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danichols49

Listed below are comments made by danichols49 between Friday, 13th March 2009 and Wednesday, 22nd July 2009.

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Aussie sports fan take realistic view 03:14am on 22 Jul 2009 This column is quite an interesting reflection of a changing world. Suddenly the Brits are interested in what 20 million convicts are thinking, rather than Aussies taking all cultural lessons from the old dart.

I always thought the English were interested in Shane Warne as he represented everything they loved about Australians in a Barry McKenzie sort of way; brash, sporty, reckless etc.

The admiration for Flintoff is though, as Nick says; based on being a great sportsman & competitor rather than having anything to do with his nationality.

Id agree that there isnt much sentiment towards the current team either, Ponting and Clarke have been tainted by the 05 series loss and the horrible series against India, while the rest are new and yet to be adopted by locals. Losing this series will be disastrous to Punter though, he wont be able to slip into a commentary position so easily with the tag of captain who lost the Ashes twice!
Getting away with it 07:10am on 13 Jul 2009 This test was almost always going to be a draw, the fact that almost England lost it by an innings- is telling.

I dont think Australia would make too many more changes, they dont have a batsman to replace Hussey, so will have to rely on the confidence that they are a better & harder working team than England.

Nothing about the English display impresses. Flintoff gloating about the dismissal of Hughes & Pietersen dismissing himself twice are fine examples of the bigger problem. This XI play for themselves & have absolutely no sense of team. Winning in 05 seems to be enough for them, and casting a cloud over the current group.

The best English player, for mine, was Collingwood which is telling as he is one of the least talented players. For the rest:
Cook looks out of his depth,
Bopara is no first drop & his career shouldnt be put at risk there look at what theyve done to Broad
If Pietersen really wants to be the best player in the team move him to 3 & dont shelter him
Prior is an ordinary one-day keeper bring back Chris Read
Swann and Panesar arent needed in the same team bring in another seamer Harmison? Someone with real FIRE

Heres hoping for a competitive series though I wouldnt bet against Australia winning the lot from here on in, based on how fragile the English team seems
The best prime minister Australia never had? 07:29am on 19 Jun 2009 Costello may see himself as unlucky, but the rest will see him as gutless. Australian politics is a rough business and he didnt have the brass. How his family see him is a really good question; how would he meet the Rev Tims stare at Christmas time?
Will the Chasers go to war on Rudd? 02:46am on 02 Jun 2009 TotallyFair - I don't think the attacks on Indian students are in any way related to the impact of the media (specifically The Chaser team), which is what this debate is about.
I dare say Nick will be posting on this subject soon, as the 'chk chk boom', Telstra boss and Indian protests have all happened.
AustGirl - I am perfectly open to a 'intelectual converstation' once you can tell me what that is.
Will the Chasers go to war on Rudd? 02:55am on 26 May 2009 AustGirl are you in the young liberals by chance? Your tone suggested youth but your message suggested conservatism. A dangerous combination!

I dont think its fair to compare the economic climate now compared with 18 months ago. Commodity prices, the reason that Australia enjoyed so much growth, have plummeted due to the level of economic decline globally. Much of this is due to banks going belly-up as a result of the unnecessary risks that were allowed under the Bush administration, good friends of ol Johnny.

Regardless, Howard is yesterdays news and (as many posters here have noted) Alan Jones is completely silent outside NSW (you may need to get outside Sydney, Nick!). In fact, NSW has probably benefitted more from the liberal govt than any state, particularly when considering that WA held the majority of the resources that were sold. Methinks Alan Jones, who just seems to have closetted anger issues, has failed to mention that!

For the xenophobic poster that seems afraid of learning Mandarin, Australia can no longer think of itself as a manufacturing country with European ties based in Asia, it needs to start thinking of being a small asian country of 20 million people and finite resources. The 3rd largest industry in Australia in education, with little thanks to the Howard government, and it makes sense for us to position ourselves as an R&D centre for the region.

Back to the subject though, I very much doubt that The Chaser boys will lay-off Rudd, he has shown his hand as a despot in regards to his staff and fluffed the carbon-tax scheme. While they wont influence too many votes, they are needed to keep the government in the public eye and in their place.
Symonds out in the cold 12:52pm on 20 May 2009 Good to see some fellow Victorians on here. It can be lonely at the top.

I think CA have made the right move excluding Roy, it sends a message to the players (specifically Tait) that if you arent on board 100%, forget about it. It is also a move towards bringing in younger players, McDonald may not play a lot of tests, but it'll be good experience for him and encouraging to those looking to get in.

While McDonald cant bat like Roy, he is handy with the ball and really did well keeping the pressure on in South Africa. I dont think he will be used and I dare say Hodge would come on before him as a batsman (I hope so!) and Hilfenhaus as a bowler.

McDonald is also a committed professional. You may be right in saying that CA doesn't allow for individuals, Oliver, but that isnt the culture they are trying to foster.

As for the suggestions around Tait & Bracken, they are barely taking wickets in ODIs at the minute.
The revitalisation of Anzac Day 1:34pm on 25 Apr 2009 Its very strange that this is the biggest day of national pride, not federation day (forgotten) or australia day (just another public holiday). While I agree that those that gave the ultimate sacrifice should be remembered, the 'glory of war' is certainly given too much credence in these celebrations. If the government is to support a day of national celebration, shouldnt it be towards something more positive that celebrates our youthfulness/opportunity and diversity?
Face-to-face with Australia's new sensation 03:58am on 22 Apr 2009 fairandbalancedfan - I would take Hughes over Cook any day of the week. Cook regularly fails to convert starts, is sluggish and seems to have been found out by most international bowlers. Further, he seems to have lapsed since his debut rather than develop.

I also think that it isnt fair to say that Australia doesnt offer places to the English, Paul Collingwood played club cricket in Victoria and used the experience to become an international. I think more English players don't play in Australia is because the money and their skills aren't up to it. The worst English test players would be lucky to make the State teams.

As for Hughes in England, why is this an issue now? Hussey scored 10,000 first-class runs (mostly in the UK) before he was given a berth, Hughes only has 6 weeks before the Ashes kicks off!
Aussies send Ashes warning 02:27am on 16 Mar 2009 I'm surprised some of the folk on here can type, such is the size of the chip on their shoulder.

Whats all this talk of Australia turning it into a bloodsport while the English play like gentlemen? Poppycock! They're all as bad as each other! If anything, the English are far too reserved or lazy whereas the Aussies can be too aggressive.

And fair play for pointing out the fielding rotations and bouncers fired in by England in the 2005 series, the bouncers are fine in my book but those fielding switches really do stretch the rules. Imagine Monty was off and his substitute took a catch!

Still, I think bringing back Vaughan would be a mistake - it would only add to the captaincy question and is hardly a step in the right direction, he's 34 and only has one knee. Well done to him, he won the ashes, but England need to look at the bigger picture!
Aussies send Ashes warning 05:31am on 13 Mar 2009 Tass1968 is obviously either a mad dog or an englishman. Suggesting that Hadding is not much better than Prior is ridiculous. Haddin is a proven batsman-'keeper against genuine opposition whereas Prior is a slogger who couldn't catch a cold.

Saying the bowling attacks are comparable is incredible. While Australia's is relatively inexperienced, it is deep. Stuart Clark is to come back and he has done extremely well at Middlesex in the past, not to mention in the last Ashes, so there is your answer to 'English conditions'.

I can agree that KP is the only world class batsman in the English team and that spin is a conern for the Aussies, but I can't see Collingwood/Shah/Bell being match winners.

I really think that this will be a 3-1 win (at least) to the Aussies.

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