The Ashes (Australia vs England)

[Peisandros]

Aussie obviously win the first test. I would have thought that this would have been a draw, but England played like complete shit and Hauritz told all the media to stfu, which was good.
Anyway, I had thought at the beginning of the test that Australia would win the series by 2-1, now I think 3-1.

[Colonic Immigration]

lol, only 2 people have voted for England to win.

[Extreme Ironing]

Really? They think that it's vs UK?

No, no, Scotland, Wales or N.Ireland have never had good cricket teams. England on the other hand have an exce....oh.

[Colonic Immigration]

Really? They think that it's vs UK?

No, no, Scotland, Wales or N.Ireland have never had good cricket teams. England on the other hand have an exce....oh.

No, they don't. They all fail at cricket worse than we do (that's saying something).

[Blouman Empire]

Do they think that about football and rugby too?

Don't know never asked them about it.

[Barringtonia]

40 odd runs to move ahead of Australia, 20 odd overs to go, 3 more wickets to fall,

It's actually reasonably tense, as far as cricket can be, I just feel England will be all out a shade under 10 overs to go, I just don't think Swann is a holding batsman, every effort needs to be made to ensure Collingwood is facing,

[Peisandros]

That'll do it.

[Colonic Immigration]

'Sover?

[Peisandros]

'Sover?

No, but Swann is out. 17 overs left.
http://www.cricinfo.com/engvaus2009/eng ... 45970.html

[Fartsniffage]

40 odd runs to move ahead of Australia, 20 odd overs to go, 3 more wickets to fall,

It's actually reasonably tense, as far as cricket can be, I just feel England will be all out a shade under 10 overs to go, I just don't think Swann is a holding batsman, every effort needs to be made to ensure Collingwood is facing,

Oh ye of little faith.

Got the draw.

[Colonic Immigration]

YAY!

[Extreme Ironing]

It's funny how you can celebrate a draw, though I suppose it's like being bottom of the league at Christmas and not getting relegated at the end. Well played Collingwood.

[Colonic Immigration]

I regret knowing we drew, I wanted to watch the highlights in anticipation. Yay all the same.

[Eofaerwic]

40 odd runs to move ahead of Australia, 20 odd overs to go, 3 more wickets to fall,

It's actually reasonably tense, as far as cricket can be, I just feel England will be all out a shade under 10 overs to go, I just don't think Swann is a holding batsman, every effort needs to be made to ensure Collingwood is facing,

Oh ye of little faith.

Got the draw.

Wow, after the scores I saw yesterday I was a little surprised on that one.

Not a big cricket (or sports person), but I like to at least keep an eye on the big events. England will lose the ashes but I'm thinking maybe 2-1 with the rest draws? I don't think we've got a good enough team to win it outright, but we can make Australia work for it.

[Fartsniffage]

It's funny how you can celebrate a draw, though I suppose it's like being bottom of the league at Christmas and not getting relegated at the end. Well played Collingwood.

From the position we were in at close of play yesterday this feels more like a win than a draw.

[Extreme Ironing]

It's funny how you can celebrate a draw, though I suppose it's like being bottom of the league at Christmas and not getting relegated at the end. Well played Collingwood.

From the position we were in at close of play yesterday this feels more like a win than a draw.

Indeed. I just hope the higher-order batsmen have a little reflection on the events before the next test.

[Colonic Immigration]

Harmison better play next time.

[Peisandros]

Harmison better play next time.

Yeah, probably in for Monty depending on the pitch.

[Colonic Immigration]

Harmison better play next time.

Yeah, probably in for Monty depending on the pitch.

We could have done with him, imo.



Why were we playing in Wales?

[Peisandros]

Harmison better play next time.

Yeah, probably in for Monty depending on the pitch.

We could have done with him, imo.



Why were we playing in Wales?

Usually it starts at Lords I think, but Aussie haven't lost there since 1938 or something, so the ECB decided to mix it up a bit. I guess it worked too.

[Blouman Empire]

So a draw in the end withthe next test match to be played at Lords.

What do people think of Pontings claims of the Poms timewasting?

Does he have a point?

[Barringtonia]

40 odd runs to move ahead of Australia, 20 odd overs to go, 3 more wickets to fall,

It's actually reasonably tense, as far as cricket can be, I just feel England will be all out a shade under 10 overs to go, I just don't think Swann is a holding batsman, every effort needs to be made to ensure Collingwood is facing,

Oh ye of little faith.

Got the draw.

Given Colly was out with 11 overs to spare I should be right dammit, glad I wasn't though,

So a draw in the end with the next test match to be played at Lords.

What do people think of Pontings claims of the Poms timewasting?

Does he have a point?

Probably,

[Zombie PotatoHeads]

For a second i thought this was about a nuclear war or something.

It's much more important than that.

England were lucky to escape there. The unfairness of Test Cricket: One team scores as much with 6 wickets as the other does with 19 and it's declared a draw. oh well, if this didn't happen, TC would lose a lot of it's mystique. And addictive irritability.

As expected, after England manage to climb out of their hole and stagger towards a well-undeserved draw they immediately start up about how great they are for having done so. It's kinda sweet to see their hopeless (and hapless) optimism. Almost as much as their inevitable complaints about the ref when they lose.

No idea why Ponting let Johnson bowl so much on the last day when he was obviously making no headway. That decision cost Oz the match imo.

[Barringtonia]

As expected, after England manage to climb out of their hole and stagger towards a well-undeserved draw they immediately start up about how great they are for having done so. It's kinda sweet to see their hopeless (and hapless) optimism. Almost as much as their inevitable complaints about the ref when they lose.

Really, most reports I'm reading are calling England a pile of trash lucky to escape with a draw they didn't deserve. What would be funny if it wasn't so tragic is that they're blaming Kevin Pietersen for some reason, and this really is the English disease, we lose because our star player didn't perform to his potential, as though a 'team' is about one player, and thus we excuse the rest for their shoddy game.

No idea why Ponting let Johnson bowl so much on the last day when he was obviously making no headway. That decision cost Oz the match imo.

I somewhat agree, but it was a good batting pitch, which makes England's suckage even more galling,

[Neu Leonstein]

What do people think of Pontings claims of the Poms timewasting?

Does he have a point?

Here's a point: if you can't bowl out the tail at the end of the 5th day, it's not the opposition's fault.