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

Tell you what, I watched "Hidden Ashes" last night, I'd recorded it on playTV from ch5 a few weeks ago. One person I really miss, and I say this as an England supporter, is Brett Lee- every match he plays in seems to end up being special. And aside from that, like Flintoff, he's a top bloke on and off the pitch. It'll be great when he comes back.

Having said that, I also really miss Warnie, Langer, Hayden, McGrath and Gilchrist for the same reasons. It's been a good series so far in Cricket terms, but it's not quite the same without the old Aussie luminaries.
 
CGrieves said:
Exactly, and Pietersen hasn't exactly shone with the willow, has he?!

Bell, on form, is an awesome batsman, and a joy to watch, not to mention an excellent fielder. I think he deserves another chance.
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Agreed.

wohoo said:
KP, despite his crap form, still is averaging around 50? we need players of his calibre in and around the team.I'd have Bell in place of Bopara, who has looked a bit lost imo.
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Scored 153 @ 38 in 4 innnings on flat batting tracks. Hardly great is it? Bell, for all his problems, never had issues scoring runs on good batting tracks like we have nowadays. He got dropped after the first test against the West Indies and I'd bet any money he'd have scored as many as Bopara did on the wickets they played in on the remaining games.

CGrieves said:
Tell you what, I watched "Hidden Ashes" last night, I'd recorded it on playTV from ch5 a few weeks ago. One person I really miss, and I say this as an England supporter, is Brett Lee- every match he plays in seems to end up being special. And aside from that, like Flintoff, he's a top bloke on and off the pitch. It'll be great when he comes back.

Having said that, I also really miss Warnie, Langer, Hayden, McGrath and Gilchrist for the same reasons. It's been a good series so far in Cricket terms, but it's not quite the same without the old Aussie luminaries.
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I miss Lee - bar the odd spell he'd usually go for 5 an over :D
 
CGrieves said:
Exactly, and Pietersen hasn't exactly shone with the willow, has he?!
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Even though he's blatently been carrying around an injury he's still averaged out as one of the better batsman. Just because his form's been poor recently doesn't mean it's crap compared to those around him, but merely to his own very high standards.

I thought that England would be battered next test due to an Aussie reaction, this injury has really helped them.
 
The hidden ashes is funny, some people seem to think the last ashes was 2005.. no no no... :p

It shows you how well we played in 2005 with australia having all of the "invincibles" - bar mcgrath for a few...

Still any ashes win is a great win so even an australia without them, beating them will be class!
 
CGrieves said:
Let's not forget Anderson, eh? Yes Freddie lifts the team and got a 5-for, but Anderson's first innings bowling was superb, and his batting at the tail was inspirational. I think he really could mature into a decent all-rounder.
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I'm glad someone else made this point before me. Flintoff will get all the plaudits because he did it in the last innings, and he's "Freddie", but Anderson has been better over both tests. He had a poor second innings, but has otherwise been superb, both with the ball and the bat. Very impressed with him right now.
 
Oh dear KP out...not good for England...big big blow for them as he can be pretty destructive with the bat but then hes been injured for some time so hasnt really played all that well tbqh.
So i guess that means Bell will make his way into the squad now??..who knows he might just turn up with the bat and make some decent scores but wouldnt put any money on his doing so:p.

Hughes might be dropped and Watson to take his place..shame really as hes a decent batsman but hasnt stepped up to the plate when opening and Aussies need a good opening pair...Katich has been superb whereas Hughes has been a flop...surprised they havent considered dropping Hussey as hes been pretty terrible with the bat...made a half century in the last test but hasnt been consistant enough for my liking.

Am hoping Lee makes it back as without him, the Aussie bowling lineup looks decidedly average.
 
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Especially when Anderson used to be useless with the bat.

Pietersen missing the series is a blow and I'm sure the Aussies will see this as a boost for them, but Bell has been good for form and I'm sure he can come in and play well...

Pietersen hasn't been fully fit for a while now so it's not that unexpected and England haven't been getting the best from him so It's not the end of the world
 
Spawn said:
Oh dear KP out...not good for England...big big blow for them as he can be pretty destructive with the bat but then hes been injured for some time so hasnt really played all that well tbqh.
So i guess that means Bell will make his way into the squad now??..who knows he might just turn up with the bat and make some decent scores but wouldnt put any money on his doing so:p.
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Aye, he does only make runs against poor bowling attacks:
v Pakistan:
M I Runs HS Ave 100 50
7 13 688 119 68.80 4 2
 
KP out definitely isn't good for us. Bell will have to score runs now! Australia will fancy their chances now.

And I'm also impressed with Anderson. Nice tidy bowler doing his work and contributing with some runs. Impressive work from an underrated bowler who seems to be improving all the time. :)
 
I am not a big Ian Bell fan but I hope I am proved wrong and he comes in and scores lots of runs. Bad news losing KP but I think not having him in the team will do good. I have heard a number of people saying he should be dropped due to his carelessness at times but now the rest of the players will have to step up and perform without him.
 
We can get by without KP (we have so far really) and Bell's in fair form, if we were to lose both Freddie & KP it would be a different matter.
 
KP hasnt been in the Ashes so far, so him out isn't a big thing so far... Obviously his presence will be missed and the fact he is a class batsman and when fit could easily torment the Aussies at any given time...

But Bell has to come in and do well now, he will know it's a great chance for him and the fact he is in form will be a plus for us...

Bit of hype on the news like
 
Got tickets for the 5th day earlier but what a shambles the booking service is.

Dad doesn't have internet access and wanted to go, so he rang the ashes ticket hotline which was on the ECB website, no luck, they told him to ring Edgbaston. Rang Edgbaston and he was told they can't book it over the phone, you have to use the internet to book it.

I get on the website, there's 4 of us wanting to go, so I signed up an account under my name, and one under my dad's and ordered 2 tickets on each (max 2 tickets per booking :rolleyes::confused:), one account got an email with the e-ticket to print off at home, one didn't, and I can't find anywhere on the Edgbaston website with any sort of help..

Was looking forward to this but I'm rather narked now. Might not even get any play either, Edgbaston's not famous for 5-dayers is it?
 
oli collett said:
Aye, he does only make runs against poor bowling attacks:
v Pakistan:
M I Runs HS Ave 100 50
7 13 688 119 68.80 4 2
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Just a shame that he cant make any decent sort of runs against a better bowling attack, which doesnt help his chances of making the side;)...hell even i could make decent runs against the Pak bowling line up:p:D.
 
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