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GHBRich

Listed below are comments made by GHBRich between Thursday, 2nd July 2009 and Tuesday, 21st July 2009.

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Second Ashes Test - player ratings 5:47pm on 21 Jul 2009 Oxfordfoxfan

Colly came in as a batter, not a bowler - he bowled 4 overs in that match - fewer than he bowled in the recent Lords game. What we did is change the balance of our team as we were playing for the draw. I suspect we would do the same now, except for the fact that Freddie's injury would not now allow him to play as one of 4 bowlers. Colly coming in for Jones was in no way a reflection on the quality of our reserve seamers in '05.
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 2:43pm on 21 Jul 2009 Re: Stuart Clark - Athers wrote in the Times this morning that the reports coming out of the Aussie camp are that 'he has lost his nip'. Dunno exactly what that means or how true it is, but I have also been surprised that he can't get into the side.
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 1:59pm on 21 Jul 2009 Spiritofstoggers

Have you recently undergone a lobotomy?? You rant is bizarra, but I will pick out on or two of the most ridiculous comments:

"It is generally tradition, when playing cricket, that the fielding team applaud the opposing Captain as he comes on to bat. In England, this is not only forgotten, but the crowd boo, and yell abuse. "

I have been to a number of Test matches in Australia and never once has the opposing team or captain applauded when the England captain comes out to bat. I think you made that up.

"a complete lack of sportsmanship by the england captain. To claim his catch in the second test is nothing short of cheating. He has since conceded that it may have touched the ground"

Get it right - he conceded that the tv replays made it look like it had touched the ground. And what about Hauritz claiming his catch?? That was much more clear-cut, yet all the aussies claimed it even though it clearly hit the ground.

"Ricky Ponting, because he wasnt flashing his pearly whites from dawn till dusk?? Give the man a break. He has contributed more to the game of cricket than any other man playing in this test match series "

Even australian fans have never warmed to Ponting. I'm afraid he's just not a very likable chap - the rant at Trent Bridge when he got run out by Gary Pratt is a case in point. We English are more than happy to give credit to aussie players - we always liked Shane Warne, even though he did far more damage than Ponting over the years.

"Did the british press see the skill in Iniesta's goal for Barcelona? Bizarre."

Yes they did. And they vilified the Chelsea players for acting like a bunch of Pontings.
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 6:43pm on 20 Jul 2009 "Exactly what did he do in the Lions game that made you want to forget his poor attitude and poor performances for England over the past three years?"

Well, to start with he took 6 wickets, including Hughes twice, Katich, Hussey and Ponting on a pretty good pitch.

As for his poor performances for England over the last 2-3 years, he STILL averages much better than Broad over that period and Broad doesn't have a history of top class performances or great recent form.

Unfortunately (because I think Broad is a real tryer), the off-form version of Harmison we have seen over the last few years is better than anything we have yet seen from Broad. I agree that you cannot ignore batting form, but you can't pick a bowler purely because of it either.
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 6:03pm on 20 Jul 2009 "I do think an 8 is maybe a bit generous to Matt Prior though. Fair enough it was a decent knock in the second innings following an uninspired start to the series with the bat, but personally I thought he looked rather untidy with the gloves for much of the match."

Couldn't disagree more! First, Prior's start to the series with the bat was good - he played a pretty important knock in the first innings at Cardiff (although he admittedly let himself down in the second innings, along with all the top order bar Paul Collingwood MBE). Secondly, he was very good with the gloves in this Test match - just compare his performance to Haddin, who dropped a catch and conceded 31 byes. Lords is a tough place to keep and Prior did well.
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 4:49pm on 20 Jul 2009 Oxfordfoxfan

I don't think Broad is the second quickest to 50 wickets, rather the second youngest, which is a completely different stat and one defined by how often he has been picked in his youth.

KP's 'pitiful' 2nd innings knock still contributed 44 runs and saw us through a difficult patch to give Prior and Collingwood a platform from which to kick on.

Oh, and Colly only played one game in the 2005 Ashes, when he was brought in as a batsman, not a bowler. The next seamers in line for that series were Tremlett and Anderson.
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 4:38pm on 20 Jul 2009 Boredatlords

Not sure I agree with that - a really good team should consider making changes even when they win, especially if there is someone else banging down the door, as Harmison is.

I would not suggest dropping Bopara for two reasons: first, he made three centuries (albeit vs the Windies) very recently, so deserves at least one more chance; and secondly, there is no outstanding candidate to replace him. Had bell made a century for the England Lions, things would be different.

Broad, on the other hand, has not made a significant contribution in terms of wickets for quite a while now so is definitely living on borrowed time. I don't think selecting him again would be a disaster, but when you're got an in-form Harmison waiting in the wings, using him has to be a real option. Onions, if fit, deserves another go - he has had more success than Broad in the games they have played together.
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 3:16pm on 20 Jul 2009 dave_h - you know that Strauss's decision meant that we won, right? We will never know what might have happened had the follow-on been enforced but his decision was clearly not the wrong one!
Second Ashes Test - player ratings 3:14pm on 20 Jul 2009 Must say that I agree with Silk on this one. Broad is a decent bowler and a good prospect. I was there yesterday and thought his afternoon spell was the best of all the bowlers except Freddie.

Problem is that he seems to be someone who is learning the art of bowling whilst playing Test cricket, and that doesn't seem right to me. He is still very young and might benefit from a year or two playing regular county cricket and learning how to take wickets consistently.

Right now, Harmison for all his faults is a much more threatening wicket-taker than Broad. Whilst on his bad days, he can be infuriatingly poor, on his good days he is capable of bowling teams out. Broad, at the moment, is not.
Vaughan leaves lasting legacy 5:07pm on 02 Jul 2009 Scenicjoker

I think you need to get a little perspective.

According to you, England's series victory in 2005 was worth nothing because McGrath was injured for 2 out of 5 games, whilst Australia's victory in 2006/7 was worth everything despite the fact that England were without Trescothick, Vaughan and Jones for the ENTIRE SERIES.

Face it, in 2005, you had the two best teams in the world playing their best cricket and England prevailed. I would not argue that England were the best team in the world before or after that series, but during that summer they were better than Australia. FACT.

Only someone with as much sour grapes as you could argue with that.

Oh and "Aussie fans would not even care because firstly they lost both series and secondly they lost both by a whisker. The difference is after India won they did not go around proclaiming themselves to be the best team in the world and then add to it by being thrashed 5-0."

The reason you would argue that the India series was better is that you cannot stand being beaten by the English! The India series was good, but only that single test had anything like the drama that at least 3 of the 5 2005 Ashes tests had, and even that was nothing like Egbaston.

BTW - that Nathan Hauritz looks like quite a player...

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