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NeonSpaceman

Listed below are comments made by NeonSpaceman between Thursday, 10th July 2008 and Monday, 4th August 2008.

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Lack of runs costs emotional Vaughan 03:26am on 04 Aug 2008 another point to make; whats all this nonsense about Vaughan being driven out? the captaincy affected him - as everyone whos captained Enland has attested to and he walked away of his own accord and because of his own doubts about his batting, not because of anybody elses. I loved his captaincy and as a player he was wonderful, but the fact is this; as captain he averaged 36.02 which in the modern era is just not good enough, especially not from 3 and is not enough to keep a man in the team nomatter how good his captaincy is.
Lack of runs costs emotional Vaughan 03:22am on 04 Aug 2008 Judgement is of course clouded due to the events of 2005 but it should always be remembered that but for one poor umpiring decision we would have lost those Ashes
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i take it you mean the Kasper decision at Edgbaston? lets not forget that kasper was plumb LBW long before they ever go near the required score and not given out by the umpire.

as for KP, not his biggest fan as captain but people should give him a break. why do people insisit he is selfish and no a team player? his shot the other day was silly, yes, but no sillier than the one Cook played, or Bell. yet do we accuse thee players of being selfish? Do we point out that these shots were detremental to the team effort? oddly enough, no. Yet KP, who worked harder than the rest of the top order bar Colly to keep england in the match, is the subject of who knows hw many bogs and newspaper articles about his selfishness. There was the same thing at headingly, where people said he didnt know how to play for the team, that he was too aggresive, despite the fact that he was out to a defensive shot and before that did what every good player is supposed to do - put away the rank bad ball.
England lack cutting edge 1:10pm on 14 Jul 2008 i can't believe people are actually saying Harmison should be bought back. it doesn't matter that hes not a swing bowler, hes still awful. he might be taking wickets at CC but he cant make the step up to test level. a year agoi he was takign wickets at 18 and still, when he came into the test side he was about as useful as a chocolate teapot. When was the last time he had a good game for england? anybody? he had that one game against Pakistan at Old Trafford, but that was 2 years ago and apart from that hes done precious little in tests since 2005. hes just not good enough.
England lack cutting edge 1:04pm on 14 Jul 2008 Monty shows no desire what so ever to try to develop a ball that goes the other way or any real variations. Does he not see that he is not improving at all despite having played international cricket regularly for well over two years.
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thats just not true. hes spoken quite openly about him trying to develop a doosra, but you can't just throw it in in a match. Saqlain Mustaq developed his for SIX YEARS before unleashing it in a test.
Fielding drills pay dividends for England 03:36am on 13 Jul 2008 18 - thats the only issue i have problems with regardig Ambrose's keeping; hes a fantastic keeper but for whatever reason seems to stand a yard or two further back than needs be. Otherwise, hes the best keeper/bat we've had since Stewart (although Read is a far superior glovesman)
Spare a thought for Collingwood 03:38am on 12 Jul 2008 which idiots keep pickign Prior to come back? as a specialist bat, i have no problems with it, but as a keeper? c'mon, the man made GoJo look good, thats how bad he was.
First day to the hosts 03:23am on 12 Jul 2008 Let's face it- it was a great series because both sides had frailties and it led to unpredictable moments of drama. It was not a test series that could've gone either way. Australia were very lucky not to have lost it 3-1, and that series score wouldn't have flattered us. If we'd picked Thorpe for the series instead of Ian Bell at that stage we might have won even more convincingly.
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as much as i admire thorpe, people always forget the massive impact Bell had on that series. he may not have done much with the bat, but his catchign at short leg was exceptional, taking more than his fair share of very difficult catches, off people like Langer who were wll set.
First day to the hosts 03:15am on 12 Jul 2008 The idea being advanced by some that a winning side should not be changed in any cirumstances is nonsense. You play the strongest side available to you, and can anyone seriously argue that a side with a fully fit Andrew Flintoff is not stronger than one without him. No! The question is who should he replace.
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No, the question is, has he proved that he is fully fit and can carry the full workload of a bowler in a 4 man attack? the answer is quite clearly 'no'.
First day to the hosts 08:24am on 11 Jul 2008 Ramprakash's runs can no longer be ignored, especially as vaughan continually fails with the bat. Strauss is a more than able skipper in Vaughan?s absence.
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sorry, what runs? a year ago, you'd have a case, but as soon as he hit 99 centuries, he started choking and the runs stopped coming. his runs don't need to be ignored, theyre just not there.
First day to the hosts 11:02pm on 10 Jul 2008 Even if we forget about Vaughan's record as captain and concentrate on his batting. Sinnce coming back from injury he averages 41.69. in the 5 series since his return he has averaged 62.75, 49.16, 35.83, 20.50 and 50.00. Thats one poor series, an average one in SL (where everyone was average) and 3 pretty damn good ones.

In that same period Collignwood - a player i much admire - averages 35.50. Bell, a man with great talent, averages 35.87. Clearly, if any batsmen are under pressure, its these two. likewise, if there places ARE under pressure, it should be from someone like Owais Shah, not Flintoff who has shown less form with the bat in the this time period than Tuffers after a bender. If Flintoff is to come in - and has he proven that he can operate fully as part of a 4 man attack? - it must be for a bowler.

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