The Ashes

[Rooky9]

WTF is all that about.

[Acidmouse]

lol 13 to win from 6 overs

[maldini32]

typical england fuck up, ive never known a nation fuck up as much as england in different sports

 

what is giles doin the guys a fckin joke...hes got a load of rough to aim  and hes throwing right down the middle! anyone see a 5 0 thrashing??
giles and anderson out....monty and saj mahmood in.

[Colchester Kev]

[Tonji]

Damn the Aussies just wont play out a comfortable draw, & England are just incapable of applying any pressure at the correct stages of the match. Seems like Warne was the difference in this Test, he's still world class. Its looking depressing for the rest of the series 

[lazaroonie]

Damn the Aussies just wont play out a comfortable draw, & England are just incapable of applying any pressure at the correct stages of the match. Seems like Warne was the difference in this Test, he's still world class. Its looking depressing for the rest of the series 

i would respectfully suggest that England are missing having a real captain out there on the pitch. Someone who can dig in and lead by example when the pressure is on.

[Woodsey]

Not too sure about that really. All I know is that this has pretty much buggered up any chance of this being an entertaining ashes.

[Tonji]

Damn the Aussies just wont play out a comfortable draw, & England are just incapable of applying any pressure at the correct stages of the match. Seems like Warne was the difference in this Test, he's still world class. Its looking depressing for the rest of the series 

i would respectfully suggest that England are missing having a real captain out there on the pitch. Someone who can dig in and lead by example when the pressure is on.

Agreed, Vaughan was great in the last Ashes series. Freddie is not really a Captain.

[Acidmouse]

Bad selections in this series, wonder what Monty thinks about being the best in the world (or near enough) and then not even getting in the team becasue an old geezer whos been out for a year gets the nod infront of you..

[Sheriff Fatman]

The interview with Duncan Fletcher really pissed me off.

"Giles was picked so that we can bat down to number 8" on the day that he scores 0!

[Graham C]

Giles isn't the reason we lost, we lost because all of our batting order collapsed like something that collapses really easily.  Can't blame the bowlers, all we had to do was get to around 240 or so and not get out.

[TightEnd]

Aussies bowled superbly but Strauss (horrific umpires decision, one of those things) and Collingwood apart the batsmen caused their own downfall.


Worst of the lot was Geraint Jones, picked for his batting, swatting a ball he could hardly reach straight to gully two overs after lunch. Complete tosser!


We at least set a record last night, the highest ever first innings score then to lose a test match. See! we are good at something!!!


I am fed up of picking bits and pieces cricketers to make up for lack of confidence in others, and because they might bat a bit better or field a bit better. We need to take 20 wickets. They got the runs to win far too easily because Giles was incapable of applying pressure. 


pick read not jones

pick monty (and tell him to bowl slower) not giles




Anyway, rant completed, Warne was fantastic and Brett lee finally showed up. Just that England froze like rabbits in the headlights and bottled it when all they needed to do was block all day

[Sheriff Fatman]

My point is if your team can 'bat down to number 8' then you shouldn't be seeing collapses of this nature and yet this is the second time this series its happened.  

However, his tone and his refusal to admit they got it wrong suggests that we will continue to pick an ineffective bowler ahead of a better one on the basis of his batting ability when its quite obvious (to seemingly everyone but the selectors) that our current bowling attack will struggle to bowl the Aussies out twice.

[TightEnd]

My point is if your team can 'bat down to number 8' then you shouldn't be seeing collapses of this nature and yet this is the second time this series its happened.  

However, his tone and his refusal to admit they got it wrong suggests that we will continue to pick an ineffective bowler ahead of a better one on the basis of his batting ability when its quite obvious (to seemingly everyone but the selectors) that our current bowling attack will struggle to bowl the Aussies out twice.

I agree, they obviously have an inherent lack of confidence in the top 7 so sacrifice a wicket taking bowling option, to pick Giles at 8 who is good for 20 runs an innings tops, with a 50 once every 30 or so innings


The cost of the lack of wicket taking potential is not worth the benefit of Giles' runs is it?


Same for Jones at 7, does he really in the heat of battle guarantee you a load more runs than Read, who is a capable enough batsman? Of course not, and Jones will spill the odd chance that Read doesn't.

Again you sacrifice wicket taking potential for a few more runs. Maybe a few more runs!

Fletcher has, lets face it, two big blind spots in not picking Read and Panesar.

The whole of English cricket has the wrong mentality for Australia.

I also think that Strauss was the right captain for this tour, think he's got a great cricket brain as showed in the summer.

[Acidmouse]

You need to Bowl them out twice, with Anderson, Harmison & Giles that aint ever gonna happen..EVER.