The Ashes Thread

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I watched about an hour of this last night and from what I saw, Michael Vaughan looked in complete control (except for when he was dropped and then bowled off a no-ball). Great batting from him and that was exactly the innings I said was needed by the team that would win this game.

I feel that the psychological momentum of this series is now with England. There is something in the body language of the Australians that I have not seen before. They almost look like they are already defeated sometimes.

I think if England can maintain their confidence, that maybe they can go on and not only win this series but win it comfortably. There, I've said it. Hard to see them losing this one, as they should go on to get 500 on what looks like a good batting strip still.

As for Pietersen, his stupid blue hair dye has probably seeped into his brain.

 

What shocked me was the Australian's fielding: I can't recall them ever dropping so many chances. Their fielding's always been so dependable and - at times - spectacular. I think the defeat may actually have got to them - now they know England can beat them, the pressure is on. Previously, the Australians have rarely been so pushed. Hopefully, this will be a real boost to England: to see that they are human. Frankly, I'm shocked myself! I'd hoped England could do it: losing at Lords was on the cards (BA called it just right, IMO); Edgbaston's been England's ground of late; but now, if they can capitalise on the good start and go 2-1 ... I really believe it can be done. And as a tender 22-year-old, it'd be the first time I could properly remember.

And if England can win the Ashes, maybe some other of my wishes could come true: Pietersen stops going to a chav's barber; the British press gain some kind of sense of proportion...

Nah, too much to ask.

 

You should post here more often, you clearly know your stuff .

 

Yes. The Magpie certainly DOES know what he is talking about!! Big Kev is an embarrassment to all the traditions of the England team. Don't they have any minimum standards of presentation? Surely he wouldn't even be allowed into the Lords clubrooms looking like that.

 

That sure wasn't the start to this Test that Australia wanted. Hopefully we have a flurry of quick wickets at the start of the next day, get Flintoff out early and keep them to around 400.

That said, Australia is playing exceptionally poorly. I don't think I've ever seen such a woeful fielding effort from Australia. Things just aren't falling our way, and to make it worse, we're not capitalising when they do.

 

England are definitely playing better cricket than Australia at the moment.

 

Yes, Harbs, yes we are .

We are in a very strong position going into tomorrows play. If we can get the option to force a follow on, I will absolutely crease up laughing.

Great play by the England side today, especially on the bowling side. Thank you so much Ashley Giles for making me eat my words. Sometimes, being wrong is ****ing brilliant.

Hopefully, we should be able to take a 2-1 lead now. Hopefully....

 

Based on the difference between the performance and attitude of the two teams at the moment, England are heading for a 4-1 win in this series. Hard to believe that the Aussies haven't had to follow on since 1988 (before many people on SP were even born).

From what I saw last night, Michael 'Lycra Clad' Vaughan and his boys have complete control and deservedly so. Matthew Hayden only confirmed my earlier comments that he is useless against good bowlers. Great catch by Bell got rid of the only guy I reckon has the application to defy the English.

The Ashes are going north. That's my current opinion now unless a month of rain washes out the rest of the series.

 

Which is certainly possible, being England!

Especially as the ECB decided to start the tour ridiculously late in the season. I managed to lose count of the number of matches England and Australia played in the run-up to the series, and going in to it, it looked like a big mistake. Australia seemed to have used the time well, acclimatising to the wickets, and coming on from being beaten by even my beloved Somerset. I really thought that the run-up would give the Australians the edge, especially when they began turning us over in the one-dayers. Lord's seem to confirm this. If England can do it now - and it's still an if with so much time remaining in the series - it'll have been against the scheduling, too, not just against the best team in the world.

I don't know about 4-1, HB, but 3-1 is possible as is 2-1 to Australia, if the rain does it's worst. I think it'll be close, because Australia aren't going to take this for long without upping their game, believe me.

 

Maybe this England team is just better than this Australian team?

Ah, and talking of rain . . . . .

 

Going well here. Bell cracks a six off Mcgrath and moves to 45.
England cranking it up now, just pasted Mcgrath in that last over.

Lead is 340. 50 more and we'll declare.

Aussies taking the p*ss with the slow over rate now, though.

 

Well, the end of the day, and England couldn't quite get the wicket they wanted. Vaughan came closest, though, and arguably should have had Langer lbw. But I'll assume Bucknor gave him the benefit, and let him off! I like it when Vaughan bowls; he's better than you'd think, and if he gets a wicket the look on the batsman's face is usually priceless!

Looks interesting for tomorrow; will Australia go for the record or will they all be taking batting tips from Dizzy Gillespie and blocking until the England bowlers fall asleep from boredom? Will the Aussie batsmen be able to outscore the tail? Will Vaughan bowl some more? Will someone tell Gillespie to re-apply the Just For Men to stop his roots showing?

 

Or will Australia be saved by the rain? If not for the rain on day 3, England might already have won. The psychological shift in momentum is now almost complete. The boys in the girly lycra are so firmly in command that is hard to see how Australia can come back. It's an amazing situation that even the most die hard England fan would have struggled to believe at the start of the series. Many thought England might have a chance of winning but few thought their dominance would be so comprehensive.

England is now in a situation where all of their players have made a contribution. Each of the batsmen has now had a good score and all of the bowlers are performing.

I wonder how many games England needs to win to make it to the top of the test rankings?

Nonetheless, good to see the youngest member of the blue rinse brigade getting out for a duck. Time to go back to the Coronation Street hair salon with Hilda Ogden, Kev.

 

Well, this is going to end up a draw. Australia are more than capable of batting out the day, and that's not taking into account further rain delays. The likes of Langer, Martyn, Ponts even Warne and Gillespie are so hard to shift, even when they are looking for runs.
Ironic really, that the British weather that has saved our arse so many times in the past is now haunting us.

As a side note, the picture of the day must go to Brett Lee...
http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/image/216027.html

.. I believe the abbreviation is 'WTF'.

 

The main reason that the weather is now haunting England is that they are now the dominant team. The weather saves the team that is losing and this time around, that's Australia. I wouldn't be so sure that Australia can bat out today. They'll be under immense pressure and Vaughanetta can set attacking fields and not worry about conceding runs. If I was a betting man, my money would be on England to win if they get a whole day to play with.

 

If there's a full day's play, it's going to be hard to salvage a draw, let alone pull off an upset victory. I didn't think I'd be saying that Australia would be praying for rain to save them in any of the Ashes tests before this series began, but I'd be willing to acknowledge it now.

England has comprehensively outplayed Australia in this Test match. Coming from an Aussie, that's probably the greatest mark of (grudging) respect possible. The task before Australia - assuming they escape without a loss here - will be to try and wrest back the initiative from England, because at the moment it's all they can do to keep up.

 

I still think they have to make some changes to the team. Stick in some new guys who'll be desperate to make an impression and get rid of a few of the old heads who have forgotten what it is like to have competition for their place in the team.

 

A completely undeserved draw, but not at all unexpected.

Bit of an anti-climax. We out-played the best cricket side in the world for the entire match and only get a draw.

Bring on the next one I suppose, I just hope the players aren't too deflated.

 

Anti-climax? What an amazing series this has been. It just keeps getting better. Another match goes right down to the wire. Classic stuff! I can't remember a test series that has been this exciting.

We've all been so lucky that we've only had one day interrupted by rain but it just so happens that that day was a crucial one for England. Here's hoping we get ten fine days with which to complete the series.

Good to see both captains stepping up to the plate with the bat when their teams needed it most and defying the bowlers who had previously dominated the first two games.

I still think Australia needs to shake things up a bit and make some changes to their team, otherwise they will be staring down the barrel of a 3-1 series loss.

Brilliant. This is a test series to savour. Maybe it will go down to the last day of the last game.

 

Anti-climax? What match were you watching, BA? Four overs, one wicket, all it takes is one mistake or one brilliant piece of bowling. Give credit where it's due, please - England was the better team in that match, but they didn't get the job done on the last day.

Yes, England out-played us. Yes, Australia looked like they couldn't find their arses with both hands for most of the match and gave the English far too many reprieves in the field. The umpiring on the last day didn't go in our favour (the LBW decision against Martyn was a clear mistake, while the Gillespie verdict was similarly questionable) and we held on.

I'm surprised by the MOTM going to Ponting; I had Vaughan pegged for that.