The Ashes 2005

There has been some speculation that if Giles isn't fit for the first test, they'll play Peterson as an extra batsman and go in with four bowlers. A risk, but worth some thought. They'll need Giles later in the series though, especially at Old Trafford.

Strauss v McGrath
Flintoff v Warne
Harmison v Hayden

It's going to be fascinating.

i hope the tests are good but i do think england are going to lose the series, hopefully not by too much though...

It makes our middle order look worryingly flimsy, imo.

You may deduce from this that I really don't like Pietersen.

this does seem like the wrong decision but I'm not sure what thorpe was thinking of by saying he'd retire at the end of the summer - just doesn't look good - he had scored a 73 last week for surrey so again form and fitness don't come into this.

hope i'm proved wrong. xp

Tremlett might be a dark horse later in the series.

If we were playing West Indies or New Zealand then sure, but against the line of McGrath (4 maidens in a row in 50 over game) and a fired up Brett Lee...

On the pro side Vaughan should actually start batting now, Tresco's eye is in and the mid-lower's look in ok touch. As ever I think Gilo's got as much to do with the bat as the ball.

Prediction - long and cool drinks, TV outside, Radio, TV and Cricinfo at the the same time, light snacks, heaven.

On Vaughan I agree, he needs consistent runs. I guess Bell is the gritty batsman now. I wonder if he'll bat 3 or 4. I think Vaughan may go in 3.

I feel if we can see off the opening spell we'll do great, if we lose early wickets I think we can recover to post a decent total given the depth of our batting.

And the big question is how well will Warne bowl.

McGrath's line is more of a concern for me in the one-dayers. 4 straight maidens in a test isn't too bad and promotes the best in TMS commentary so it has its upside. I get the feeling, like I do when anyone comes up against the Aussies these days, that it's Englands to lose rather than theirs to win. Their players are so machine-like consistent that its down to the resolve and concentration of their opponents. Hence why I'd like to see Thorpe instead of Pietersen.

Anyway, I predict a 10 wicket haul for Hoggard at Lords.

I can't stand Simon Jones btw (though I liked him when he threw the ball at Hayden), so I hope Tremlett replaces him soon.

Kirtley - honest country pro but only ever a stop-gap. Hayden and Ponting would murder him.

Anderson - needs a season with Lancs. I wouldn't be surprised if he never gets back in actually. His action is terrible.

Kabir Ali - I liked the look of him when he played, but he probably isn't accurate enough for someone of his moderate pace. Could come again.

It looks thin, I agree, and the worry is that with pace bowlers injuries will happen. I think we might be alright in a couple of years with Bresnan (Yorks), Plunkett (Durham), Broad (Leics) and Tremlett as possibles. They have a lot of work to do though. I thought Steve Kirby might make it a couple of years ago, but that looks doubtful now.

aus won the toss and are batting

(Can i suggest you get a job with the Tabloid sports desks)

(guess their webpage is following this one over-by-over)

good hit from harminson!

ok I'll leave it at this -- so if ppl who back read are saying 'give him a good run' in the team to show that he can score runs I'll say the same for jones. Give him time to improve his keeping bcz this guy can bat, is a cool head and he has the temperament for test match cricket.

Who exactly?

I actually think that Harmison deserves some criticism. Since Lords he has been poor for much of the time. The odd decent over (e.g to Langer on Sat afternoon) isn't good enough for someone with his talent. And I still haven't forgiven him for that awful last over at Old Trafford.

also, i think Bell should have at least a couple of less intense series before we should jettison him. that would also give time for some younger players to come through, particularly Alastair Cook, who's been in sparkling form for Essex this summer, with a double century against Australia under his belt already.

are scottish people eligible to play for england?

alistair cook, in sparkling form, yesterday...

he can be the new bruce grobbelaar

That's funny because Rod Marsh said just the opposite on Radio 4. Which makes sense to me. The example he gave was McGrath who could basically not bat at all when he came into the Aus team. Now he can at least defend reasonably and has a test 50. But he said 'try teaching him to keep wicket and you'd get nowhere'. A similar example from England would be Hoggard.

But maybe that's beside the point, as we're really talking about people who are already keeping to a high standard anyway. I'd say that Jones has some coachable faults, like going for the ball one handed, also possibly his feet position. Slightly more worrying is his keeping to the spinners - maybe his reflexes are just not up to it, which no amount of coaching will ever fix. Certainly he looks like he'll never be up to standard of Russell, Knott or even Stewart, who turned out to be a very good keeper in the end. I can remember Russell taking some stumpings off the likes of Tuffnell that were so bloody fast, that you couldn't see what had happened until the slow motion came up. I don't think Jones will ever be able to do that. Russell also used to stand up for the fast-medium bowlers at times, which is pretty amazing. It stops batsmen taking guard outside the crease, which some the Aussies like to do. You wouldn't stand up for Harmison, but you might for Hoggard if the ball's not swinging much.

wow, isn't it funny how much less convincing certain thoughts are when you put them in black and white...

I hope you never meet Rodney Marsh on a dark night

you think this face was an accident? my nose used to be in the middle. all i said was that i thought he was great on Sky Sports Centre with Jeff Stelling.

Re spinners, Panesar's been turning it square all summer, but can't bat. Ian Blackwell is an improving bowler who hits the ball harder than Flintoff and would be a good option for the winter's tests (particularly as his batting prowess means you could easily play Read and bat him at eight, the same applies to Gareth Batty, but he's an inferior batsman to Blackwell).

Harmison's been out of form since Lords, and yet still hasn't been collared. This tells me he's a bloody good bowler, and when he gets his length back, watch out.

(nb, I am not taking the piss!)

Gotta be more agressive too.

I reckon marsh is really going for jones' throat here.

jones didn't go to his academy did he? I remember him talking about how when wktkeeping standards are really good the whole side will field better etc and yet BOTH SIDES have dropped a lot of catches and a lot of no balls were bowled.

Top-class : Russell, Knott, Bob Taylor, late-period Ian Healy, Wasim Bari
Very good : Gilchrist, Boucher, Read, Kartik or P.Patel (India), Sangakara (SL), Rod Marsh, Adam Parore. Late-period Stewart
OK : Jones, McCullum (NZ), Dujon (WI) Jacobs (WI)

x-post : Mooro - if I could draw I would. Maybe if we cross paths at a FAP, I'll demonstrate!

2-1 to England.

-- jel -- (freeduni...) (webmail), June 14th, 2005 8:38 PM.

Well done, England. As much I I enjoyed watching KP falling all over the place at the crease, the sight of Andrew Flintoff falling all over the place today was just as pleasant. Also, the trophy had a dent in it! Perhaps they gave it to Shane Warne to hold.

How long has anthony been into cricket?

I liked the pic of Flintoff on the front page of today's Guardian.

erm what else would you talk about?!?!?!?!

what i like it how it's all reported as "awww, silly freddie all drunk bless him"

had it been say an england football player, it'd have been "OMG WTF WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WTF"

"Victorious sports team go drinking: nothing else has ever happened"

udal (!) is going, read loses out to prior, and that is a shame. Fletcher must have no confidence in him whatsoever.

Hopefully we can put the ashes out of our minds, put out the defence of it in 15 months time and just concentrate on beating pakistan. two more wins and vaughan beats peter may's record for most eng wins.