Are England suffering jet lag like me?
Jet lag is a very strange thing.
It’s like being on a boat and in my case it tends to come on mid afternoon.
At 2pm at the Gabba I found myself grabbing onto to the banister in our commentary box and not because Steve Harmison’s bowling was depressing me. ...
My GP will be pleased though because a friend of mine who is a regular traveller says keeping off the beer is the quickest way to combat jet lag.
I haven’t been this abstemious since I was 18 (well all right, 16).
The other thing is that it’s broad, beautiful daylight at 6am every morning in this sub tropical city, so I’m wide awake by then and ready to go.
Australians took it almost personally that they lost the Ashes last summer - as if they found it an affront to their masculinity - and they virtually blamed Ricky Ponting as he became the first Aussie captain for 20 years to yield up the famous little urn.
So his exuberant reaction to reaching his century was understandable. Partial redemption, you thought: Total redemption next.
As for Harmison, Ashley Giles told me after play the Durham pacemen wasn’t injured.
So, if England’s prime, strike bowler doesn’t bowl again after 2.10pm in the afternoon and doesn’t take the second new ball, what does that say about his confidence?
England need a fully fit, focused and firing Geordie if they’re to have any chance of retaining the Ashes.
We need to stick by Harmison and the team, remeber in 2005 everybody wrote England of after the first test (Including me)...but look what happened.
Complain about this postIs Harmison the new Gillespie?
all he needs is a mullet haircut cos his bowling is the same as Dizzy's if not worse
Complain about this postI'd love to feel sympathy for you suffering from sleep deprivation but try doing it the dank and drizzly midlands, sitting at work having had no sleep - without anything even vaguely resembling a fond memory of what has caused this terminal tiredness.
Complain about this postOn a bright note though - hopefully by the time I arrive in Melbourne on the 20th of December my body clock will have been turned completely on it's head and synchronised itself with my destination!
Tinkerty - t,
Ed
I agree, but how long can England continue to pick him if he isn't worth his place in the team?
Complain about this postWe had a bad day that's all, we know we can play better than that and we will but Harmison is a concern. If we have a good morning tomorrow the doom and gloom will clear!! C'mon England!
Complain about this postHe's Freddies mate so of course he will be picked, as are Geraint and Ashley. Sadly its becoming farcical and the sooner we pick the team on a level playing field the sooner we will have our best team playing.
Complain about this postMy heart bleeds for you - awake at 6am? God that must be awful for a journo - like being with the rest of the world
Complain about this postStandards have slipped since Troy Cooley left as bowling coach. Who is this Kevin Shine ? What are his international bowling credentials ?
Complain about this postThe ECB should invest in employing Dennis Lillee or Alan Donald - proper quick bowlers who hurt batsman at the highest level.
Flintoff fails to lead!
Complain about this postAll this fuss about Harmison. This is yet another example of Flintoff's leadership failings when the going is tough. It' s easy to lead when things are going well. Not using Harmison with the second new ball was a major failing on Flintoff's part and is not the way to boost a team member's confidence!
In answer to Sam 3:05pm, no Harmison is not the new Gillespie, and never will be. Gillespie was a brilliant test match bowler for a number of years, Harmison has had 2 good series. Gillespie was a consistent wicket taker and has a fantastic test match average in the low to mid twenties for wicket taking. He had one poor series and was dropped, I wonder how long it will take the English selectors to drop Harmison?
Complain about this postDon't even bother blaming England's performance on jet-lag.
Complain about this postYou'll be as bad as the Aussie rugby team who blamed their loss against South Africa in Jo'berg on altitude a decade ago.
Suck it down, the English have been in Oz for a while now - I travel regularly between England and Aus and I know it only takes a week or so to adjust.
hi
cannot believe that in such circumstances such bowlers are saved from embarrasment
Complain about this postsimply put harmison only bowling 12 overs is a disgrace for england and the management of players. it is like england playing a footbal international and not passing the ball to a player becuase his first touch of the ball was not good.
are we playing school cricket with children. stand up and be counted lets fight to the end to ensure we save these ashes and not winge. for me it is quite simple, only way to compete in aussie is a one team and not as individuals and harmison if selected has to bite the bullet and get on with his work or go and see the shrink during drinks for whatever good that is?
i believe that management and captain now has to show their worth to get the team together otherwise they might as well go homw next week....
Bearing in mind the bouncy track,I sugest that England should have gone in with Panessar instead of Anderson. Yes , should have played both spinners.
Complain about this postHoggard,Flintoff,Harmison or Anderson or Mahmood should have been more than enough of a pace attack. Atleast ,with Panessar and Giles could have brought down the run rate .
Yeah. I'm in England and watching the box between midnight and 8am, I've definately got Ashes jet lag. without even getting on a jet!
Complain about this postSorry to my Pommie mates, and I admit to a few, but, as they say. "it's all over Red Rover". Good news for the Pommie cricketers is that this match will be over before lunch on the 4th day, ergo meaning that they'll have time to get up to wonderful Noosa for a day or so and see some of those wonderful Aussie sheilas on the beach. Harmison's first ball of the series was just woeful, and has unfortunately set the tone for the series, I feel. Still, at least the sun shines and the beer is plentiful and cold. As for those sheilas ...
Complain about this postPanesar over Giles!! Harmison needs 2 get his act sorted
Complain about this posteveryone seems to forget that this is just what harmison does... he did this in the local leagues in the north-east of england:
he will be unbelievably bad on one day, but then look like he will take all 10 wickets the next day. you have to take the good with the bad. i have confidence he will come good, its just a matter of time. until then, let ashley giles and jimmy anderson WOW you with their horrific mediocracy !!
Complain about this postI remember saying to a friend a month ago, it would be crazy to take Giles on tour, let alone play him. He did well last ashes, but he hasn't played for a year, how can he be match fit. Harmison and Anderson are not fully fit, they may be better by the 3rd test.
Complain about this postI would have played Panesar, Mhamood and Plunkett. The Aussie crowd would be barracking Monty and Sajid, which would get them playing out of their skins. As it is, Hoggard and Flintoff will have to carry the other bowlers and we will be out there a long time before we get to bat.
Mark get a hotel room with curtains! The sun won`t wake you up then!!
Complain about this postI don't know what the panic is? Okay we didn't bowl well on day one but on that wicket I think England would have took apart the Aussie attack had they batted first and all the flak flying around today would be on the Ancient Aussie's.
It was a fab toss for Ponting to win and as a result they've got the upper hand in this game. Especially with Warney bowling last on this pitch.
But if we bar 'proper' in the first innings there is no reason why we can't get a large score and then we'll see what happens.
Saying that though, would have been good to have our match winner Monty playing.....
Complain about this post"Where have all the flowers gone?
Complain about this postLong time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago
Where have all the flowers gone?
Girls have picked them every one
When will they ever learn? "
Yes, when will they ever learn. ? The English Cricket Management. ? It was always on the cards that English could never produce that 05 summer performance again, and with Giles, Anderson, and Flintoff, out for such an enormous length of time, and Harmison suffering a massive loss of confidence, and the complete loss of Jones, it would need a miracle for the same squad to accomplish anything. I have long said "pick players on form and with a some kind of test experience" even if that means dropping the past 'stalwarts' such as Harmison and Co. Test cricket, especially against the 'old enemy', is not a bed of roses. A team needs to be fit, in form, confident, and determined, to achieve, but this current squad hardly lives up to any of that criteria. ! A bunch of 'out of form crocks' would more aptly decribe them. Harmisons first over said it all, and I was absolutely gutted to witness a test bowler bowl such rubbish. The mistakes by Management have been horrendous, right from the discarding of Strauss as captain, the picking of the squad, the 'dismissal' of Read, the inclusion of Harmison, the dropping of Panesar, the inclusion of Giles, the inclusion of Anderson, the dropping of Mahmood, the list goes on and on. ! Then the call up of Ed Joyce to international cricket against the Australians in Australia. !! OMG. What is wrong with Butcher. ? He has vast experience, and is in incredible form at the moment. ! The team should have been Strauss (capt) Butcher, Bell, Collingwood, Pieterson, Flintoff, Read, Mahmood, Hoggard, Panesar, and either M.Yardy or S. Broad. These should not be in the team at all - Giles, Harmison, Anderson. They do not deserve a place until they prove themselves worthy. I just hope that in the next four days England are not reduced to total rubbish and a complete embarrassment to watch. I, like many others, have been waiting a year for this series and will be devastated if we continue with the same rubbish as on day.1.
Yesterday Harmison lacked all the elements needed to be a great fast bowler: fitness, excellent technique and bags of confidence.
What a great shame because without his pace/bounce England's attack (Flintoff aside) looked as dangerous as old age pensioners bowling dry sponges!
I hope, I really hope - that he comes good otherwise the Aussies are going to dominate, England will be humiliated and what looked like being a fantastic competition a month ago will end up a boring one sided whitewash!
Complain about this postEngland is not suffering Jet lag,
Complain about this postEngland is suffering AUSSIE LAG.
I was confused when Harmy bowled the 1st ball wide.
Complain about this postIts just like what happened in one ODI that Harmy played in at Lords.
Still, its just Day 1, there are 4 other days to play and we have every chance as the Australians have of posting a big total so we cannot be written off just after 1 day with 4 more test matches to play!
where in Monty. I would think he would be the number one choice??? crazy English selectors...
Complain about this postAm I the only one who couldn't give a coin-flip about Mr Pougatch's trials?
I didn't know alcohol could affect jet-lag though; maybe he could do a travel-tips blog instead?
Bring Mark Saggers in from Rodderdam.
Complain about this postMark
You friend is completely wrong. The best way to get over jet lag is to drink your way into a normal circadian rhythm.
Your GP will not mind one bit.
DG
Complain about this postPretty awful first day -- but it IS just the first day.
I just want to point the glorious fact that here in Vancouver on Canada's West Coast, the Ashes matches run from 4 in the afternoon until about midnight. The perfect watching time for a working guy! Keep up the great work TMS
Complain about this postI was staying in the same Sydney hotel as the English team before they left for Adelaide. What a miserable dispirited bunch! When I wished them good luck on the morning of their second day against NSW, the only man to respond with a thank-you was Monty Panesar. The rest looked as though they would rather be somewhere else. OK, they has just lost poor Marcus Trescothick, but just when they were in their greatest need of bucking up and thinking positively, they were almost all giving a vivid demonstration of the power of negative thinking. I'm sorry to say this, but this lot looked beaten before they had even got round to playing a Test I hope against hope that they retain the Ashes, but I don't expect it on this evidence.
Complain about this postTo Sam: I find it offensive to put Harmison in the same class as Jason Gillespie (in his pomp you would pick him ahead of that clown Harmison)
Complain about this postNot sure who to congratulate,the Gabba security or cricket Australia, they seem very keen to subdue any fun.Namely singing , or playing a bugle!!!
Complain about this postNot jealousy is it on the Aussies part ?
Start a Mexican wave and you will get thrown out of the ground as well as having your bugle confiscated!!!
After the media hype of the last Ashes when we won - luckily, the truth will out.
"Top" bowler who can't bowl.
"Top" batsman goes home before the thing starts - surely "management" should have figured that out before and helped the guy.
Sack the coach.
Complain about this postTook losing the Ashes personally? I'm a one eyed Australian supporter, Sydney born and bred, (5th generation) and been watching the game keenly for over 30 years. I cut my teeth on the 78/79 series - watching Australia 6/26 in the first session of the First Test at the Gabba while my best mate's dad, an exile from Southend-on-Sea ran around his lounge room in Sydney doing the happy dance.
The last Ashes series was absolutely fantastic, great cricket, great sportmanship and a great result for the game. So we didn't win - for those that couldn't cope, build a bridge and get over it. THE BETTER TEAM WON!
I'd much rather have that than a one sided series. The image of your Freddie consoling Bing sums it up for me. He's a champion in every sense. The tide of so many matches swung from one side to another from session to session. Ponting held responsible? He held the captaincy, won every series since the Ashes, as well as major awards - he'll do me (apart from his backchat to umpires, not a great role model in that respect) - he still has some maturing to do).
Those yobbos that want to abuse Monty Panesar are all swimming in the shallow end of the gene pool, there's a lot of genuine cricket fans down here that want to see what he can do, show us the Full Monty!
BTW, Don't take the Pom Tonking personally - if we didn't like you and respect you, we wouldn't bother.
Two days do not a series make, here's to a great summer, and great memories.
Mark, enjoying your blog, hope you are on the mend soon mate.
Complain about this postSam, Harmison is no Gillespie...more of a Mick Lewis understudy (remember the AUS V SA one dayer where he went for something like 0-120?)
Harmison wishes he as as good as Gillespie.
Flintoff is the only guy the English seem to have who is not shaken by the crowds...
Us Aussies want Australia to win, but we don't want a pushover. We want more of the fight that was there last year...
C'mon England get in the game.... both sets of fans deserve a better display.
Complain about this postI think we still lack the professionalism of Australia. How long before we flew out did the team meet up? A couple of days? Australia have been working as a team for this for the last 6 weeks. Harmison in the past has admitted that after a series he may not bowl for a couple of months, what professional sport can you perform well at if you don't practice for 2 months. No wonder he has no rhythm. I have always thought that we would struggle in this series because of the lack of Simon Jones, like Flintoff someone who has the bottle for the fight.
Complain about this post"It's only day one...etc, blah, etc".
Oh, so that makes it ok then, does it ?
That's the ruddy problem - you have to want to win, and win from the outset (first ball)...not wake up that desire on day TWO or THREE !!!
Talking of which, they said, "It was only his first ball, on day one"...
So what does the wonder-bowler do for his first over on day TWO?
He bowls wide, FIRST BALL, followed by a couple of byes, then a another WIDE....
Give us a break...he shouldn't have been there in the first place.
AM
Complain about this post(England supporter, working in Perth)
Simply amazing ! Thats all I can say. The Aussie are simply showing us how to play Cricket. There is a long way to go but if this is the sign for things to come then God help us. The Aussies have been working hard towards winning back the Ashes and that is obvious. We (the English) have sat back and once again are relying on the names to make good.
How on earth can you pick Giles to play in a test match when he hasnt played for a year. Monty must wonder what he has done wrong. Was all his effort for nothing ? You pick the team from the players on form, not from those that once upon a time took a wicket or scored some runs....
An interesting comment was made by one of the English commentators today about Harmison. It was
"He is often quoted as saying he would much rather be home watching Newcastle United than play Cricket"
Well if thats the case why not play someone who "loves" his cricket and would rather be on the field giving 200% than in an armchair with a newcastle brown ale in his hand. Dont get me wrong, he is a great bowler when he is on form but when he hits a bump like the last two days he doesnt seem to show any interest in getting over it.
Complain about this postOh for goodness sake - stop bl**dy whingeing.
If the gongs went to people who complained fastest and most unnecessarily - there would be a load of prizes going out to you bunch.
Enjoy the cricket and keep quiet.
Complain about this postChris, forgive me, but arent you whingeing about the whingeing ?
Thats a question by the way, and there is nothing wrong with a hearty discussion. Thats the point of the Blog.......
Complain about this postI want to echo some of the comments that our preperation wasnt good or long enough. we playing the best team in the world, and a couple of games and straight into a test match. we should have travelled to Oz sraight after the champions trophy.
Complain about this postTry this! comparing man for man. In 1 column write England players 1 to 11 and next to it Aussie 1 to 11. Choose the best man for a composite team. I get Strauss, Langer, Ponting, Martyn, Hussey, Flintoff, Gilchrist, Warne, Lee, Clark, McGrath. Thats 9/2 to the Aussies and you hope to retain the Ashes??
Complain about this postAfter yesterday my hopes were dashed and i thought that we may have a chance if; on the second day we bowled them out fairly quickly and cheaply, but what do you get. Another crucile thing was that when we got into bat we stayed there for a fair while and yet again. I had a feeling that mcgrath would strike early though he is that sort of player.
Complain about this postWe will really miss the experience of tres at the top of the batting order and also to give support to the capatain. I personally believe that making freddie the captain was a mistake, and the strauss would of been the better choice. As i think that freddie has to much to think about already, without rallying the troops and setting a good field. Harmison didnt surprise me though; he was out of form and evedently scared as hell and lacking confidence. Most of all simon jones will be missed (so much) he used the old ball and the reverse swing bamboozled the aussies last year and was a major factor in us winning the series.
Giles for me was the correct choice maybe not such a prolific wicket taker but can hold up an end well and batting (which we need now) is well a fair bit better then monty's. Oh and finally, if vaughan is fit for some of the tests then we have the same dilemma as we did for giles limited match fitness and form can we risk dropping a practice batsman for him?
The time has come for drastic changes!! We need stuart broad to come in from the academy as he is the best quick we have in england!!! then we need read and monty in the team for adelaide - the 2 players that warne even said would improve our side who we didn't even pick!! Fletch definitely has favourites no doubt!! maybe he wants to lose 5-0?? monty can take wickets and keep runs down and could prove to be a match winner! and read will not drop as many catches and can bat just as well as geraint if not better! to justify picking giles and geriant they both need scores of 70+ with the bat!!!
Complain about this postPougers,
Complain about this postBalders here...how are you ? Looking very suave at the mic my old Cobber !!! You must give me a call when you are in Sydney [pre-post test] if you have a night free - come over for a BBQ and we'll see just how serious this temporary bout of "abstemiousness" will last !! Take care mate........John
They've been there long enough to have got over it by now. Two or three days should be enough to get over the worst if you look after yourself properly. To get fit enough for a test match I couldn't say.
Adjusting to sleeping at local night time is the best cure. Sometimes a few beers helps you sleep if you aren't tired :)
However, if you don't take care to get over the problem initially, jetlag can hang around for a much longer time. Maybe their schedule was too busy in the first few days?
Complain about this postThey are jaded. They playing too much cricket at the top level. The proliferation of one day tournements means there is no chance to prepare, to aclimatise to the full 5 day test, to build an innings.
Cricket is now played 12 months a year - with no real break - we should remember that players must play often all day for days on end - its not like football where a game lasts only 90 minutes. Poor Marcus - I wonder if his'heart' is simpley saying to him 'enough'
Cricket has to decide whether it wants to be a 5 day game or a one day game - and either way players need to rest, aclimatise and practise if they are to be at their best for big games.
Tell the authorities not to be so greedy for dosh and think the whole thing through based on what a sportsman can realistically do - what is possible for the players.
Whatever happened to a good set of county games as part of a tour? Sure everyone used to look forward to top quality tourists giving local sides a 'crack' - fun for both teams, less pressure, and a chance to settle in to a country.
Sure it might make the cash tills emptier for a while to have fewer 'internationals' - but the more internationals you have the more you cheapen them; and the players just cannot perform at the top of their game day in day out
Complain about this postSport should be fun, not one grind after another.
Australian team just outplayed us. Stop making up excuses. We need to learn to be good sportsman.
Complain about this postEverything's going to pot in this Ashes series so far - Harmison's bowling, Strauss's shot selection, and now...Manish Bhasin's geography.
Normally so assured, he looked a little edgy during last night's highlights programme. None more so than when he tried to show the vewiers the weather forecast for Brisbane using a map from a local newspaper. First he pointed to Perth, then Darwin, hovered over Alice Springs, before eventually settling on the Gabba after the producer had perforated his ear drum with the correct location.
Still I only got a C at GCSE and, like Harmison, I'm sure he'll find his radar - otherwise the Third Test highlights could yet come from Scotland. Maybe he too is a bit jet-lagged?
It could be worse though. Gary Linker could be doing it. Although I heard the reason he wasn't in Australia was because the 23-hour flight wasn't long enough to rehearse all those spontaneous one-liners.
Having just dumped Sky, it's great to see the cricket back on terrestrial though.
Come on England!
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