2006 Ashes

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I try to stay up all night but end up dozing and then just fall asleep, and because it's an interactive channel I wake up to various children's programs each morning.

EDIT: Hayden caught, bowled by Hoggard. Australia 35-2. This might not be such a long day after all.

EDIT 2: Martyn caught, bowled by Hoggard. The Aussie's are now 65-3. Keep it up lads.

[ December 03, 2006, 02:35: Message edited by: Duffin ]

 

Ooh, a dropped catch. Could be costly. How good is Ricky Ponting?

[ December 03, 2006, 04:02: Message edited by: Harbourboy ]

 

We've given Ponting a few lives here, you can't afford to do it against this guy. I wonder if he'll make us pay for that...

Classic by the commentators then...

Ian Botham said 'Is it time to unleash Ashley Giles on one end?' to which Michael Holding said 'Well, I'm not sure 'unleash' is the word I would use... more like 'offer up' gave me a grin at 3.15am in the morning.

 

Dearie me. Ponting has 335 runs so far in this series, for only one dismissal. Ominous stuff. I wish Ponting and Hussey were New Zealanders. We never get to have any batsmen with averages like them.

EDIT: Make that 357 runs. Another test hundred for Ponting. What a freak.

[ December 03, 2006, 06:10: Message edited by: Harbourboy ]

 

Hussey is a lucky man. The bails must hve lifted in between the frames or the cream coloured gloves obscured it. Very hard to call that one.

 

Yeah it was a close call. There was enough doubt about it though, that he could only be given in.

I think after that partnership, the follow on is off the cards. It'll be a draw this one.

 

With that Hussy near-run out thing, I think he was very lucky they didn't have that super slow cam thing up and running. The fact that Jones was wearing bail-coloured gloves probably didn't help the cause either , at least Gilly has the common sense to wear bright orange .
Another slow day - the commentators seem to love it, but it still doesn't go well with my relatively short attention span. Mike Hussy officially has an average at Adelaide oval! (he didn't have one prior to this dismissal because, quiet simply, he hadn't gotten out). By my maths it is somewhere around the 300 mark! - 131* and 90 something* against India last year and 91 vs England today. Lets see if he can maintain this average for the next innings .
I still have faith, and probably way to much confidence in our tail - but why not with the likes of Lee, Warne and S.Clarke. And we still have two genuine batsmen at the crease in Gillchrist and M.Clark. Although I think that it will be damn near impossible to get a win, I doubt England will be able to do much better - I mean 15 Australian wickets plus whatever deficit they leave England with only two days left.

 

Stick to one day cricket if you think this test has been slow going Stu .

 

Don't think we'll have time to bowl them out a second time now. We'll have to settle for the draw but its a big improvement over the last test.

 

Australia are the only team that can win from here (following a dramatic England collapse), but should be a tame draw. 3-1 to England, coming up!

 

Well, we could smack 300 off in the first 2 sessions then skittle the Aussies over in the last session.

3-1? You're such a pessimist!

 

If you want to be optimistic, then I dare Flintoff to declare at lunch!

 

Why not? After all we can unleash the Hoggster.

 

You know the odds on a draw are $1.02. Hopefully someone tries to make a game of this - or at least give it a decent smash. I usually prefer tests to ODI's but I'm also used to Australia smashing at least 4 runs per over. For today - the pitch is rough and only one team has the worlds greatest spinner (or a half decent one at that )

 

Pietersen is going to smash Warne all over the place.

 

No he won't - unless you mean his stumps are going to get smashed all over the place.

77-4 off 38 overs. Blistering stuff!

Make that 79-5 from 42 overs. Dear me. Who bet the house on a draw?

[ December 05, 2006, 03:15: Message edited by: Harbourboy ]

 

Less than a run an over - but at least we're taking wickets! What a ball from Warne to get KP out like that. KP did look a tad hurt though (right leg), this may have contributed to his demise.
The game still feels a lot like Egbaston - two high first innings totals (with England a few runs up) followed by a complete batting collapse by England and a similar performance by the Aussies.

 

Australia have got to be in the box seat now. Could be a tight finish. Australia chasing 180 in 30 overs? It'd all be on then.

 

WTF have I woken up to!

That must have been one hell of a big batting collapse. Only England could have done that...

Well that's 2-0 and the series gone.

 

That was a magnificent Test!!! Had me bored as by the fourth day, by my, what a finish! Brilliant bowling with Warne showing us all why he is considered the greatest leg spinner of all time and the batting to back him up.
Trust England to declare 6/550 and end up loosing
Truly spectacular to watch!
Les Burdette (the greatest groundsman in the southern hemisphere) came under quite a bit of scrutiny for producing a pitch that was regarded as to flat, but ended up with a win in the last half hour of play (this has always been one of his goals).
Now for McGrath's predicted 5-0 Ashes whitewash.