The Ashes

england have to go all out for attack at brisbane. that means a four man pace attack (jones and harmison are hungry, though inexperienced) and we migth have to risk flintoff.

but i reckon it could be 4-1. we needed Thorpe in the middle order really. there won't be a draw (unless the weather comes in).

also, I'll be watching (unless I fall asleep) the whole of the first day's play seeing as Sky have so thoughtfully put it on.

Chris - isn't it Harmison who has shin splints? Bottom line - no chance of winning obv, but possibly 3-0 sounds reasonable. We absolutely must not LOSE at Brisbane to give ourselves any chance in this series. Hoggard - it's not clear how his style will be suited to dry fast wickets, I suspect he'll have to raise his accuracy substantially to avoid being carted all over by Ponting, Hayden, Gilchrist etc. The big problem for us is fitness - Gough will go home without playing, and there's little chance of Jones, Flintoff, Harmison, White all staying fit. We have no spinners either. On the plus side I DO think Trescothick, Vaughan, Butcher etc will get enough runs to avoid total humiliation.

yes, Harmison that's the one.

I think Bribane could be a weather assisted draw, and I honestly think we may just win one, as usual though it'll probably be when we've lost the Ashes.....again.

Giles will play as spinner, but let's face it, he won't be a match winner will he? more likely he'll be used as a holding player to keep the aussie riuns down.

hate to be parroting shane warne but i'm predicting a 5-0 shutout. hope i'm wrong but the aussies were absolutely awesome in pakistan last month (second-string opposition notwithstanding).

and doesn't Shane look bloody thin?

apparently he's re-learned his top spin bowling and it's better than ever. There were good peices on him (and the one on sledging) in the Times on Sunday and the Observer yesterday.

I get very upset when England's football team do poorly, but our getting thrashed at cricket is just funny. Partly because it's a stupid sport anyway (waddaya mean, let's play for five days?), and partly because we get thrashed by our former colonies. It's even better when they're not white, but the thrashing we'll get from Australia will be amusing anyway.

England team: N Hussain (capt), ME Trescothick, MP Vaughan, MA Butcher, JP Crawley, AJ Stewart (wkt), C White, SP Jones, AF Giles, AR Caddick, MJ Hoggard.

Well, they've got the 4 quicks and a spinner, and theoretically the batting line-up is strong (how I wish Thorpe was there though). Am not feeling too confident but I don't think we'll get gubbed.

This is the best team they cd put out, I suppose, given that Flintoff is out. The pressure on Hoggard and Caddick to be accurate if we bowl first is immense. I really hope that Jones can surprise them with his pace, but I doubt it. Crawley needs runs badly. Having seen the team on paper I don't feel too bad about this - I agree that we prolly won't get humped.

Jones is Jonnies tip for stardom, I've seen very littlke of him so far so I'll be scrutinising him intensely.

Did you see him in his appearance v India? Looked quick, but only really had a short ball to the ribs as a weapon, which the Indians didn't handle well. Can't see the Aussies worrying too much. He batted well also, albeit in a village green stylee.

Bosko Balaban Stats For Season

Name Bosko Balaban
Team Aston Villa
Total Appearances 0
Starts 0
Substituted 0
Total Minutes Played 0
Avg Minutes Played Per Start 0
Goals 0
Avg Goal Mins When Starting 0.0
Avg Mins Played/Goal Scored 0
Goals Scored As Sub 0
Number of Bookings 0
Total Booking Minutes 0
Avg Bookings Per Start 0
Number of Red Cards 0
Total Red Card Minutes 0
Avg Red Cards Per Start 0
Avg Booking Minutes When Starting 0.0