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

[oli collett]

Probably looking at 280 now Fred's gone!

 

[oli collett]

trott gone. oh dear.

 

[oli collett]

If Swann bowls well, we'll only need 300 by the way this pitch is going.

 

[oli collett]

8 down and I think the Aussies are on top.

It's an odd one, if Swann bowls out of his skin he could knock them over, otherwise I'm not sure how much is really there for the seamers. I'd be a lot happier if we got to 350-400

 

[oli collett]

Pants!

Broad is really stepping up to the plate as a genuine all rounder. Been really impressed with him in this series.

Quite a lot of swing out there by the look of the last delivery!

Quite agree.

332 - 20 short of par?

 

[oli collett]

How's the track looking?

Still deteriorating. Swann was getting a few to turn big and there was some uneven bounce. I think unless Australia get a lead of above 50, we'll be on top here because I wouldn't fancy chasing anything more than 200 on this.

 

[oli collett]

Well I'm a bit gutted I didn't see it all unfold on TV, but at the same time I'll take that result

 

[oli collett]

I agree! Definitely sour grapes. The pitch was good enough for England, so why not Australia?

Mind you, that article only quotes six op ed pieces from four newspapers, which means it's hardly representative of the entire Australian media. The ABC gave a fair write-up, with no blame on the pitch or groundsmen:

I find it bizzare that people complain about a result wicket - yes sometimes it's ridiculous when you get a minefield, but flat batting tracks = boring cricket!

 

[oli collett]

I'd just like to pay tribute to Shane Warne for his performance as a Sky Pundit. I've always thought he was a top bloke, the sort of bloke you'd love to have as a mate, even though he is an Aussie. I thought his comments were always interesting and well informed and totally devoid of any bias, which you could quite easily have forgiven an obviously patriotic Australian for being. Just goes to show the sportsmanship which prevails through cricket by and large. Hats off to Shane Warne, and all the other pundits, it really is a fantasic team they have assembled, even good old Bumble. Almost makes the Sky subscription worthwhile.

I love Warney, but I'm not sure about the bias - remember how he chucked his toys out of the pram about a few LBW decisions? Having said that it made amusing viewing!

I'm not a fan of the Sky commentary team much at all TBH.

You can't beat bumble imo! Plus it's good that they've got rid of Willis. I find Botham is a bit frustrating at times but Athers is excellent.

LOL@ Broad being the next Flintoff...hes good but not that good...not consistant enough for me and unlike Flintoff, he hasnt got the charisma to pick up the team...just having Flintoff in the side made England play much much better imho.

I think comparing Broad to Flintoff is wrong because as you said (and I pointed out a while back in this thread) he hasn't the charisma. He does however have a great deal of ability and in that regard I think he can be a world class player and a match winner. As for consistency, I guess we'll find out in a few years but I think at the moment it's a bit harsh to judge him because he's still a young'un!

 

[oli collett]

Yep. Available in HD on the freeview channel SBS.

Viewing figures were ~14 million, which is quite good for a nation of 20 million people.

~14 million??? For live coverage of this series? That seems crazy!

 

[oli collett]

Another thing about this series, we won 4 out of 5 tosses and I think some people can underestimate the importance of winning the toss. I remember Mike Atherton was (in)famous for his bad luck in losing the toss and I think that is a not insignificant part of the reason he never won the Ashes despite a team I would argue was stronger than today's England side.

Arguably the 5th test and hence the Ashes in 2009 were decided on the flip of a coin, ultimately.

Very true, that was a huge toss to win. I think in 2005 we had similar luck with the coin, although Ponting made that huge mistake to put us into bat which helped!