The Ashes 2010/11 in Australia

 It's a big series for both North and Hussey , failure could see them out , but are the replacements going to be better?  Historically Australia have made changes only when someone's injured or desparately out of form (remeber Bevan's problems against the short ball?). England have swapped and changed without much thought a few years back , it smacked of panic and usually led to another horrific defeat.  Atherton said he rarely captained a side where he knew all the player's first names !  

 England have got a stable set up now and the selectors and Flower can take credit for that. If Australia come back from India with a series win Ponting's standing will have gone through the roof and the youngsters will have to wait a while.  Then again , if England get a flyer (and their record in Brisbane is awful!) , get the win , maybe there will be changes , but it's unlikely.
          To be honest I'd be happy for the 1st test to be drawn , but that's rarely happened there , but it can bucket down in Queensland !

The decision to leave light issues to the umpires was a long time coming !  The biggest losers with the old system was the paying public , so many good contests ruined by a stupid rule.
  As for Mebourne being one to win - let's hope the Aussies celebrate Christmas a little too robustly!

I don't agree. It's not a great track for bowling at all. The wicket does nothing for the quicks, and the short side boundaries are easy picking for Aussie batsmen who play better off the back foot. The only reason you see spinners get wickets there is because the pacemen can't, the wicket does turn, but it's slow turn. I think England should seriously consider 2 spinners on that wicket, more so than in Sydney. While Australia has no good spin option quite frankly. Hauritz will do okay against England, but it looks like only the temperamental batsmen of Pakistan can make a bowler look more decent than he is.

Originally posted by milkman I don't agree. It's not a great track for bowling at all.

Just wanted to start talking about the upcoming ashes series. It appears that Australia have already started to prioritise with Bollinger not being risked for the second India test, and Watson, Ponting and Hussey all rested for the pointless one day series. Feel a bit cheated that there is only 2 tests in India, if the first one was anything to go by it would have been a cracker of a full 4 test series. Anyway back to the point. I think Cook is the key to England's success. If he kicks on and Strauss remains prolific, then the whole England batting line up will fire. If England only manage 20-30 opening run partnerships then they will fail. But what does everyone think of Australias new ball attack? The pitches in Australia will be less of an issue than they are in India, to me Australia's fast bowling looked a little toothless, although Johnson actually bowled accurately for a change and had some success.. As far as bowling goes to me Swann is the best spin bowler in the world at the moment, and a pretty potent lower order batsman. He will be the difference as far as the bowling goes, as Finn, Anderson & Broad match Australia for seam up bowling. The old English bowlers problem with length in Australia will be a key issue too, but they have an Aussie bowling coach so maybe that will help. Well that is the end of my spiel I really have no idea what the outcome will be and that makes this upcomimg ashes the most exciting prospect since 2005. So I invite any thoughts?

If Bollinger is fit, he'll play in Bangalore, judging by Ponting's press conference as they're trying to see if he can bowl today. They wouldn't do that if he was resting.

haha, my exact thought Flipper.

Originally posted by milkman I don't think he has any problem playing off his pads and getting out leg before. If anything, it's the way he approaches straight short deliveries, in that he tries to cut them, rather than hook or duck. Thus he gets cramped and gets himself out. He's particularly strong down the ground and through the square boundaries on the off side and he can score fast. I reckon he would make a shedload of runs in the sub continent, and he did very well in SA which is conducive to pace and well in NZ which takes swing bowling well. Like I said, in England, he only batted 3 times and was out on a no ball after getting a solid 30 odd. So he should be given some  slack.

I haven't actually seen him domestically, so I don't know THAT much about his technique, however, the slip chances problem that you mentioned I'd already highlighted.
I'd vote for him going into the test side aswell, haven't actually seen him domestically, so I don't know THAT much about his technique, however, the slip chances problem that you mentioned I'd already highlighted.
I hope he gets another go in the test side soon, I've liked what I've seen and I'd like to see him succeed.

The Aus attack is certainly not that of old, but I wouldn't go so far as toothless!

Originally posted by Max Power The Aus attack is certainly not that of old, but I wouldn't go so far as toothless!

I somewhat disagree with your friends assertion. Although, I must add that Warne's record outside Australia is slightly better than at home. While the wickets here don't turn square, although you can get a bit of turn, the bounce is key. I think someone like Swann who gets a lot of revolutions on the ball could do well in Australia if he can get the ball to get extra bounce. You see spinners get a fair few more bat pad wickets and slip catches, rather than bowled/LBW because of the bounce.
Murali hasn't done well in Australia and that's because he relies a lot on turn and variations with regard to the direction of the turn. Someone like Swann, who works more on minor variations like loop/flight and angles will fair better. I think he's a good shot to do well here, I don't think he will top the bowling charts though, it's always hard work for the spinners in Australia. Even the likes of Kaneria and Kumble, leg spin bowlers, who have done well in Australia still tend to average quite high. 

I don't think he'll do poorly at all, but I can't envisage him averaging in the 20s.

I think it will be a very close contest - hopefully like the 2005 one this time in terms of the results. But from the quality of the game's perspective, it will be nowhere near that of 2005. We don't have the players of caliber of Warne, McGrath, Gillespie, Martyn or Flintoff, Vaughan...
My money is on England winning this one by a close margin. May be 2-1 or if Swann has a dream series which he deserves, could be even 3-1. Australia's best chances are in Brisbane. Sydney and Adelaide - England favorites for sure, but Adelaide generally is crap (500+ pitch). Perth is no more a pitch it was once. So Australia lose some advantage there.

3-1 only if Swann has a dream series Milky. Else it would be something like 2-1. I feel Eng has an advantage in Adelaide because you need quality spinners on such a flat track if at all any team is going to win. And it is England who is having a quality spinner. If Perth had a pitch of 80's and early 90's, I would have thought 2-2. But Perth has lost that pace and bounce.

If Swann doesn't do well, England doesn't stand a chance in Adelaide.  That pitch is very good to bat on, as a bowling team, yo only advantage coming in the first morning and on day 4 and 5 if yo have good spinners.  If yo don't make advantage of those, the batsmen going hammer you around.  I'm even confident that I can make a ton on that pitch!  Remember Redmond having a good time out there as well, as he really was a poor player in my view.