The Ashes Tour 2009

With 50 days to go, Australia have named their 16-man squad, as follows:

Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, Phillip Hughes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Graham Manou, Andrew McDonald, Marcus North, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson

No huge surprise there - only thing I would say is that the English may prefer facing Andrew McDonald to Andrew Symonds. I have to say, it's pretty much the squad I predicted they'd pick, save for McDonald coming over as a second all-rounder, I really thought they'd pick another batsman for the future like Callum Ferguson or even give Brad Hodge another chance, or go with Symonds and Watson.

Nice squad there. I am sure Hodge would have added more value than McDonald. He has not done wonders ever since his test debut but his seam bowling and control might have tilted it in his favour.

Relatively inexperienced team which makes England firm favourites. I am backing them to win and regain the Ashes this time around. Australia won't give up wihtout a fight and I'd dearly love to see Michael Vaughan in that English squad.

England - firm favorites? Far from it Dips. Yes, it won't be anything like the previous Ashes, but you can't say England are the favorites.

I don't think McDonald will get a game that easily. They will play without a spinner and Huaritz will have to warm the benches. North, Katich and Clarke should be good enough for the spin duties.

Phil Hughes will be a real bonus for the Aussies. He has scored millions this County season and England will regret it in the years to come.

Katich
Hughes
Ponting
Clarke
Hussey
North
Haddin
Johnson
Lee
Clark
Siddle

Originally posted by zuhair_abbasi England - firm favorites? Far from it Dips. Yes, it won't be anything like the previous Ashes, but you can't say England are the favorites. I don't think McDonald will get a game that easily. They will play without a spinner and Huaritz will have to warm the benches. North, Katich and Clarke should be good enough for the spin duties. Phil Hughes will be a real bonus for the Aussies. He has scored millions this County season and England will regret it in the years to come. Katich Hughes Ponting Clarke Hussey North Haddin Johnson Lee Clark Siddle

Good team there Zuhair. Dips is absolutely nuts to call England firm favourites, it wasn't that long ago that they were losing to W.I. KP has mediocre form of late, Strauss looks like a guy who would crumble against tough opponents, Collingwood is hot and cold and blokes like Onions and Anderson are either untested or inconsistent.

My biggest problem with the Aussie selection is McDonald. He is primarily a bowler, so having him there along side 5 test class fast bowlers seems superfluous. Hauritz will only play if Watson gets a game I think, and unfortunately that would be at North's expense.

I think the team that Zuhair picked will be the one playing in the 1st test, with exception to any injuries before the series. Batting til 9 virtually with Johnson and Lee at 8 and 9, both capable with the bat and Lee did quite well with the bat in 05.  4 very good, capable quicks. All very different bowlers, but only Lee out of those extracts a reasonable amount of swing, although Johnson is improving in that realm. While the steadiness of Clark, the pace of Lee and Johnson - plus the fact Johnson is left handed, and the consistent effort + economy of Siddle will be refreshing. North, Clarke and Katich will all play minor roles with the ball.
Hughes, Katich and Ponting in the top 3 looks fantastic, and a middle order of Hussey, Clarke and North is not too shabby - an inform Hussey will make a huge difference. Hussey was excellent in the last Ashes here in Australia and while he hasn't played a test in England, he has played ODIs there and has a fantastic County record.

Australia are the favourites here according to the bookies, only slightly, but still favourites. Australia are slightly ahead in my opinion, calling England firm favourites is the kind of comment you expect from someone who knows nothing about cricket.

Swann will be the key but he won't be as effective as he was against a bunch of guys not interested in serious cricket.

England have a problem in the middle order and one should not look much into Bopara's heroics. I do not rule out Bell or Vaughan being recalled in the 34d or 4th test.

Their bowling looks decent though. Anderson, Broad and Swann are good enough bowlers. Flintoff will remain vulnerable because of his fitness. Aussies look a much more settled team for my likings.

I hope there is an Ashes competition which went really good for me last year and I won the 1st prize. Looking forward to it again. JP?

Fair call but I expect England to deliver the goods this time. It will be interesting to see how Lee goes about after playing loads of T20 cricket and without much practice in the longer version of the game. Plus the whole squad will be tired after playing the T20 World Cup while most of the English faces will be fresh. And there won't be any Shane Warne around to mesmerize the batsmen this time round either.

Australia will depend heavily on Ponting, Katich, Clarke, Hussey, Lee and Johnson while England have played well as a unit. England certainly looking a lot better than the Australians.

If anybody thinks KP is in tremendous nick then you'd be kidding, he's not playing at his best. I've seen Ponting pull off hundreds and he's playing far from his best. WI wasn't a huge test, yet KP didn't do enough.
Strauss has hot and cold patches. He gets his tons in batches and then has a bit of a drought.

Dips comments are quite frankly ridiculous. Yer, obviously the Aussies will be way more tired than the English players *rolls eyes*

Cool down milky. Dips comments might be optimistic but not ridiculous mate. He has his own reasonings. come ashes and we will get to know. It is too early to predict the margins, but England are not winning the Ashes for sure.

Lets wait for the Australia Pakistan series then. Will be interesting..

Which they are no doubt. But Pakistan will have support of Sam any day.

Originally posted by milkman If anybody thinks KP is in tremendous nick then you'd be kidding, he's not playing at his best. I've seen Ponting pull off hundreds and he's playing far from his best. WI wasn't a huge test, yet KP didn't do enough. Strauss has hot and cold patches. He gets his tons in batches and then has a bit of a drought. Dips comments are quite frankly ridiculous. Yer, obviously the Aussies will be way more tired than the English players *rolls eyes*

Hey MiNi, when you are finished belittling Dips for daring to have a different opinion to yours, perhaps you could enlighten us on the relevance of Pietersen's current form (which is fine, incidentally) to a series that doesn't start for 6 weeks?

For someone who apparently suffers prolonged droughts, it's interesting to note that Strauss has a better hundreds to Tests ratio than anyone in the Australian team excluding Ponting, who is only marginally better. I'm sure Mike Hussey and Clarke would love some of Strauss' "droughts".

A passionate Aussie over there. Well milkman I am not underestimating the Aussies one bit and I know they will not give up without a fight. Australian team looks balanced but the English team looks stronger.

Strauss and Cook have been in great touch and Bopara has been a revelation of late. KP can change a match on his own any day and has just shown glimpses of returning to form. Collingwood's a fighter and Prior has been ever-consistent with the bat and if Flintoff is fit and raring to go then god save the Aussies.

Swann has done wonders ever since he has come into the test team and is more than a handy bat lower down. Anderson and Broad have relished the opportunity to bowl with the new red cherry and Onions has bowled his heart out and has had a dream debut.

England will have fresh faces in Cook, Strauss, Flintoff(if fit), Prior and Onions while Australia will have only Hughes and Katich.


Edited by dips_december - 20 May 2009 at 2:35pm

If Flintoff is fit, and is managing to make runs England looks 5 times better. Flintoff just gives this wonderful balance that's hard to beat, a guy like Bresnan is never going to be in his class. Onions is still inexperienced, but anyone who can get wickets on debut from the get go has some sort of talent. The English bowling attack is a whole different make up to what the Aussies have seen before. Obviously Anderson has played against Australia, but the likes of Onions, Bresnan, Swann, Sidebottom, Broad don't have much/if any experience against Australia. I dare say that this isn't the worst thing. Simon Jones hit Australia like a ton of bricks, and we had only seen him very, very briefly in Brisbane back in 2002/3 before he got injured. Jones was for England, what Bond was for NZ when playing Australia. I still don't understand why I can't criticise the English batting line up. The way they batted in WI was appalling, and all of a sudden Bopara gets runs and England have this amazing line up? Surely not. Pietersen is in okay form, sure, but I have to concede he will lift somewhat when the Aussies go to England. Whether or not he'll get runs will depend on how well he can handle the pace. Warne got him a few times bowled and LBW in 05, but there's no one close to Warne's ability in the Aussie attack. Collingwood and Strauss to me, this is my opinion, don't ostracise me for saying this, but they aren't very consistent. Collingwood had 2 amazing tests against Australia in 07, then the last 3 games he did nothing. I think that kind of emphasises how he plays.

Hundreds to half century ratio doesn't always mean the world. Strauss is a fantastic player, but I think he's suspect against good fast bowling, as are all players and he will be tested. That's what I mean. I really do think it will be the young guys that will shine for England. Cook and Bopara will make a lot of runs, if anything more than guys like KP and Strauss.

My money is on Australia, because I think on paper they have a stronger side. I don't think spin will play a huge part, and Giles who was in England's winning side in 05 was handy, but not matchwinning. Swann will be decent, he has a wonderful style, and Australia's performance against good finger spin has been extremely poor. So perhaps there will be more influence then I think with regard to spin. An England attack of Hoggard, Sidebottom, Onions and Anderson would look quite special + thrown in Broad and a fit Flintoff.


Edited by milkman - 20 May 2009 at 2:52pm

That's what the English selectors have said. I think they were unfair.. he has great shape.

Peter Moores' biggest contribution to English cricket has been ending Hoggard's international career.