* * * The Ashes - Official Thread * * *

[vegster]

Lets not rush here, things can turn around quickly and we are not out of the woods yet.We need to bat on and post a lead of 300+ ideally from this position but we could equally be all out for 250. the one thing we do have is TIME.. lets not rush and blow it

 

[Leekbrookgull]

Not convinced that we will 'bat out' tomorrow. Would like to see us get a lead of around 300 that means bat for 75 overs @ 3 an over = 225 + lead of 60 gives us 285. However it would mean we would have an hour+ with fresh bowlers against players that have been in the field all day,plus a 'decent' new ball on day three. The other option surely is bat as long as you can for hopefully 500+ ?

 

[highway61]

for me its a case of putting day one out of our minds. start tonight as if day one of the test and at end of the days play, if still batting then look at the bigger picture. sometimes having other game plans in your mind can just hamper things and its very early in the test

 

[larus]

I only saw the first session last night so can't comment on how well we batted/they bowled, however, bearing in mind that we are in front with all wickets, they are caught. They can't just defend, but they can't go for all out attack. I can see us batting all day tomorrow and most of Tues as well. There's no real pressue on us at the moment, so unless there's a dramtic turn-around in the first hour tomorrow, the pressure is going to constantly mount on the Aussies. There's the chance that they may become demoralised in the field, and therefore lack that extra yard of pace.

For most of this series we've been the dominant team. THey had one good day at Brisbane, then 3 good days at Perth. Apart from that, it's been a fairly dominant performance from England, and I honestly can't see anything to suggest anything is going to change.

 

[spring hall convert]

Surely we bat as long as we can?

Or at least until an hour before the end of play on day 3. We've got the best spinner in the world up our sleeve so have nothing to worry about if the pitch starts to wear day 4/5. Bat them totally out of the game if we can.

You know full well it's what the Aussie's would do to us.

 

[severnside gull]

Lets not rush here, things can turn around quickly and we are not out of the woods yet.We need to bat on and post a lead of 300+ ideally from this position but we could equally be all out for 250. the one thing we do have is TIME.. lets not rush and blow it

there speaks the voice of common sense

 

[highway61]

there speaks the voice of common sense

am with you there mate, these recent years we have seen some huge turnarounds in the course of one or two sessions. I think we ought be in a winning position but cricket of all games can really be a roller-coaster.Same with football At one stage today West ham had drifted to 8-1 in running when 1-0 down and look what happened there! was lucky to throw a quid on it and by time i got home it was 1-2 at half time. if we bat sensibly but with positive intent we can be well placed at end of the day (As we are now of course, i agree). And NO i am not having a quid on current price of Australia 12/1 lol

 

[highway61]

These odds are interesting, clearly the two in bat now have to be favourites for top scorers this innings but the others do look tempting especially if we have a wobble in middle order. Must say Bell at 20/1 is good

Top England score this innings
Batsman
5/6 Alastair Cook
6/4 Andrew Strauss
12/1 Kevin Pietersen
12/1 Jonathan Trott
20/1 Ian Bell
25/1 Paul Collingwood
33/1 Matt Prior

 

[highway61]

I have to say that despite appreciating that Tony Grieg has pretty much been a full time convict since the Packer Years, it still grates with me listening to an ex-England captain having a near orgasm when "his" Aussie team do something good, which thus far has been pretty f***ing rare

 

[Stumpy Tim]

For most of this series we've been the dominant team. THey had one good day at Brisbane, then 3 good days at Perth. Apart from that, it's been a fairly dominant performance from England, and I honestly can't see anything to suggest anything is going to change.

Erm... They had two good days in Brisbane, we had three. We dicked them in Adelaide, they dicked us in Perth. It's been more even than the media (on both sides of the world) have given credit for. The momentum was with Australia going into this test, which makes Englands performance even more remarkable. A lot of credit has to go to Flower and Strauss for focusing the teams mind on the job

 

[Barrel of Fun]

Stumpy, is the cricket available on 'free to view' TV in Australia?

 

[8ace]

Stumpy, is the cricket available on 'free to view' TV in Australia?

Yes, Channel 9.

 

[ryeseagull]

I agree with the TMS commentators that the idea of momentum in a series is nonsense.

 

[8ace]

http://a.yfrog.com/img618/6639/9n0l.jpg

 

[medicine man]

Aggers says it's raining...

 

[medicine man]

Aggers says it's now stopped

 

[severnside gull]

due to start on time in about quarter of an hour

 

[Beach Hut]

Rubbish, first ball just bowled

 

[Lady Whistledown]

We've had one great day, and are in a position of great potential but it's no use if we lose concentration & cave in for 250.

So I'll worry about what point we declare when we're in a position where it's an option and not before...

 

[Beach Hut]

We've had one great day, and are in a position of great potential but it's no use if we lose concentration & cave in for 250.

So I'll worry about what point we declare when we're in a position where it's an option and not before...

I think any score 300 plus will be enough to win