Seagull over NZ said:Lets be positive. Australia are now likely to get in excess of 550 and bat most of day 2. If England can bat really well 1st innings, and there's no reason why they can't as it will still be a flat wicket, hopefully we can get 450/500 ourselves which will take us well into day 4. This won't give the Aussies enough time to set us a target to bowl us out on day 5.
ChapmansThe Saviour said:From what I saw that pitch offered NOTHING for our bowlers BUT after all the talk of setting the tone for the series should Harmison have been given the new ball? He has been wayward for a while and that wide can't have helped. Surely Freddie and Hoggard should have opened for a bit more control?
Not a good first day but we were always going to struggle on a flat pitch with bowlers who just don't look fit.
Jobs for the Boys.Marshy said:The ommision of Panesar is quite frankly staggering considering the summer he had, shows a total lack of belief by the selectors and Fletcher in particular.
Wanderer said:As for Freddy, the man is a genius, a real strike bowler who can change the game with bat or ball, the problem is if the above bowlers don't carry their weight, how long will Freddys fitness last bowling all those extra overs!
A fair assessment. On a flat track like that you need your quickies to be patient and nag away just outside off stump. What you don't need is Harmison charging in at 200 miles and bowling (literally) every other ball about 6 feet wide. And Anderson looked every bit a second rate bowler too. Hoggard bowled alright without looking threatening. Flintoff was the only bowler who looked capable of causing the Aussies any trouble.ChapmansThe Saviour said:From what I saw that pitch offered NOTHING for our bowlers BUT after all the talk of setting the tone for the series should Harmison have been given the new ball? He has been wayward for a while and that wide can't have helped. Surely Freddie and Hoggard should have opened for a bit more control?
Not a good first day but we were always going to struggle on a flat pitch with bowlers who just don't look fit.
It's certainly looking like that. Pick a player who hasn't played a competitive match for 12 months and who didn't play in the last tour warm up match over an in-form spinner.Trigger said:Jobs for the Boys.
dwayne said:As I suspected Australia will murder us
MikeySmall said:The ultimate optimist. This is a batting pitch. As has been said before if we had been put into bat we'd be hoping for a similar score. The Aussies have a fantastic result at the Gabba - a draw here would be a fantastic result.
And you wonder why we are called "Whinging Poms". Get behind the boys (and that includes the albion!!)
Anderson got better as the day went on, near the end he was actually bowling quite a good line and length. I think it just comes down to the fact that they haven't bowled enough overs.Wanderer said:I'm pessimistic because of the way Harmison and Anderson bowled. Harmy was almost always off line and Anderson too short !