with Swann having hit the stumps when bowling at Siddle, but failing to dislodge the bails - looks like the Aussies have resorted to concreting the stups in:D

Beasty

Mothman wrote: »

May as well stay up to end...

I've got to be up just after 4 to try and get to the airport for a flight to Manchester ...

Inquitus

Doherty bowled by Swan, the fat lady is clearing her throat.

Corsendonk

whatawaster wrote: »

Broad out for the series. That's a massive bow for England.

I presume Bresnan will come in. I'm not a fan

Tremlett maybe if they want to attack a fragile Australia?