Ashes Thread

[Fluffy]

6/72 at lunch

fark me

Clark gets 3 to date

although on replay im not convinced about the 6th - broad but the other 5 were certainties.

We have bowled exceptionally well, hopefully our batsman realise this and dont get scared and England dont get the same weather conditions as it heats up

 

[SilentBob]

Brilliant start.

 

[Fluffy]

Solid starts after lunch, no wickets but Clark still had movement off the seam

glad to see im not the only guy stuck at home watching the cricket instead of being out at his birthday dinner just because the wife is sick Bob.

 

[Fluffy]

Piddle gets another 7/92

lets clean up the tail now boys

 

[Fluffy]

Piddle hits the glove 2 balls later, into the helmet

 

[Fro]

Broad was out, fingers well under the ball

 

[Fluffy]

eitehr way Piddle gets a third and joins ahterton on 20 ducks for England

Warne and McGrath have about 100 betweem them and Steve Waugh is up there as well from memory

so its 8/98 now

hope we can wrap it up for under 150

 

[Fluffy]

Piddle goes for the chin music as well and gets Anderson (such a shame for a man with such a great name)

9/102 now

 

[Fluffy]

Piddle goes for the chin once more and onions gets fried for a duck.

bad call from the umpire as it was off the forearm guard but the bowlers were superb in the firts 35 overs

The batting wont be easy amd barring a cyclone this will be lucky to go 4 days if the bowlers keep up this form on this pitch

 

[SilentBob]

Ahead by 94 after the first day, can't complain with that, thought we were in for a bad day when Bowden turned down the first ball LBW.

Missed the bulk of the Watson/Ponting partnership but caught the end of the days play.

Watson needs to convert these 50's if he wants to hold that spot.

North looked solid enough slow starts seem to be the norm for him.

Clarke living up to his world #3 batsman ranking.

 

[SilentBob]

Another awesome day for Australia, couldn't believe it when I checked the score this morning.

 

[Fluffy]

Med neither Bob and then i had a quick look at the FOW

England were 0/58 after a pretty solid start then hilfy made it 2/58 within 2 balls and they finish at 5/82

The only bets left are will england make lunch tomorrow and that is not looking likely

 

[Fro]

I woke up at about 2:30 to feed the bub, and turned the tv on, it was 0/50 then.

Strauss and Bopara went in 2 balls and Bell looked awful and didnt last long either.

Bopara hit his but tough ****, we have copped the bad ones till now.

 

[Chip and Chase]

I hope the selectors have given themselves a triple uppercut for waiting this long to bring Stuart Clark into the side. Why wasn't he there from Day 1 at Cardiff ?

Let's hope we knock them off in the last test as well so we can actually win the series and not just tie it to retain the urn.

Poms have nothing without Pieterson and Flintoff.

 

[SilentBob]

Nice start, 2 wickets for Hilfenhaus, he deserves a 5fer.

 

[SilentBob]

All over, strong win............ 1-1

Broad and Swann smacked the ball around a bit, zero pressure on the batsmen, bowlers didn't look like they were fully switched on.

 

[Fluffy]

Clark had the worst figures with Johnson and Piddle getting 6, Hilfy getting 5 and clark 3

With a spinner most liekly to come in he is a chance of being dropped one would think, especially with Watson in the side

 

[Chip and Chase]

But Watson has hardly bowled a ball in anger all Test. Given the way the front line bowlers were getting belted around by the English tail you'd expect that Ponting would have thrown him the ball at some point if he was fit.

I hope they don't drop Clark, he proved his worth in that first dig. I wouldn't read too much into his return in the second innings, he was a little wayward and the Poms were just throwing the bat at everything in sight and riding their luck.

Hauritz may be a chance to come in for Hussey though. It does lengthen our tail a little and flies in the face of the convential 4 bowler selection policy that seems to be the norm with the Aussies these days. The Oval tends to be pitch that throws up a lot of draws, so if we want to push for the win then 5 bowlers will give us some flexibility.

Watson
Katich
Ponting
Clarke
North
Haddin
Johnson
Hauritz
Clark
Siddle
Hilfenhaus
 
Alternatively we rely on North, Katich and Clarke for the spin option and stick with the same side. However Ponting has seemed reluctant to use the part time spinners to date.

Anyone think there is a chance that Hussey will get dropped for Phil Hughes and Watson pushed down the order to 5 or 6 ? Poor old Mr Cricket has got to be on shaky ground hasn't he ?

 

[SilentBob]

Can't drop Clark, he was the best bowler in the first innings. The second innings can be disregarded.

 

[Fluffy]

Pwesonally if the pitch looks a bit spin friendly hauritz has to play and id drop Piddle.

His contribution was similar to Clarks and both got smashed in the second, Piddle jsut got the catch first.