posted Feb 12, 2007

Yes, too much losing drives the fans to manic depressive levels of highs and lows.

Or at least going on the performance of some of the English fans and media it does.

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posted Feb 12, 2007

England went to Australia considered one of the best test sides and worst one-day sides in the game. The test series was expected to be close and nobody really gave us much hope in the one-dayers.

By the end of the tour, we have been whitewashed in the tests, yet win the one-day tournament. It just shows how fickle this game of cricket can be.

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posted Feb 12, 2007

killjoys

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posted Feb 12, 2007

I think this tour proves how mismatched schedules can cost a side a series because of severe underpreperation

The cycle of trashing, denial, recovery, getting back to being, competitive, express freely

It took nearly three months for this squad to go through that cycle

ICC should identify top 5 'tough' tours and lay down minimum preperation requirements

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posted Feb 12, 2007

Surely the English squad and management, having toured Australia once or twice in the past and having played a bit of cricket in the past....

....can take responsibility for their own preparation? And if they lose partially as a result of being undercooked, well...that too is their responsibility.

These are experienced professionals after all...

The implication that this is the reason they lost the Ashes...well...sounds like you are still in denial there...

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posted Feb 12, 2007

actually...should rephrase that...

...the implication med-pacer that it was not the english teams responsibility that they lost the ashes, due to being underprepared...is what I was taking exception to.

You got to do what R. Ponting did yesterday...own up to your errors without excuses.

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posted Feb 12, 2007

I think accepting underpreperation lead to poor play is accepting the errors

they can always lapse in a one day game or Test Match session, the trick is to stay in condition once you climb back on

Ponting saw that lapse and quickly owned up, that is because this is a conditioned side

England's case is different and I agree England came in undercooked on a wave of hype. Coupled with selection howlers they have paid for all that dearly

to revive from that mess showed a bit of class that should be applauded

The faults are quite obvious

Be watchful and prepare well for tough tours like

Aus in Aus
SA in SA
Pak in Pak
SL in SL and
Ind in Ind

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posted Feb 12, 2007

MED-PACER DOES ARGUE A GOOD CASE. BUT LIKE ANY TRUE FAN IS ALSO DISMAYED! ROASTEDTOE IS RIGHT TO
POINT OUT THE ISSUES OF RESPONSIBILTY ON PREPARATION. THE OZZIES WERE OVER-COOKED FOR THE
SERIES IN 05 AFTER CHANNELLING ALL THERE EFFORTS IN BEATING INDIA (AWAY)AND COMING WITH THE "OH ITS ONLY ENGLAND" ATTITUDE. BUT TAKE NOTHING AWAY FROM THEM. THEY WAS SO FIRED UP FOR THIS SERIS AND IT SHOWED. FOR ONCE McGRATH'S PREDICTION WAS CORRECT(5-0).

MEDIA HYPERMIANA IS THE TRUE EVIL!!

ON WHICH I WILL LEAVE ON THIS NOTE-

GOUTHY OR BROAD TO MAKE THE SQUADE OH AND JACK RUSSEL TO DON THE GLOVES!!!!!!!!!!!

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posted Feb 13, 2007

I agree that we should never enter a tour under prepared, also the selection process shouldn't hinder a team. For an England fan it's hard to stomach.
Whether the outcome of the Ashes would have changed I doubt it, but it would have made us competetive and much harder to beat. Well done Oz for an exceptional series of cricket, where once on top you never lifted your foot from the English throats. It's just a shame you didn't get a chance to defeat a form England side... ho hum.

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posted Feb 13, 2007

The three wins in a row over Australia, which we didn't even achieve in summer 2005, just show the importance of confidence and momentum. Australia relaxed slightly and went into squad rotation mode which, with the World Cup so close and with such self-confidence in the side and its reserves, should not really have slowed them. England, in contrast, were on a slight upturn and one win galvanised the team into thinking that more were possible.

It just goes to show that the difference between the top sides is not as great as we like to think and that relaxing, as England found last winter in Pakistan, is a disaster because it is hard to get momentum back.

For Australia this is not (yet) a crisis. But were they to lose in New Zealand with their weakened squad things would get very difficult.

For England it is not a real revival yet. They need to show that they can win consistently and that means, at very least, winning their first three games at the World Cup comfortably and then winning some more games in the super-eight stage.

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