aKula

Australia's off to a good start, 602 is quite a total. I think if they don't manage to win this game, they'll at least get a draw. England's bowling improved greatly today so I think there's definitely the chance of Australia's batsmen being put under pressure as they were in 2005.

So is anybody else following the series?

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healer

WOW! A TFPer that watches cricket! What a rare breed you are.

I actually forgot it was starting this week and happened onto their mammoth total when I was going through the paper. The crap with such a high opening score is that you're almost guaranteed a draw at the end of the Test match.

Draws suck.

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highthief

Good luck to England (because they are going to need all they can get!)

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healer

So is Liverpool.

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highthief

We're winning the Champions League again this year.

Fair warning!

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fatbob

i woke up this morning and caught the 'almost' hat-trick from the metronome!
happy days

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aKula

England's really struggling now. It will require a lot of effort for them to get a draw.

Here's a link to wikipedia for anyone who doesn't know what this thread is about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ashes

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fatbob

good result in the end for the aussies. a wee fight back from england yesterday but nothing to worry about.
shane warne was brilliant again.

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jerseyboy

Very disappointing performance by England, hopefully the improvement in batting will continue into the second test, but the bowling is a much bigger concern. I wonder if Panesar will play instead of Giles, as Warne showed a good spinner can do lots of damage in the second innings.

fatbob

looks like the second is heading for a draw. england have played much better but yeah i reckon they would have been better if monty had of played rather than giles.

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jerseyboy

England are absolute rubbish. THey blew the second test and I reckon the entire series is lost now. Bring in Monty dammit.

ryfo

second test very entertaining. i am hoping the aussies win but i hope more that the tests that are left are battled out and dont end up walkovers

fatbob

yeah that was a fun last day of cricket! could almost have gone anyway... am very surprised at the team selection by england and by there field set up all day. they seemed content to let the aussies pick off single after single and keep their momentum going...

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spindles

I think England lost it on the last day by choosing to occupy the crease rather than score runs. Both teams were in with a possibility of winning at the beginning of the day, but good bowling from Warne especially and negative batting from England turned the game Australia's way.

It goes to show the selections of Giles and Jones were both poor - basically picked to bolster the batting, but neither scored enough runs to warrant it. Huge blunder when you consider the impact Panesar (particularly) could've had in the last session. Except for Flintoff, the English bowling looked poor in the second innings and they seemed bereft of ideas on how to stop Australia from scoring the required runs.

I commented to a work mate that I though England declared without enough runs on the first innings given the flatness of the pitch and the amount of time that had passed...

Funnily enough questions are being raised about Australia's selection for Perth - while I don't expect a change, I'd be surprised if Martyn stays much longer if he fails again in Perth. Clarke has cemented his place with good innings in Brisbane and Adelaide and Clark has shown he is a good bowler who can genuinely stand up in this company. Really our bowling question mark is Lee, who has not looked particularly threatening in this series (actually his overall figures against England are atrocious...).

I was particularly surprised we didn't pick Macgill for the test just gone - in tandem with Warne he may have made a difference on the first day and definitely would've been useful on day 5.

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jerseyboy

Oh well England were rubbish. Cant wait for 2009!!!

dlish

given that shane warne has just announced his retirement, and that australia have already won back the ashes, im assuming this would give england some hope of winning at least 1 test match here given that the aussies will probably be complacent now that we've already won and the rest of the test matches are dead rubbers...not that id like the pommies to win at anything.. but at least they ar in with a chance now


cant wait for the test match here in sydney! im hoping that the tickets are not all sold out by now.. seeing shane warne in his last test match would be awesome. something to tell the kids about

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spindles

My understanding is that all tickets for the first 4 days of all the Ashes tests were sold prior to England even arriving. I think your chances of seeing the game live might have to wait for a fifth day (if there is one).

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dlish

yeah your right spindles.. i went to the ticketek website the other day and had a look..all gone..day 5 goes on sale if necesary at the end of day 4... god, now im hoping england get their act together and make a fight of at least 1 testmatch..or at least 2 good innings in a row.. their starting to remind me of the erratic windies and pakis..a good innings every 3 test matches with only 1 or two standout players.

bring back the biff you pommies!

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spindles

more reason to try and go now with McGrath also announcing Sydney as his last test match. Gee Aussie bowling line up is going to be fairly ordinary next year.

Lee as the new spearhead has averaged almost 60 in the series so far

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jerseyboy

I cant wait to see the Aussies struggle now that all their bowlers are retiring!!! Ashes will come back to England, I cant wait!

dlish

jerseyboy..not for at least 2.5years and not after a 5-0 whitewash :P. all that means is that you'll get the australian team coming back to the field, and instead of winning a series in a whitewash its going to be a lot closer.

what it does mean for the english, is that they can now compete with a half-assed aussie team that is missing half their team, but would probably still struggle to beat them anyways!

go aussies!

the aussies are poised to win in a 5-0 whitewash.. the poms have 5 wickets to spare which i think will fall before lunch, and the aussies will probably wrap up the match whilst chasing a mediocre total set by englands long tailenders.

farewell warnie, mcgrath and langer..my hats off to you for years of entertaining cricket...cricket wont be the same without you.

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Seeker5509

Just found this old thread and, having been watching the 2nd Test of the 2009 series at Lords, thought I'd revive it....

Start of 4th day with over 500 run lead - looks like England could pull it off this time!

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Strange Famous

There's another thread about 2009 Ashes, but for today Im more than happy that we have two to talk about it! Two days to survive 9 wickets...

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Seeker5509

Sorry SF - I got lost and missed your reply, sir! Well, they did it! I hope Freddie is fit for the next one - he was brilliant. Where is the other thread?

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