2009 Ashes

[DUNK619]

i agree i think they will put onions in  cant see them droppin broad tho

[Graham C]

I blame Silo - he's clearly stopped dancing.

my chubby arse hasn't stopped boogying!

(how do you spell boogieing?)

[Graham C]

Ship the draw though, obv

[Woodsey]

I think Harmison will replace Panesar, they need something different from the attack and he gives that and appears to be on form. Onions might replace broad but I think the selectors like the fact that Broad can bat so that will be close.

[The Baron]

Onions for Panesar is what I think they will do.... a control bowler
 
Possibly Harmison for Broad, would consider that as Broad isn't quite ready for this series I think.

This.

[TightEnd]

Collingwood to 3? Bopara to 5?

Expect they'll leave the top seven alone..but Bopara and Cook both looked to have technical flaws against the Aussies that they will need to sort quick

[kukushkin88]

Swann has to go, he was a below average spinner with a dreadful record in county cricket before it was decided he was the man for England. He had a couple of good series against woefully underperforimg sides he simply is poor. Sidebottom and Onions for Anderson and Swann. Possibly Rashid for Monty too.

[TightEnd]

but there is not a cat in hells chance Anderson or Swann will go.

Anderson really wouldn't deserve to go, been the best England seamer for 18 months plus. Sidebottom is only just fit without much bowling either

extremely disappointing Swann in this test, but its too early to jettison him. At Lords a spinner is a stock bowler, and his batting and the fact that he has six LHB to bowl too (assuming he performs adequately not poorly and thus causes them a problem) will get him in for sure

In this test Swann appeared to have lost the one delivery he got a lot of wickets with, the arm ball. Without that he lacks the variation to damage the best 

[Josedinho]

Such a good test to watch. Even in 2005 we were written of at this point after an awful first test. So to start with a draw is a nice change.

[Karabiner]

I can only see one change for Lord's, Onions for Panasar.

Let's face it Harmison has had far more than his fair share of opportunities and fallen short most of the time recently.

[TightEnd]

The Times

Ricky Ponting accused England of failing to play in the spirit of the game after James Anderson and Monty Panesar survived 69 balls to complete a Great Ashes Escape in Cardiff.

The Australia captain was angry at what he saw as delaying tactics towards the end of the first npower Test, when England’s twelfth man and physiotherapist rushed on to the field to speak to the last-wicket pair.

Andrew Strauss, the relieved England captain, denied foul play and said: “The reality of the situation is that Australia did not take the last wicket and we got away with the draw.”

But the five-match series was given fresh spice on a nail-biting day when first Mitchell Johnson and Kevin Pietersen, then Peter Siddle and Stuart Broad, were involved in altercations.

Johnson had to be dragged away by Michael Clarke, his team-mate, when Pietersen appeared to hit a ball into his path during pre-match practice on the outfield.

Broad and Siddle were spoken to by the umpires when they made shoulder contact twice after Broad edged the frustrated bowler to the third-man boundary.

Ponting was more annoyed that Bilal Shafayat, the reserve fielder carrying a glove, and Steve McCaig, the physiotherapist, held up play in the final stages when Australia wanted to cram in as many overs as possible.

“I don’t think it was required,” Ponting said. “I think he changed his glove the over before so he shouldn’t have needed another, and I don’t know what the physio was doing out there.

“I thought it was pretty ordinary. But England can play whichever way they want, we will play in the spirit of the game. I was unhappy with it and I am sure others will be taking it up with the England hierarchy.”

Having loaded the gun, Ponting will hope that somebody else now fires the bullets. “I am not going to take it any farther,” he said. “I am not making it an issue. I won’t think about it after tonight.”

Strauss said that Shafayat had been sent out to tell Panesar and Anderson that Australia were likely to bowl more overs than the minimum because they were rushing through balls.

“Some drink was spilt on his  glove,” Strauss said. “Jimmy called up to the dressing room, but in the confusion we did not know if he needed the twelfth man or the physio. Our intentions were good. We were not deliberately trying to waste a huge amount of time.”

[kukushkin88]

Anderson has never shown anything against world class opponenets in tests. In favorable conditions against a poor side is he is an obvious pick but he has never performed well at this level against decent sides. His bowling average is really bad against Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. India obviously don't bat well in England and no one else really bats well at all in tests anymore.

Turning the ball away from the bat on slow turners is invariably totally ineffective. Cardiff was slow, hopefully the rest will be quicker, so maybe keep Swann but he is a very limited cricketer. gl mr Swann and gl England.

edit: younis khan, mohammad yousuf and chanderpaul all bat well obv.

[Bongo]

Flintoff injured, FOL!

Harmy for Freddy and Onions for Monty?

[pokerfan]

Flintoff injured, FOL!

Harmy for Freddy and Onions for Monty?

Harmison added to squad.
http://www.skysports.com/cricket/ashes/story/0,26376,12340_5431152,00.html

[ItsMrAlex2u]

The Times

Ricky Ponting accused England of failing to play in the spirit of the game after James Anderson and Monty Panesar survived 69 balls to complete a Great Ashes Escape in Cardiff.

The Australia captain was angry at what he saw as delaying tactics towards the end of the first npower Test, when England’s twelfth man and physiotherapist rushed on to the field to speak to the last-wicket pair.

Andrew Strauss, the relieved England captain, denied foul play and said: “The reality of the situation is that Australia did not take the last wicket and we got away with the draw.”

But the five-match series was given fresh spice on a nail-biting day when first Mitchell Johnson and Kevin Pietersen, then Peter Siddle and Stuart Broad, were involved in altercations.

Johnson had to be dragged away by Michael Clarke, his team-mate, when Pietersen appeared to hit a ball into his path during pre-match practice on the outfield.

Broad and Siddle were spoken to by the umpires when they made shoulder contact twice after Broad edged the frustrated bowler to the third-man boundary.

Ponting was more annoyed that Bilal Shafayat, the reserve fielder carrying a glove, and Steve McCaig, the physiotherapist, held up play in the final stages when Australia wanted to cram in as many overs as possible.

“I don’t think it was required,” Ponting said. “I think he changed his glove the over before so he shouldn’t have needed another, and I don’t know what the physio was doing out there.

“I thought it was pretty ordinary. But England can play whichever way they want, we will play in the spirit of the game. I was unhappy with it and I am sure others will be taking it up with the England hierarchy.”

Having loaded the gun, Ponting will hope that somebody else now fires the bullets. “I am not going to take it any farther,” he said. “I am not making it an issue. I won’t think about it after tonight.”

Strauss said that Shafayat had been sent out to tell Panesar and Anderson that Australia were likely to bowl more overs than the minimum because they were rushing through balls.

“Some drink was spilt on his  glove,” Strauss said. “Jimmy called up to the dressing room, but in the confusion we did not know if he needed the twelfth man or the physio. Our intentions were good. We were not deliberately trying to waste a huge amount of time.”

EVERY side would have done exactly the same thing under the circumstances. It was a bit of a piss tkae that they came on twice but its not unusual behaviour at all.

Whinging aussies IMO