Yeah, Isn't it AUS - England, not SA? Hoping its more compelling than the summer affair.ConigliarosPotential said:Feel the Ashes Fever!
(Also, I highly doubt the Aussie batting order can stand up to England's bowlers over a five-match series. Not the best of starts for Rogers this morning.)
Tokyo Sox said:Dude I just need someone to get bowled out super quickly so I can watch Pats/Broncos in the office on Monday morning. If this thing takes all 5 days I will likely get overruled.
I mean I hope it goes your way, but really I just want it to end as fast as possible.
Pretty easily it seems. I'm just an ignorant American who's interested in the game. Does it have something to do with KP?SydneySox said:How can someone with the username Don Bradman not understand the thread title?
Thanks for that. There's lots to learn.ConigliarosPotential said:And Trott. And Prior. (All three were born in SA, as was Kieswetter, and even Strauss if you want to go back a few years.)
SydneySox said:Realistically we need to win here. History, conditions and even the toss all shade in our favour and if we can't win this one at the GABBA then we're probably not going to win many.
I'm not optimistic; if you did a Best XI from these two teams it's doubtful anyone but Clarkey would make the team... maybe Ryan Harris...
Still - this is always one of the best days of the year and the official start of summer.
edit: Yeah, I'd pick Harris over Tremlett. So that's 2 out of the 11 in green.
Lowrielicious said:
I would give Watson the edge over Root in a Best XI , but that still doesn't make the numbers very respectable.
After the last two weeks of pissing down rain this is indeed a great start to summer.
SydneySox said:
I give Watson the edge over a pile of rocks but that's about it. The best thing I can say about Watson is that he didn't get out LBW yet.
MiracleOfO2704 said:So if Warner goes soon, can the Australia bats hold out until tea?
want me to add todays numbers too? that will bump it up to 6.5SydneySox said:6 matches?
CSteinhardt said:
. And what are Bailey and Smith doing this high in the order in a Test match?
MiracleOfO2704 said:150 might be a lofty goal for the Australia innings. To echo what Steiny said, this is not the 11 batsmen to challenge England's bowlers.
SydneySox said:
What does this even mean, mate? They are a 5&6, which is where they should be. Smith is a good little player.
They shouldn't be facing after lunch on the first day, but that's the top order's fault.
SydneySox said:
The great unknown, as always, is Mitch Johnson. He is an enigma; a mental case with ability who's unreliable. He could destroy this top order, but he's more likely to lose his line and be completely erratic by his fourth over.
SydneySox said:Yeah, to Brad Haddin who is going to end up dead diving around trying to stop two deliveries down leg an over.
That was a fucking terrible shot by Trott - getting out flicking at a ball two feet down leg is the 'wobbly' identified above.
Johnson's bowled about 4 balls capable of taking a wicket besides that.
CSteinhardt said:
The thing is, on a flat pitch, his best balls have been better than the rest of the attack. And Haddin's in good shape, right?
MiracleOfO2704 said:I'd started to forget how punchable Peter Siddle's face is. Too bad, because he's having a good day bowling so far.
CSteinhardt said:
I thought those were part of a plan - hasn't Trott been out several times recently throwing his bat at something down leg?
The thing is, on a flat pitch, his best balls have been better than the rest of the attack. And Haddin's in good shape, right?
SydneySox said:
Now that was a great fucking wicket.
CSteinhardt said:
I'm telling you, his best stuff is really, really good. Uneven as all hell, but when he's on...
MiracleOfO2704 said:Story of two wicketkeepers in the crease. Haddin stabilizes the Australian batting attack, Prior exacerbates England's batting collapse.
I think a few of us would have thought 431 would have been a good score for one team's innings on this wicket, but that was the entire of the first innings. Good bowling, but some really poor shots, particularly by the English batters not named Carberry.