New Ashes thread

[me]

a few thoughts after just waking up after pulling nearly an all nighter watching this debacle:

the umpiring remains a massive joke and nothing short of an abomination on the game of cricket ... how bresnan could be given not out lbw when not offering a shot to bird (which looked pretty plumb) is beyond me when contrasted with watson/haddin immediately given lbw when the balls were shown to be barely scratching their leg stumps is beyond me    ----    i only hope australia gets the same volume of home ground decisions which england have received this series

that said, umpiring didn't affect the result here, as they would've got out probably next ball if they had survived those decisions.

also, australia's batting sucks ass and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. khawaja/hughes/smith/watson are not part of australia's short or long term future and have deep mental scars to go with their fragile and disgraceful batting techniques ... as for haddin, i can't believe he was even selected for this tour as he has always been an underachieving yet overrated flog

also, even though warner punched the douchebag root, he should have been played in the first test without a doubt... definitely did england a great service by not playing him ... unfathomable that scrubs like cowan/hughes/khawaja/smith got a go ahead of him

our seam bowling has been pretty good and we've pretty much broken even with england ... but you can't win if your batsmen don't make runs ... additionally our bowlers have made half our runs this series so they've been doing the batsmen's job for them

finally, not for one second did i think we were going to win last night, ever since 2005 @ the oval (langer and hayden both got tons and yet we got skittled for 367 and subsequently drew the final test) our batting has always tended to collapse like a sack of shower against england... just check the scorecards from 2009 where australia were routinely bundled out for nothing despite watson/katich making a lot of good opening partnerships...  in fact i remember broad ripping through us in a very similar fashion to last night at the oval in 2009 ...  i was just waiting for that first wicket to fall and it was pretty obvious the rest would follow

to summarize... australian cricket is as weak as piss.

I agree with a lot of this, its seemed that the traditional guidlines to umpires adjudicating of lbw have been thrown out the window. It is very unlikely that Haddin and Watson would have been given out lbw in previous eras, and as you said Bresnan's looked for more out live. I don't think this is just aussie bias. I really think that if you review, but the decision stays only because it's umpires call you should get your review back, very has to lose both reviews on such close decisions.

Regarding out batsmen, I think hughes is promising for sure, there is a lot of potential there and he's still very young. If Watson's for I reckon he has to play the next test, did score an impressive 70 in the first innings. I have never been a fan of steve smith, never thought he's a test level player. He's not delivered much at all.

Unfortunately I too thought that once England's lead got out to 250 it would be too much, but when you're 170/2 you should get far closer to 300 than 220. I'm not convinced the collapse was because of mental scars at all though, pretty weak if it is, it's more because of a lack of application which is still not good enough. Haddin I think can be forgiven. He has played some really important and gritty knocks through the series and is an excellent gloveman, far far better than wade.

Bird was disappointing. I was keen at taking a look at him, given he had performed well in tour games and I thought this type of wicket could suit him. Starc was stiff to get dropped though, coming off a 60odd with the bat and not being awful with the ball. I think we missed his batting too, as we saw with England the likes of bresnan, swan and broad really pushed their score up, whereas our tail was far weaker.

I think the 3-0 scoreline definitely flattens england, we need to win the last test to give us some momentum going into the home series.

there is some hope for the aussie series, and definitely some upside out this series, don't get me wrong, it's just hard to stay optimistic when our batting folds everytime the going gets tough... and it's not just a once off, it's been like this for years and years now

i agree that hughes has potential, but so has watson/khawaja ... potential is one thing but realizing it is another, and i just don't think he's got the bottle for big games at all ... same as watson and khawaja and smith etc

however, i honestly reckon we can win the ashes at home for a number of reasons -

a) with a home crowd, england are far less likely to get run ons, they mainly get massive run ons in england because they thrive on their home crowds, particularly in evening sessions when they really get behind them and create a cauldron like effect
b) surely we produce bouncy pitches which favor fast bowling and don't take spin at all (to take swann out the equation)
c) lehmann will have had a couple months to make some real impact
d) this ashes effort has been pretty good in many respects, it's just batting we have to address now... it's important to note that our bowling in the last couple ashes series before this was absolutely deplorable, whereas in this series our seam attack has really bowled very well which is encouraging

[henry]

a few thoughts after just waking up after pulling nearly an all nighter watching this debacle:

the umpiring remains a massive joke and nothing short of an abomination on the game of cricket ... how bresnan could be given not out lbw when not offering a shot to bird (which looked pretty plumb) is beyond me when contrasted with watson/haddin immediately given lbw when the balls were shown to be barely scratching their leg stumps is beyond me    ----    i only hope australia gets the same volume of home ground decisions which england have received this series

that said, umpiring didn't affect the result here, as they would've got out probably next ball if they had survived those decisions.

also, australia's batting sucks ass and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. khawaja/hughes/smith/watson are not part of australia's short or long term future and have deep mental scars to go with their fragile and disgraceful batting techniques ... as for haddin, i can't believe he was even selected for this tour as he has always been an underachieving yet overrated flog

also, even though warner punched the douchebag root, he should have been played in the first test without a doubt... definitely did england a great service by not playing him ... unfathomable that scrubs like cowan/hughes/khawaja/smith got a go ahead of him

our seam bowling has been pretty good and we've pretty much broken even with england ... but you can't win if your batsmen don't make runs ... additionally our bowlers have made half our runs this series so they've been doing the batsmen's job for them

finally, not for one second did i think we were going to win last night, ever since 2005 @ the oval (langer and hayden both got tons and yet we got skittled for 367 and subsequently drew the final test) our batting has always tended to collapse like a sack of shower against england... just check the scorecards from 2009 where australia were routinely bundled out for nothing despite watson/katich making a lot of good opening partnerships...  in fact i remember broad ripping through us in a very similar fashion to last night at the oval in 2009 ...  i was just waiting for that first wicket to fall and it was pretty obvious the rest would follow

to summarize... australian cricket is as weak as piss.

I agree with a lot of this, its seemed that the traditional guidlines to umpires adjudicating of lbw have been thrown out the window. It is very unlikely that Haddin and Watson would have been given out lbw in previous eras, and as you said Bresnan's looked for more out live. I don't think this is just aussie bias. I really think that if you review, but the decision stays only because it's umpires call you should get your review back, very has to lose both reviews on such close decisions.

Regarding out batsmen, I think hughes is promising for sure, there is a lot of potential there and he's still very young. If Watson's for I reckon he has to play the next test, did score an impressive 70 in the first innings. I have never been a fan of steve smith, never thought he's a test level player. He's not delivered much at all.

Unfortunately I too thought that once England's lead got out to 250 it would be too much, but when you're 170/2 you should get far closer to 300 than 220. I'm not convinced the collapse was because of mental scars at all though, pretty weak if it is, it's more because of a lack of application which is still not good enough. Haddin I think can be forgiven. He has played some really important and gritty knocks through the series and is an excellent gloveman, far far better than wade.

Bird was disappointing. I was keen at taking a look at him, given he had performed well in tour games and I thought this type of wicket could suit him. Starc was stiff to get dropped though, coming off a 60odd with the bat and not being awful with the ball. I think we missed his batting too, as we saw with England the likes of bresnan, swan and broad really pushed their score up, whereas our tail was far weaker.

I think the 3-0 scoreline definitely flattens england, we need to win the last test to give us some momentum going into the home series.

there is some hope for the aussie series, and definitely some upside out this series, don't get me wrong, it's just hard to stay optimistic when our batting folds everytime the going gets tough... and it's not just a once off, it's been like this for years and years now

i agree that hughes has potential, but so has watson/khawaja ... potential is one thing but realizing it is another, and i just don't think he's got the bottle for big games at all ... same as watson and khawaja and smith etc

however, i honestly reckon we can win the ashes at home for a number of reasons -

a) with a home crowd, england are far less likely to get run ons, they mainly get massive run ons in england because they thrive on their home crowds, particularly in evening sessions when they really get behind them and create a cauldron like effect
b) surely we produce bouncy pitches which favor fast bowling and don't take spin at all (to take swann out the equation)
c) lehmann will have had a couple months to make some real impact
d) this ashes effort has been pretty good in many respects, it's just batting we have to address now... it's important to note that our bowling in the last couple ashes series before this was absolutely deplorable, whereas in this series our seam attack has really bowled very well which is encouraging

Yeah I agree, I reckon we've done ok for supposedly the worst team to have ever come to England. There have been some positives, mainly rogers who has been our second best bat for the series, averaging a very respectable 40, and Ryan Harris who is a genuine world class gun.

[BB67th]

Nic Maddinson and Joe Burns. GET THEM IN!!!

[Jukes]

a) with a home crowd, england are far less likely to get run ons, they mainly get massive run ons in england because they thrive on their home crowds, particularly in evening sessions when they really get behind them and create a cauldron like effect
b) surely we produce bouncy pitches which favor fast bowling and don't take spin at all (to take swann out the equation)
c) lehmann will have had a couple months to make some real impact
d) this ashes effort has been pretty good in many respects, it's just batting we have to address now... it's important to note that our bowling in the last couple ashes series before this was absolutely deplorable, whereas in this series our seam attack has really bowled very well which is encouraging

a) didn't hurt us last time we were in Aus, 3-1
b) Broad, Anderson, Bresnan ring any bells?
c) >implying he's a good coach
d) Bring in Hodgey!

Australia last 8 tests: LLLLLLDL
Great form

Nic Maddinson and Joe Burns. GET THEM IN!!!

Can't forget Glenn Maxwell

[PowerBug]

Despite the 3-0 scoreline, there's been plenty of times i've genuinely thought the Aussies would take a test match. Considering noone gave them any hope, i think that they've done pretty darn well.

My man Jimmy has been shocking lately, however there's a new bloke that's christened my own, because too many people like Jimmy Anderson now. His name is Gary Ballance, hopefully he makes the squad to Australia, and gets a test gig, absolute superstar.

[Hawka]

a) with a home crowd, england are far less likely to get run ons, they mainly get massive run ons in england because they thrive on their home crowds, particularly in evening sessions when they really get behind them and create a cauldron like effect
b) surely we produce bouncy pitches which favor fast bowling and don't take spin at all (to take swann out the equation)
c) lehmann will have had a couple months to make some real impact
d) this ashes effort has been pretty good in many respects, it's just batting we have to address now... it's important to note that our bowling in the last couple ashes series before this was absolutely deplorable, whereas in this series our seam attack has really bowled very well which is encouraging

a) didn't hurt us last time we were in Aus, 3-1
b) Broad, Anderson, Bresnan ring any bells?
c) >implying he's a good coach
d) Bring in Hodgey!

Australia last 8 tests: LLLLLLDL
Great form

Nic Maddinson and Joe Burns. GET THEM IN!!!

Can't forget Glenn Maxwell

You killed us in one test, could easily be 3-1, you havent smashed us like you and so many poms predicted, you got kissed on the dick in the 3rd, If england think they will win easily in Australia there in for a rude shock

[Cicjose]

they have a better chance of winning in Australia than Australia does

Nic Maddinson and Joe Burns. GET THEM IN!!!

too young according to most here

[GoLions]

You killed us in one test, could easily be 3-1, you havent smashed us like you and so many poms predicted, you got kissed on the dick in the 3rd, If england think they will win easily in Australia there in for a rude shock

This made me lol  ;D

[Hawka]

You killed us in one test, could easily be 3-1, you havent smashed us like you and so many poms predicted, you got kissed on the dick in the 3rd, If england think they will win easily in Australia there in for a rude shock

This made me lol  ;D

Haha its a saying me and my mates use all the time

[GoLions]

You killed us in one test, could easily be 3-1, you havent smashed us like you and so many poms predicted, you got kissed on the dick in the 3rd, If england think they will win easily in Australia there in for a rude shock

This made me lol  ;D

Haha its a saying me and my mates use all the time

I'm gonna have to start using it as well, ahaha. It is so going to be a thing. Give it 2 weeks. 3 weeks tops.

[me]

a) with a home crowd, england are far less likely to get run ons, they mainly get massive run ons in england because they thrive on their home crowds, particularly in evening sessions when they really get behind them and create a cauldron like effect
b) surely we produce bouncy pitches which favor fast bowling and don't take spin at all (to take swann out the equation)
c) lehmann will have had a couple months to make some real impact
d) this ashes effort has been pretty good in many respects, it's just batting we have to address now... it's important to note that our bowling in the last couple ashes series before this was absolutely deplorable, whereas in this series our seam attack has really bowled very well which is encouraging

a) didn't hurt us last time we were in Aus, 3-1
b) Broad, Anderson, Bresnan ring any bells?
c) >implying he's a good coach
d) Bring in Hodgey!

Australia last 8 tests: LLLLLLDL
Great form

Nic Maddinson and Joe Burns. GET THEM IN!!!

Can't forget Glenn Maxwell

a) yes, that was last time, which is now 4 years ago. fact is without the crowd and a couple sessions of madness largely spurred on by the crowd in this current series, we would have got much closer, if not possibly won ... this is a pretty crucial advantage they won't be getting in australia.
b) i wasn't referring to their bowling, i was alluding to their batsmen being more likely to struggle with extra bounce. remember the waca? also, sure they batted well at the other 4 pitches most of the series 4 years ago, but our bowling was far far far worse then compared to what we've seen in this series. additionally, taking swann out the equation will hugely hugely impact england... look how well they went against south africa who completely raped swanny last series in england
c) i'm confident boof will be a good coach yes. he comes from an era when australia were actually decent, and thus knows what it takes to both win and be part of a winning culture  ... plus he's just a gun bloke
d) our batting sucks, not sure there are any answers atm. everyone seems to agree there's some talent there, but it's all between the ears that's the problem (maybe boof can help out there as well)

additionally, it will be nice if we get the same home ground umpiring decisions that england have gotten all series... in fact this current series could have turned out very differently if the umpiring hadn't been such a massive integral part of the english wins

finally, in all honesty, england haven't been that great at all and should be worried about the next ashes here ... their top order has been crap ... bell is having a fluke series ... he's normally a bunny of most decent attacks around the world ... prior's been well down ... and they are not nearly the force that their country is making them out to be

let's face it they were only convincing in 1 out of 4 tests here .... they got smashed by south africa in england (again), got lucky to draw the series in new zealand and have been pretty average in this ashes series, mainly relying on some big 9-10 wicket sessions which to be honest, can be attributed more to australia's woeful inept incompetent retarded batting than englands great bowling

the only recent series england impressed me in was winning in india, which was a great result and thoroughly deserved the way they adapted and played the conditions ... which was some redemption from the demolition job pakistan did on them before that.

although i'm as pessimistic as the next bloke about australian cricket right now, i really think australia are a genuine chance over here ... time will tell

[BratPack]

Australia have two chances this summer. None and flower all

[Jay]

Australia have two chances this summer. None and flower all

Not if we go in with that attitude! Unaustralian to not believe in your cricket team. BP is a knob.

[Cicjose]

http://www.cricket.com.au/blogs/darren-lehmann/2013/8/14/performances-are-paramount

What a load of trash Darren.... if you thought you had a chance of winning the Ashes you were delusional

and if players are playing for their careers now.... what has this team been doing for the last 6 years?

[PowerBug]

They were a shot Cic, as i mentioned only yesterday, could easily be 3-1 Australia right now, if it wasn't for Stuart Broad in the first test, the weather in the 3rd, and Stuart Broad again in the 4th :P


in reply to "me" some additional points:
The same 4 umpires will be doing the tets in Australia. Word is Billy Bowden might join them to make there 5 to pick from.
If England are 3-1 up and all their guns misfiring then htat's a problem for Australia, more than England ;)
The crowd doesn't mean much because the Barmy Army are louder than the Aussies anyway :P

Should be a very interesting return series. :D


My man Gary Ballance scored 139 in the 40-over comp for Yorkshire last night. Avg of 60 in FC and List A this season, and 30 in T20. Deserves a call-up for England. :D