The Ashes Tour 2009

Dont gimme Dont gimme aah damn it...Dean Jones speaking for ganguly when he got plumb in front vs Pakistan in Karachi test of 2006

Looks like I'm the resident doomlord on this one then

Funny thing is, over the years I've developed a habit for optimism when it comes to English cricket - which is normally spectacularly misplaced but never mind.

My belief that England will be slaughtered this summer is just that - genuine belief - rather than unwarranted pessimism or a desire to be contrary.

Just want to be clear on that

I do acknowledge, however, that if Jimmy Anderson is now genuinely the real deal that could be enough to swing it (as it were) if he has a fit Flintoff backing him up.

I'm willing to put 50p on this if anyone really wants to put their money where their mouth is.

great, no need to bother playing the series now after such a scientific analysis.

I can see why google is excited, the only bare option for the Aussies is in the spin department!  Panesar should now migrate to Aussies are try paying someone to be his grandmother over there.

Nah, in Australia we have this dodgy game called "Aussie Rules" football. You can play with 14 men, so I guess he thought it was the same

Originally posted by Sledger Anybody told the kid that only eleven can play ?

haha pretty sure i know that ;)

Just doing an analysis of the best in the aussie squad. Ive been waiting for the ashes for years

Originally posted by DontGoogleMe Pfft, aus have got this easy. We have the whole package, minus spin. Lets look at the top order: Phil Hughes: Youngest player ever to score a centure in both innings. And that was against South Africa, the second best side in the world. Simon Katich: First Aus opener since M.Taylor to carry his bat the entire innings Ricky Ponting: Need i say more? Not as good as he used to be but still a force to be reckoned with Then we've got the middle order: Michael Clarke: Averages a bit under 50 plus has some handy left arm finger spinners Michael Hussey: "Mr Cricket". Due for some good form, so watch out! Marcus North: Scored a century on debut plus has some good spin up his sleve. Proven in first class. Shane Watson: His test record doesnt do him justice. He would be a very good all rounder if he could just stop getting injured. If he doesnt get injured this tour he'll do good. Andrew McDonald: Bowling allrounder who was very good in south africa at tieing up one end while the strike bowlers do their work at the other. Minus the 3rd test he performed well in SA Now the tail: Stuart Clark: He was the bowler of the series last ashes, and has an average of 22.96. Bit risky though since hes just coming out of injury Brett Lee: Extremely fast man who can swing it both ways. Same as Clark, bit risky coming out of injury. Have to wait and see Peter Siddle: Did anyone else see the wicket agains SA where he ripped the middle stump right out of the ground, securing chain and all? Ben Hilfenhaus: Dont know much about him, cept hes supposed to be a swing bowler, so he should do good in english conditions, if he gets a game that is. Weve got better Mitchell Johnson: People say Dale Steyne is the best fast bowler in the world. I beg to differ. Bowles fast, aggressivly and is starting to swing it around. Plus hes might as well have made 2 centuries (99* and a centure). Nathan Hauritz: Hmm, only good thing i can see about him being in the squad is it kept Brice McGain from getting in. *shudders at the memory of the last test in SA*. So thats pretty much why Aus will win

If England play Prior then the same can be said about them. I dare say Paul Collingwood looks better behind the stumps !!!

Look Google, Australia is very strong on paper. We lack a good spinner, I think you can get away with it more easily in test cricket because variety tends to be more handy in situations where you wish to stem the momentum, which is an issue in the shorter format. However, England are sporting a reasonably strong batting line up and I feel Hauritz's conservative and defensive style is not going to cause England a hell of a lot of issues. On the flipside, I feel Swann will cause Australia some headaches because there is this unusual weakness that Australian batsmen have against finger spin  - be it Paul Harris, Johan Thrower, Singh, Panesar, Vettori... you name it. Swann will be a key player and I also think he'll play a role with the bat, because I feel that both teams will rely on their lower order a great deal. Swann , Pietersen and a fit Flintoff are 3 of the main players and an in form and confident Bopara will make things even more testing for Australia. If Clark and Siddle are on song alongside Johnson then one thinks the England top order will face a few headaches, and I hope that the wickets won't be as flat as they were in the last Ashes for the sake of both fast bowling attacks. I can defintely see Watson being picked ahead of North if Australia choose to play Hauritz. Watson's batting is good enough for the no.6 or 7 spot and his bowling would be handy.
It will be interesting to see if Katich does a lot of bowling. Apparently he gets a bit stiff in the back when bowling too much, but he has a very good style for a part timer and there's a lot of Michael Bevan about him with regard to his effectiveness. If Simon Katich can do some bowling along with Hauritz and Clarke then I think we'll have a little bit extra variety. Albeit, Ponting is the least imaginative captain when it comes to bowling changes - the complete opposite to Stephen Waugh, that's for sure.
Would have loved to see Krejza play. He has a poor first class record and he played in England before in the County stuff and did poorly and that would have contributed to his exclusion, but I think he's one of those players that just lifts to the occasion when it comes to tests and he's a hell of a lot more aggresive. While the poor treatment of Beau Casson the chinamen bowler has not helped Australia one bit.

Yer he got pushed out, but really it was because he got injured and just couldn't regain his touch - it happens, and that fact was that he was in his mid 30s too. MacGill was expensive, but he ripped them so far and had some really good variation and drift. My biggest criticism of him was that he had less control than desirable and that his line was always middle stump, but a leg stump like would have been much better for getting the nicks and the bowleds with his kinda spin. We definitely miss him and he'd still be around I reckon if it wasn't for that poor show against SL at home and then that WI series in WI. 

Originally posted by milkman Yer he got pushed out, but really it was because he got injured and just couldn't regain his touch - it happens, and that fact was that he was in his mid 30s too. MacGill was expensive, but he ripped them so far and had some really good variation and drift. My biggest criticism of him was that he had less control than desirable and that his line was always middle stump, but a leg stump like would have been much better for getting the nicks and the bowleds with his kinda spin. We definitely miss him and he'd still be around I reckon if it wasn't for that poor show against SL at home and then that WI series in WI

Well, maybe, it was always hard to see another spinner getting in the show when you had the incumbent Mcgrath plus there was Jason Gillespie who was wonderful before the Ashes 05 and Kasprowicz was playing well too.  I think during that 05 Ashes though, MacGill and Warne should have been playing together seeing McGrath was the only performing pace man so it wouldn't have hurt to lose the services of Gillespie, Kasprowicz, Tait.

I did enjoy watching MacGill too, had a wonderful googly that had some sharp dip and spin.

Edited by spin wizard - 11 June 2009 at 3:32pm

Those are terrific stats, strike rate better than Warne`s own but I think MacGill benefited a lot with Warne from the other end, meaning he always had to up his game if he had to stick around.  MacGill looked a slacker to me and I don`t think he would have been the same without the competition - it`s just my feeling, I would never be certain of it though, his time is up.

Edited by spin wizard - 11 June 2009 at 8:21pm

Originally posted by betterpolo 208 wickets at 29, strike rate of 54. If he was English he'd be one of our all-time greats!

200 wickets is a mean feat BP - he's probably in our top 10 highest wicket taking bowlers. He's going to stick around in history as they guy playing opposite Warney.

Can't see him playing all 5 tests though...he doesn't have it in him now..