posted Apr 9, 2007

If Vaughan was not captain he would have been dropped already - and the last captain that was picked for that 'skill' alone was Mike Brearley!! He has failed repeatedly with the bat and with Freddie misfiring and no consistent spark throughout the tournament this would be the time when inspirational captaincy would come to the fore.
Unfortunately, it is the same old, same old..... Ian Botham appeared to have the right idea: push Flintoff to open, Pieterson at 3 and Vaughan (if at all) could slot in at 6 or 7!!
The bowling lacks consistency as could be seen by the respective run rates, but lets not fool ourselves - this defeat was down to poor batting by all but KP, Bell and Bopara. Oh yes - and an umpiring decision in the first over that could have made a difference!!!

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Apr 9, 2007

'It is another sport that caters for the cry baby.
The scenes of grown men writhing on the ground from the slightest contact (sometimes no contact at all) speaks volumes of your toughness of mind and body.
Foot juggling is considered a poor subsitute for mens sport.'

OK. So this stuff about men, and men's sports explains quite a bit about your comments now. I'll happily get on with some work now.

Willster

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Apr 9, 2007

jm. Good point about grammar. Sadly, our kids aren't very good at that either!

I don't understand this crit of KP. Surely he isn't responsible for the others losing their wickets? Agree about the other things though. Not sure what is wrong with Flintoff.

Willster (given up work for a bit)

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Apr 9, 2007

kp's innings was a joke, yet again all centred around his own results and not how he can get the most out of his team mates. why he didnt attempt any aggressive stroke play in the later part of his innings, or to control the strike for himself. he carries on when he gets 100 like he had just won the world cup. he is a class batsman and like tendulkar and lara who didnt drag their teams to the top either he will just be another class batsman. look at what border and steve waugh did for the aussies. im afraid its all about kp and thats all.

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Apr 9, 2007

It is lovely to see someone getting behind us; yet again Bowden and Koertzen fail to spot LBW for aussie batsmen and yet again Ponting does the business against us, and yet again the Aussie bowlers fail to tame Pietersen. It was clear that there was no great gulf between the two sides that a bit of luck would not even out; those two bad decisions and the unbelievable Pietersen catch could have changed everything; it is knife edged stuff. Australia look good but they haven't won the tournament yet. A lot of the gloating therefore seems a bit untimely, Bangladesh V South Africa proved that the element of luck is a great leveller.

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Apr 9, 2007

To put things in perspective:
I'm an Italian who lives in South Africa who is a passionate supporter of the Australian cricket team (had been so since 1992, only started watching and understanding cricket since the 1991 World cup).
So emotionally I'm out of this.
I'm annoyed, however, at the way the SA and English fans lash out at their 2 best batsmen, Kallis and KP.
KP: As a neutral, he gave me the clear sensation at a certain point he was primarily aiming for his maiden ton against Australia.
However:
1. Without KP, there would have been no match, so the English fans should be grateful. In fact, without him there would probably be no team.
2. To score at will on that wicket was not easy at all. It was not a case of "I can do it if I just will it". Ponting and Clarke found it difficult, too, and settled for countless one's for many overs. Yet they are big hitters. Symonds did (and almost perished), but by then the match was all but sealed, plus that's the only way he can play and it was senseless to settle down on the wicket and give England a chance to squeeze the rate and get back into the game. In addition, to score big against a rampant attack of Tait Bracken Mc Grath at the death was getting ever more difficult.
3. KP chanced his arm following instinct, at a time it was not needed, and was given an unexpected reprieve by the usually rock-solid fielding of Hayden.
4. Bell "continued chancing his arm?". Bell threw away his wicket with a bad shot against an average Mc Grath delivery. At that time the run rate and the wicket count were ideal. He was not forced to do that `cause KP was scoring slowly. In fact, Bell was always the guy well below a run per ball. It started the rot. KP, at least, protected the wicket after that one injudicious shot. Otherwise, England would have been all out by the 46th over or around that.
5. It is not KP's fault if the others around him were unable to bat. Not his fault if Collingwood and Flintoff collapsed, if the much vaunted Bopara was always far below one run per ball though he had more of the strike; if his dismissal was a soft pass to Hussey's hands; if Nixon's second attempt at "chancing his arm" was poor; if the tail are pathetic and can only last 2 to 5 deliveries on average.
6. Given that, he bagged his ton whilst still making the biggest batting contribution. Human.

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Apr 9, 2007

England blew it when they were 2 for 160 odd after thirty overs and crawled to 248. even if those so-called bad lbw's went England's way Australia still had hodge and hussey to come in. australias batting never really had to get out of second gear. too easy.

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Apr 9, 2007

Boo Hoo "Willster"

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Apr 9, 2007

Hi folks let's not forget the body line and those whom taught the Australians the Technique

add comment | complain about this comment

posted Apr 9, 2007

Having just looked through these posts it becomes clear that willster is a muppet with a chip on his shoulder.
Get over it, your team is not good enough.
By the way, Australians learned whinging from the English, but we are still struggling to match you in that area at least. In almost all other areas we surpass you.
P.S. last game between our two football teams ended Aus 3 Eng 1 Ha ha ha, laughed for a couple of weeks after that.

add comment | complain about this comment