2009 Ashes Series - England vs. Australia **Spoilers**

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oli collett

oli collett

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Thought I'd start this thread early for a bit of discussion on selection.

Fixtures
  • 1st Test - Wed 8 - Sun 12 July
    Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
  • 2nd Test - Thu 16 - Mon 20 July
    Lord's, London
  • 3rd Test - Thu 30 July - Mon 3 August
    Edgbaston, Birmingham
  • 4th Test - Fri 7 - Tue 11 August
    Headingley, Leeds
  • 5th Test - Thu 20 - Mon 24 August
    Kennington Oval, London

Thoughts on team selection? My 14 would be:
Strauss
Cook
Bopara
Pietersen
Collingwood
Prior
Flintoff
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Onions
Sidebottom
Panesar
Bell

I don't know if anyone else saw Atherton/Langer/Broad/Tresco discussing their 14 yesterday during the lunch break of the test match but they basically came out with a very similar team. Langer thought that England should play only 4 bowlers - we'd certainly have a strong batting lineup but would we be able to bowl Australia out? The two tests against the West Indies might have made our bowling look good but the Australian batting won't be such a pushover. Having said that, having Flintoff come in at 8 with Broad at 9 and Swann at 10 we should be able to put a fair few runs on the board. I might consider Harmison for Sidebottom depending on how the 2 perform in county cricket over the next few weeks.

My prediction: 1-1. I can see a few draws because I don't think either sides bowling attacks are as good as they were 4 years ago and pitches seem to be much flatter now as well (especially Lords). If a team were to win I'd have to go with Australia - they might not be the 2005 side but they've got a lot of talent and we simply don't have the same quality of bowling attack we did 4 years ago.
 
Nursie said:
It's the first ever test to be held at Sofia Gardens as well.:confused:
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I'm baffled by the decision. Haven't been to the ground but from what i've seen it doesn't seem to compare to some of the other grounds.

Trent Bridge has just had a big redevelopment and is a fantstic looking ground - I might be a bit biased since it's now my local ground but Sophia Gardens doesn't look anywhere near as good.

Some capacity info too:
Sophia Gardens - 15,000 (after redevelopment, it was 5500 before)
Edgbaston - 21,000
Headingly - 17,000
Lords - 30,000
Oval - 23,500
Trent Bridge - 17,000
Old Trafford - 19,000

It's great there's been some redevelopment at the ground for this summer but it still seems a farce to me. Neither Trent Bridge or Old Trafford have any tests this summer which seems a shame given their history.

Having said that - playing Swann and Panesar at Cardiff could be a good bet given it's prone to turn at the moment.
 
Mad old tory said:
I wouldn't take much interest in the series in the WI, we were poor in the first test but batted well in the other three, didn't bowl toooo badly either just the pitches were ridiculously flat. The last couple of tests were good news imo as the bowling attack looked much sharper, and substitute Freddie in for Bresnan and it looks stronger again.
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Aye, the Windies tests were meaningless. We lost the series based upon one absolutley shocking session in which we fell apart in the first test while the team were still feeling the aftershock of Pietermooregate. The rest of the series was pointless - I could have scored runs on those wickets.
 
JohnnyG said:
Aussies v the Lions is live on SS1 at the moment, Harmison's bowling really well, bit late though;)
24-2 with Onions just getting Ponting...

I think it's a good move having the first Test in Cardiff, it'll turn there big time and they don't really have a spinner, the stadium will be packed and vociferous and anywhere but Lords for the opener has to be a good idea.

My team would be:

Strauss
Cook
Bopara
KP
Collingwood
Freddie
Prior
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Panesar

Which is the team playing Warwickshire today:)
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I think I'd swap Panesar with Rashid, Monty's really not been bowling well so far this season.

Also, is Sidebottom back in contention? Not sure if i'd play him ahead of Onions, he looks much better now he's back up to bowling in the mid-late 80's. Harmison certainly did look good this morning though - makes it a tough decision on the bowling front!
 
Brett Lee is looking quick this morning! Been up to 93.5mph, quite impressive considering he's only just back from injury.

Having said that - Brett Lee has bowled a lot of pie when he's been over before. In the last series he had a few decent spells (particularly at the Oval) but other than that was not particularly threatening. I think Australia's most penetrating bowler will be Johnston. I'm really looking forward to seeing Johnston vs. Anderson in terms of bowling figures - Anderson's got huge promise and I'd love to see him deliver on an occasion like this. If he can get a few quick wickets early on in the innings it'll make a huge difference.
 
StewartMG said:
I honestly am quite confident about this Ashes considering how poor Australia are at the moment, particularly with the bat with only really Ponting and Hussey world class imo, with Haddin and Clarke up there too. Bowling-wise they are also nowhere near the quality they have been for the last 10 years or so so I'm fairly optimistic :D
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Their batting might not be as good as it was 4 years ago - but ours is hardly any better. Bopara hasn't proved himself at the top level yet and you could argue our only world class batsman are Pietersen and at a push Strauss. Cook does look in good nick though and Collingwood is due runs.

Having said that - Australia's ploy of only playing 4 specialist bowlers could well backfire. If Lee or Clark can't make it through a test match they will have to rely on their part time spinners who I feel could get taken to the cleaners.
 
Squad for the first test for those who haven't already seen it:
Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Matt Prior (wk), Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar.

I thought Harmison would at least get a place in the side, but I suppose with Broad and Flintoff already offering pace and bounce there wasn't really any need for him.
 
Spawn said:
Even i was a bit surprised with that...hes hardly been in good form with the bat...didnt really bat very well against the Aussies last week either...
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He's scored a fair few runs, I think he was averaging over 50 but you're right he didn't do a lot against the Aussies last week.

I still think he's technically the best batsman in England, just hasn't been able to apply himself consistently at the top level. He does get a ridiculous amount of unfounded criticism though, and if you compare his test & ODI record against players we had 10+ years ago he would have been the first name on the teamsheet back then!
 
JohnnyG said:
I think 337-7 isn't a bad days work, could've done with losing 2 less wickets I guess but as KP and Strauss said they'd have taken that at the start of the day considering how badly we've started against them before and that wicket doesn't look like it's going to get any easier to score on.
Bopara looked really nervous, he's very talented but I'm not sure how mentally hard he is.
There was some genuine swing and turn at times too, our bowlers will be delighted to see that:)
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I think Bopara will grow with confidence as the series goes on. It was dissapointing today because he got himself in, like most of the batsman and got himself out. It was almost Bell like in that respect, except Bell doesn't usually look quite as flaky in the rest of his innings!

Gilly said:
I think our bowling attack will fare pretty well on this pitch. We've not set the world alight today but it's by no means a bad first day's work. At three wickets down I feared a terrible start again.
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Agreed. Although Australia have the edge going into tomorrow, if we can get another 75 runs we might well just edge ahead.

I think 2 positives have come out for England:
1) Australia's bowling attack didn't really look that threatening, apart from that spell Siddle had early on in the innings who was unlucky not to pick up a wicket or two. They looked a bit lost when they had to turn to their spin option and without the ball reverse swinging it was pretty comfortable for England until KP got himself out.

2) All the England batsman, bar Cook, got starts and all looked in good touch, apart from perhaps Bopara but he at least did play some nice shots. I can't remember the last time I saw Flintoff bat like that but he looked back to his best - not always pretty or tidy, but simple see it/hit it batting which does the job nicely. Prior also looked excellent - people have questioned whether he could score runs against decent bowling attacks and he did his reputation no harm. If he was a better keeper I'd suggest he'd have the potential to be better than Stewart.
 
Rich_L said:
It's good to see Stuart Broad coming on so well, I think he's going to be a great player for England for a long time, seems to have a excellent attitude and approach to the game, pretty talented with the bat and ball too :)

*edit*
D'oh :p
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I was waiting to post something on those lines! But he does look so good with the bat. You get some bowlers who can bat a bit but then you get someone like Broad who actually looks like he's got the ability to hit test hundreds.

Having Swann come in at 9/10 as well makes England's batting look a lot longer than it is at first glance. Having said that, if Australia had Watson in, they'd have Johnston batting at 9 I think which would be ridiculous!
 
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