Re: SUPER ENGLAND ASHES TOUR : Fri Dec 31, 2010 10:14 am  

JonM wrote:

Yup - my mistake. It was Perth in 93 when they last lost by an innings, to the West Indies. And having had a quick look on cricinfo, I can't find any previous home series against anybody where Australia have had two innings defeats.

That's right, it's never happened in a home series.

Obviously their great team of recent years ago has now broken up, but to make matters worse their best/most accomplished remaining players are the four who have been in the team longest: Ponting, Hussey, Katich, Clarke - and the first three are now all aged over 35. Of those four only Hussey has done himself justice in this series; the other three have been plagued by injuries and/or loss of form. I think that's probably the biggest single factor in the sheer margins of our two victories. With their veterans available and on form they ought to remain competitive in most matches for a little while longer.

That linked article from the Australian Daily Telegraph is absolutely hilarious. The bloke could barely have been wider of the mark if he'd tried! His email address might not be on there but you can still leave comments on the paper's website.

Re: SUPER ENGLAND ASHES TOUR : Fri Dec 31, 2010 11:05 am  

Asim wrote: It was all down to me, me, meeeeee says KP. i just read that when i was walking the dog - i suspect the headline is a little harsh, and that he means had he not forced the issue over moores we'd not have been in the position which we are currently

Asim wrote: It was all down to me, me, meeeeee says KP. i just read that when i was walking the dog - i suspect the headline is a little harsh, and that he means had he not forced the issue over moores we'd not have been in the position which we are currently

Re: SUPER ENGLAND ASHES TOUR : Fri Dec 31, 2010 12:10 pm  

Asim wrote: It was all down to me, me, meeeeee says KP. Not the brightest move by KP to come out with these comments in public, but what he says is pretty much right. He is never a captain, Moores is never an international coach, England would have suffered.

Asim wrote: It was all down to me, me, meeeeee says KP. Not the brightest move by KP to come out with these comments in public, but what he says is pretty much right. He is never a captain, Moores is never an international coach, England would have suffered.

Re: SUPER ENGLAND ASHES TOUR : Fri Dec 31, 2010 4:44 pm  

Prince of Denmark wrote:

That's right, it's never happened in a home series.

Obviously their great team of recent years ago has now broken up, but to make matters worse their best/most accomplished remaining players are the four who have been in the team longest: Ponting, Hussey, Katich, Clarke - and the first three are now all aged over 35. Of those four only Hussey has done himself justice in this series; the other three have been plagued by injuries and/or loss of form. I think that's probably the biggest single factor in the sheer margins of our two victories. With their veterans available and on form they ought to remain competitive in most matches for a little while longer.

This is a worry for the Aussies and why they are in a worse position than they were in 1986/87 when we last won the Ashes down under. Back then we were pretty dominant over them until the final Test, but the Aussie team was basically a young team high on talent low on experience: it had guys like David Boon, Geoff Marsh, Dean Jones, Steve Waugh, Merv Hughes, Bruce Reid. In future years these guys were all going to have Ashes fun at England's expense. I think even at the time, the Aussies had high hopes for these guys, but I just don't see it in this current crop of Aussies once you take out the four names above, Phillip Hughes is basically a guy with a dodgy technique and a great eye, well we tried Kim Barnett back in the 1980s and top Test bowlers found him out, Phillip Hughes is running out of chances (or maybe given the state of cricket in Australia, he isn't).

The Aussie team to me now has the same sort of signs as the West Indies in the late 1990s, when they had Lara there and there were still a few guys like Adams, Ambrose and Walsh to make them a competitive unit but already they became a team you could beat even with those guys in the team, and when they went they just became easy beats.

I reckon this next decade will be the decade in which South Africa emerge as the game's leading force, and the big tussles will be them and India who will be formidable at home. I actually don't think it would be a bad thing for the game if India become the dominant Test side because if the Indian public are fixed on Test cricket then it will guarantee Test cricket a healthy future.

Re: SUPER ENGLAND ASHES TOUR : Fri Dec 31, 2010 4:59 pm  

sally cinnamon wrote:

.

I reckon this next decade will be the decade in which South Africa emerge as the game's leading force, and the big tussles will be them and India who will be formidable at home. I actually don't think it would be a bad thing for the game if India become the dominant Test side because if the Indian public are fixed on Test cricket then it will guarantee Test cricket a healthy future.

Surely India are set for a low period, once Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman are gone??....Coupled with the fact that their bowling is heavily dependent on Zaheer Khan and Harbahjan, then it makes India very vulnerable. They have always been reliant on home advantage, only very recently have they begun to travel well.

Our biggest mistake is that we always schedule our home series with India for late summer....Imagine if we took them on in early summer??....They wouldn't get over 200 in any of their innings!!

I agree that the South Africans will remain strong and competitive, but to be honest it looks like we are about to enter a period where there isn't one particular dominant side....We have the potential, because at last it looks like we have a little depth to our bowling, but even with that, we lack a true world-class bowler in the Holding/Marshall/Warne/McGrath mould.

Re: SUPER ENGLAND ASHES TOUR : Fri Dec 31, 2010 6:41 pm  

General Zod. wrote:

Of course it's fantastic that the team have humiliated Australia, but the truth is that this Australian side is a total embarrassment of a test team - they're absolutely shocking.

Whether that's true or not, and I think Prince of Denmark has a pretty fair assessment there, does it matter? Some of the English sides that the Aussies have rolled over have been utterly woeful - did that stop them crowing about it? Did it balls. It's about time we had a chance to crow in the same way.

Asim wrote:

Ponting is out of the Sydney test, don't think the Aussies have another test series until late next year so that could be it for him.

That'd be such a pity.

Re: SUPER ENGLAND ASHES TOUR : Fri Dec 31, 2010 7:00 pm  

Dita's Slot Meter wrote:

Surely India are set for a low period, once Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman are gone??....Coupled with the fact that their bowling is heavily dependent on Zaheer Khan and Harbahjan, then it makes India very vulnerable. They have always been reliant on home advantage, only very recently have they begun to travel well.

It all depends on the younger players waiting in the wings. Personally I have no knowledge of Indian domestic cricket; I haven't a clue as to the sort of players who may be waiting to emerge. Does anyone else on here have any awareness of potential replacements for the current greats from within the most populous nation that plays Test cricket?

SA, like WI during their great years, seem bereft of a decent spinner. Steyn & Morkel are world class fast bowlers, but Kallis & Boucher will take some replacing as all-rounder & keeper-batsman.

England seem well placed to become the best-balanced Test team for all conditions with decent alternatives in the key positions. Cook will eventually succeed Strauss as captain; Morgan, Bopara, Carberry, Gale, Hildreth and others (Jason Roy will be a superstar) should be good enough to sustain the batting.

We already have good seam bowling reserves; James Harris of Glamorgan is my tip to be next to make an impact - he's got star quality, tends to knock over several wickets in quick time, and he can bat at 8 and field well to boot. Panesar & Rashid are adequate back-up to Swann; Rashid ought eventually to usurp the nine years older Swann as premier spinner and is a better batsman. Steve Davies is a more talented batsman and better wicketkeeper than Prior; but I like Prior's belligerence & chutzpah, his experience and presence shouldn't be discarded lightly, and he should play a key role for at least another two or three years yet.

Re: SUPER ENGLAND ASHES TOUR : Sun Jan 02, 2011 11:58 am  

sally cinnamon wrote:

I reckon this next decade will be the decade in which South Africa emerge as the game's leading force.

the england (in name) team is full of them so they must be pretty good

Re: SUPER ENGLAND ASHES TOUR : Sun Jan 02, 2011 9:45 pm  

Cloudy with a bit of rain around in Sydney this morning.

Hopefully we'll win the toss and get stuck into them.

Re: SUPER ENGLAND ASHES TOUR : Sun Jan 02, 2011 11:03 pm  

Asim wrote:

Cloudy with a bit of rain around in Sydney this morning.

Hopefully we'll win the toss and get stuck into them.

Aussies win the toss and bat, the sky doesn't look as bad as the forecast I was given by a mate in Sydney.