posted Nov 8, 2008

Gooner Sat: < Unlike you guys we got FOUR QUALITY BOWLERS...

So go on then mate, rattle them off, averages and all (you can leave out the mbe's...)... ha ha ha ha

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posted Nov 8, 2008

Mate... you're hopeless. its times like these I'm glad I was born South of the Equator...

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posted Nov 8, 2008

And IM glad you were born South of the equator !

G

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posted Nov 8, 2008

Australia can easily lose the Ashes - If Flintoff is fit

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posted Nov 9, 2008

Basically look at the teams!

Openers: Cook and Strauss vs. Hayden and Katich/Jaques
England win even if Hayden was on better form, especially if Cook can start turning 70’s/80’s into 100’s.

Batsmen: Bell, KP, Colly, Freddie vs. Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, Symonds/Watson
Australia’s strength- England are equal only on best form. KP can match Hussey’s average, but no-one else in the England line up matches Ponting.

Wicket Keeper: Prior/Ambrose vs. Haddin
England win, if, as seems likely, Prior plays.

Spinners: Panesar and KP vs. Krezja?+ White and Symonds? and Katich and Clarke.

Krezja is very expensive, KP and Freddie and Colly will punish him! Australia have more options, but if KP continues his form against South Africa then he’s more than good enough to make England better, such is the gulf between Monty and Krezja.

Bowlers: Harmison, Freddie, Broad and Anderson/Sidebottom and Colly vs. Lee and Johnson and Clark/Siddle and Watson? and Ponting.

England annihilate them! Harmison is more on form than Lee, and Freddie is a class above any of Australia’s others. In the 4th test vs. India they went White, Lee, Johnson, Krezja (+Watson). There’s no way they’ll only have two specialist seamers in England, but they’ll probably only have three, which’ll get Watson the nod over Symonds, what with no medium pacer as good as Colly (sorry Ricky!).

Basically Australia only win on middle order batting, and you know what they say (because it’s true!) you need 20 wickets to win a test match.

So I predict- 2 England wins, 2 draws, 1 Australia win. But it’ll be less close than such a score suggests

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posted Nov 11, 2008

Some of the comments on this blog are truly breathtaking.

As usual, the England team is a complete series of "ifs"

If Cook, Bell, Pietersen, Collingwood, Prior, Harmison, Anderson, Jones, Flintoff, Panesar stay fit and play to the upper limit of their abilities they will probably beat Australia.

However I strongly believe that Australia have far more depth than England and despite the latest setback in India will field a stronger team; the Ashes are still 8-9 months away, and as some of the more sober members of this blog have said, who knows what the teams will be?

I don't think necessarily think Hayden will tour, and Haddin could come under pressure. Clark wasn't fully fit in India and will relish English conditions, Brett Lee is a much better bowler than he was in 2005, the recent series notwithstanding. Spin is a weakness, but Monty Panesar has hardly become Muttiah Muralidaran has he?

The series will be close, and coulkd go either way. Neither team will win easily, despite what the two rent-a-quotes suggest.

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posted Nov 11, 2008

"Clark wasn't fully fit in India and will relish English conditions" - What like last time ?? And its Clarke and he had the same dodgy back aswell.

G

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posted Nov 11, 2008

Grinch, I assume he means Stuart Clark (fast bowler, likened to Glenn McGrath) rather than Michael Clarke...

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posted Apr 16, 2009

Wonder how Botham feels now?

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