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CollisKing

Listed below are comments made by CollisKing between Tuesday, 14th July 2009 and Friday, 18th September 2009.

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Vaughan joins Test Match Special 11:18am on 18 Sep 2009 I remember that Johannesburg morning well. Vaughan walking in on debut, England 2-4 and the mayhem caused by Donald and Pollock. What a handful those two were with the new ball.

I agree the recruitment of recently retired players keeps TMS moving forward without losing its essential essence. Matt Hayden - once he loosened up, filled the role superbly this summer, Phil Tufnell brings insight to go with the comedy. The old uns can still be relevant: TMS wouldn't be the same without the nucleus of Aggers & Vic Marks - plus occasional appearances by Angus Fraser and Graham Gooch. I wish Vaughan good luck in his new role. Who is going to be the South African analyst ... Shaun Pollock again ?

Once all this one-day nonsense is out of the way, looking forward to the SA Test series in the company of TMS.
TMS has a wizard time in Ashes finale 6:28pm on 24 Aug 2009 Big thank you to TMS for the magnificent coverage throughout the Series.

Aggers, Vic, CMJ, Blowers, Boycs, Tuffers and Jim Maxwell.

Matthew Hayden started rather stiffly but quickly loosened up and warmed to the task. Haydos is a gent and welcome addition to the TMS Ashes team.
The morning after at The Oval 6:19pm on 24 Aug 2009 What an incredible day's Test cricket yesterday at The Oval.

Big congrats to Andrew Strauss and his England team.

18 months and we can do it all again down again.

I hope the greedy administrators have learned their lesson from 2007.

5 Test matches squeezed into 7 weeks between a mickey-mouse tourney in India and the new year round-robin one-dayers.
England with no preparation were awful and walloped 5-0. That must not be allowed to happen again.
English swingers make Aussies suffer 1:06pm on 01 Aug 2009 Soo much time lost already from this huge Test match occasion.

Still raining ... are we going to get any play today?

Somebody save this match.

To hell with it: reschedule Tuesday to make up for all the lost time.
Edgbaston 'aura' can lift England 7:04pm on 29 Jul 2009 Excellent blog ....

Sadly it looks as if this eagerly awaited clash and key match in the series is going to be blighted by the weather. Fingers crossed we get lucky with not much rain.

I was hoping for a good ol' fast and bouncy Birmingham track, that no longer looks possible. So Onions's probing seam keeps its place ahead of Harmison's raw pace.

The Ashes remains the crown jewel for all home fans of Test cricket.

An extra Test being resheduled in the event of an earlier match being adversely affected by bad weather is of course no longer an option. In the modern era of countless one-day tournaments ... the Test series not starting until mid-July, 5 matches squeezed into 8 weeks or so.
Misfiring Australia consider their options 6:27pm on 24 Jul 2009 Australia have been unlucky with the injuries to Clark and Lee - both of whom would have been certain starters.

Based on the opening 2 matches this is the weakest Australian bowling attack I have seen here since 1985. Back then Geoff Lawson was trundling in with "past his sell by date" Geoff Thompson, "young buck" Craig McDermott, "sit up and hit me" medium-pace of Craig Matthews and Greg Matthews's gentle off-spin. Says a lot how good their bowling attacks have been in the intervening years, led of course by our tormentors in chief ... Warne and McGrath

Mitchell Johnson came here with a massive reputation, beware England if he recaptures top form. In bursts I like the look of Peter Siddle, Hilfenhaus and Hauritz have already performed better than the Aussie selectors dared hope.

Australia will come out "swinging" at Edgbaston. England and Andrew Strauss must guard against any thoughts of caution, build on the lead and convert it into a series decisive 2-0. Despite what happened at Lords our ability to take 20 match-winning Australian wickets concerns me. Jimmy Anderson's new-ball probing seems to be complimenting Fred's thunder nicely. A "Simon Jones" as the third seamer is sorely missed. Unless the Edgbaston pitch is lightning quick and he takes the new ball, I don't see how Steve Harmison fits into the side. Is Ryan Sidebottom fit and available for selection ?
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 11:12am on 22 Jul 2009 Definitely Sky on MUTE, TMS commentary ON Club here... despite the out-of-synch modem feed of pictures to PC. When the feed is struggling, sometimes the commentary is a full ball behind the SKY , frustrating ... but there you go.

Don't mind the Sky commentary team - Shane Warne was good value and Bob Willis in particular on the Ashes verdict. The vapid commercialisation, constant ad-breaks ... at the fall of every dramatic wicket, at the end of every over... continue to grate.

my England ratings:

Strauss - 9:
Led from the front. For the first time I am fully convinced about his undisputed leadership and captaincy of the England team.
Cook - 7: Put away the bad balls in that vital 1st innings stand. Beware if Johnson rediscover's his form with the new ball.
Bopara - 4: Not looking so clever here is he ... against hardly a world-class attack. Were the West Indies really that bad? Needs a score in Birmingham and I would bat him no higher than 4.
Pieterson - 5: Injury is a major concern for England's star batsman.
Collingwood - 8: Super all-round contribution. How about moving Corporal Bloc up to number 3 at the fall of an early wicket?
Prior - 8: Kept wicket OK, second innings knock was vital - might have been a century but for the unlucky run-out. Underlines the importance of the batsman/wicket-keeper in modern test cricket.
Flintoff - 10: Great, inspirational, hostile new-ball pace bowling are Test match-winners. Read Walsh/Ambrose, Donald, Younis/Akram, McGrath and Freddie Flintoff.
Swann - 8: Will continue to be handful for the Australian left-handers for the rest of the series. Bowled beautifully in the second innings.
Broad - 7: A fairly expensive "work in progress" at the mercy of exploratory strategies from captain and coaching staff. Took the vital wicket of the Australian captain and unlucky not to bowl Michael Clark for 0.
Anderson - 8: His new-ball probing combined with the pace and hostility at the other end looks an irresistible combination at the moment.
Onions - 6: To build on this 1-0 lead England need to take 20 wickets against a powerful batting line-up. Does Onions have the nous to penetrate against well-set top order Australian batsman on a flat wicket?
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 7:15pm on 20 Jul 2009 Stuart Broad is a fairly expensive "work-in-progress" (re. Jimmy Anderson two years ago). Obviously highly thought of by the management, took the vital wicket of Punter and was dead unlucky not to ball Clark for 0. Something about Broad's long-term potential that I like and should be persisted with. Unless of course the Edgbaston wicket is lightning fast with steep bounce (wouldn't that be exciting) ... Steve Harmison would come into the new-ball equation.
Flintoff - England's gladiator supreme 6:43pm on 20 Jul 2009 Flintoff's second innings bowling spells were Test match pace bowling at it's finest. Quick, hostile, accurate .... testing every facet of opposing top batters technique. A real leader and inspiration of the bowling attack in the field - Steve Harmison please take note. Ian Chappell ... a stern but fair judge who has seen some decent pace bowling in his time agreed with me.
Another incomparable Ashes Test 5:43pm on 14 Jul 2009 Anyone who has had to endure 'tanked up' English football supporters abroad will know what I am talking about.

Obviously I am talking about a minority at Cardiff, I stand by my statement. The verbal abuse thrown at the stoic Aussie section in front of me was inexcusable.

Nothing wrong with a good old sing-song, musical accompaniment and The Barmy's. The mass "your not singin anymore" and finger-pointing at the end resembled Cardiff City vs. Leeds United from the 70s.

And no I haven't had the pleasure of attending a Melbourne test match. The nearest I have come is sitting directly behind the Lleyton Hewitt fan club at Wimbledon. Noisy, monotonous, occasionally boorish but on the whole good natured.

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