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The Ashes

• Stobsbee 4,784 Posts

  Wed, Jul 10 2013 3:51 PM

  England will be disappointed with the first innings score of 215, especially after winning the toss and choosing to bat first. Good performance from Peter Siddle making excellent use of the overhead conditions for his 5-50. 

  Fine new ball spell from Steven Finn and James Anderson, who combined well to take four wickets. England will fancy their chances of a first innings lead if they can dispose of Steven Smith and Phil Hughes early on day 2, but a lot could depend on whether Stuart Broad will be fit to bowl after his shoulder injury.

  All round, a great start to the series.

   

• scottishbloke 1,277 Posts

  Wed, Jul 10 2013 3:53 PM

  cmon the aussies ;)

• alanti 10,564 Posts

  Wed, Jul 10 2013 4:51 PM

  GRRRR cricket!!!

  Sadly I see this will be a very one sided series, as Australia simply cannot bat well enough.

  Weather will be Australia only hope of avoiding a whitewash IMO.

• quakerdarlo 7,058 Posts

  Wed, Jul 10 2013 6:01 PM

  England will simply stick to their robotic system

  Why they chose to bat first in overcast & humid conditions is unreal.....Home team who shud know conditions better.....too afraid to have to bat last...???

  We brits all know when the weathers fine, test cricket is usually a run feast, cloud cover & humidity changes it so play to your strength,s

  On a lighter note, how good is it to be an opening batsman, out first ball, then sit around for possibly 1 to 2 days, then see it all rained off lol, 5 days pay for 1 minutes work....brilliant :-)

  EDIT

  Instead of seeing them sat on their butts with feet up drinking tea,eating & listening to music, how about their coach sends them for more practice ???

  Just a thought

   

   

   

• Stobsbee 4,784 Posts

  Thu, Jul 11 2013 12:53 PM

  Australian find a new hero in record breaking 19 year old debutant Ashton Agar. Superb batting display to rescue Australian from 117-9 to give them a first innings lead. A little unfortunate that he didn't make a century.

  Match could still go either way, England will be wanting to be close to a 300 lead although I think any score over 270 will be difficult to chase in the final innings.

   

• alanti 10,564 Posts

  Sun, Jul 14 2013 4:46 PM

  Well England won, and not to my surprise but has highlighted again the ridiculous system of the reviews. Either use the technology all the time or not at all..

  Umpires are human (and I know an ex test umpire) and as such mistakes are made,but it is time cricket moved fully with the times. We have professionals who will not walk when they are obviously out (Aussies included - nope, especially Aussies lol) so either they are cheating (oh no, another cheaters threas now) or it simply isn't cricket!

  After all test cricket is not exactly a highlight a minute, so a little extra time would hardly have any impact, apart from less controversy.

   

• Stobsbee 4,784 Posts

  Sun, Jul 14 2013 8:31 PM

  Alan, If you are advocating unlimited reviews then I would not be in favour of that. I think it would be better if they increased the reviews per innings to 4 or possibly 5 from the current 2. If you went with unlimited then I feel that it would slow the game down and we would be in a situation where bowlers would be calling reviews far too often. With a limited number available, especially to the fielding side, it make the captain more cautious in using his allotted number and only calling for a review when really certain the umpire has made the wrong call. Strauss was very good in judging when to review or not and it seems Cook has learnt this well from playing alongside him.

  As for batsmen walking, I kind of agree with one of Australians' favourite people, Geoffrey Boycott, who said in commentary during the 'Broad incident', "A batsman is in until the umpire gives him out" and this was a view backed up by his co-commentator Damien Martyn. 

  Anyway, on to Lords on Thursday for the 2nd test, hope its as good as the 1st.

   

• thebigeasy707 5,885 Posts

  Tue, Jul 16 2013 6:25 AM

  scottishbloke:

  cmon the aussies ;)

  agreed.

  anything but England :)

  however.......England do look the stronger and there's serious divisions in the Australian squad.

   

• Jimbog1964 8,378 Posts

  Tue, Jul 16 2013 6:30 AM

  Tense match and hopefully series, and both sides have their weaknesses / strong points.  The Ashes up for grabs and that contest is mouthwatering.  I live in the great country that is Australia these days and even my kids may support Aussie, BUT it's ENGLAND all the way.

  Funny how kiwi's go for England same as Scot's say anything but England:)

  Great sport above all:)