Cannot say I'm surprised, all the Cricket Experts we have on this board all seemed very confident of easily winning series, very few took into account how woeful we are when we play over there. This is the Poorest Aussie side we are likely to play in a while in their own backyard, still we only need to play out 5 draws to retain ashes :-)
[cite]Posted By: Ketman[/cite]Cannot say I'm surprised, all the Cricket Experts we have on this board all seemed very confident of easily winning series
Did they? I don't remember many 5-0, 4-0 or 4-1 predictions in the 'Ashes predictions' thread. Most of them were 2-1 - I hardly think that counts as being confident of 'easily winning' the Ashes.
Disagree with you there Ketters, I think people on here were confident but I don't think they were confident of easily winning. To win a series over there is extremely tough but I think people have been pointing out that on recent form this is one of the best chances we will have.
However I'm sure one of our Aus based Addicks pointed out before that the criminals hardly ever lose at the Gabba so even on current form this will be a tough opener to the series.
I'm still confident that with our bowling attack and their batting we can get them out for a nice total. There we go I have jinxed it for all of us now!
[cite aria-level=0 aria-posinset=0 aria-setsize=0]Posted By: Ketman[/cite]Cannot say I'm surprised, all the Cricket Experts we have on this board all seemed very confident of easily winning series
Did they? I don't remember many 5-0, 4-0 or 4-1 predictions in the 'Ashes predictions' thread. Most of them were 2-1 - I hardly think that counts as being confident of 'easily winning' the Ashes.
They said 2-1 did they? The thread I was looking at had more saying 3-1 or greater with only 2 our of 18 predicting an Aussie Series win full stop. Hope your not going to be this Grumpy everytime England have a shit day therwise could be a long Winter.
Day one of thirty possible days of cricket and it went to Australia and more specifically Peter Siddle.
Positives:
Bell, Cook, KP.
Negatives:
Several wickets thrown away with rash shots and failure to make the most of the toss.
England should have scored ca 350 on that track, so they've underperformed by around 90 runs, though that's relative to the total that Australia post.
I'd expect the wicket to get a little quicker from here and while that could help some of the Australian stroke makers it should assist our pace bowlers. I'd have liked a wicket before the close but that's life. A quick wicket tomorrow morning and it could change things.
[cite]Posted By: Ketman[/cite]Cannot say I'm surprised, all the Cricket Experts we have on this board all seemed very confident of easily winning series
Did they? I don't remember many 5-0, 4-0 or 4-1 predictions in the 'Ashes predictions' thread. Most of them were 2-1 - I hardly think that counts as being confident of 'easily winning' the Ashes.
They said 2-1 did they? The thread I was looking at had more saying 3-1 or greater with only 2 our of 18 predicting an Aussie Series win full stop. Hope your not going to be this Grumpy everytime England have a shit day therwise could be a long Winter.
LOL - you thought that was 'grumpy'? That response was positively bloody cheerful for me! )
Saw the whole days play. Reckon we are about 100 short, but you never know.
Positives for the rest of the series :-
Siddle apart, their attack looked distinctly average.
Siddle 9 - bowled very well
Hilfenhaus 6 - average
Doherty 6 - average (although decent for a 1st Test)
Johnson 4.5 - like Harmison in later years, but not at his worst. Can't bowl straight & posed no threat.
Even if we lose this game I believe we have a decent chance, if their attack doesn't improve.
[cite]Posted By: Covered End[/cite]Even if we lose this game I believe we have a decent chance, if their attack doesn't improve.
This is a good point. And I am very sure that one of the differences between the two sides is that I am sure that England could come back from going one down; whereas I am pretty sure that, as when Australia go behind, they will find it too difficult to regain the lead they need.
I was there yesterday at the Gabba with a bunch of Aussie mates from my old cricket club and that moment that Siddle got the hat-trick was my most painful moment in sport since Bailey missed the penalty against Swindon.
Their attack is nothing special but Siddle just ploughed through us with aggression and persistence and only Bell ever looked really fluid.
Pietersen is very frustrating, having got to 43 he has got to be looking at a hundred, in the same situation someone like Kallis, Tendulkar or Ponting would have just stayed steady and got the big hundred we so badly needed.
We still lack a middle-order gem - and might see Bell brought to number five and Collingwood to six to alleviate that problem.
I would not be surprised to see Tremlett come in for Finn for the next Test.
Clarke and North gone now too, Finn taking care of Clarke and Swann taking North. Get through these two, Hussey and Haddin, and we are well into theit tail.
And remember Siddle will not bowl like that again (I hope!). The skips are a tough nut to crack at the Gabba. If the result doesn't go England's way, there is still all to play for in the next 4.
Comments
211-7............
will just about take 260 after the hat-trick I thought we wouldnt make 200!
However I'm sure one of our Aus based Addicks pointed out before that the criminals hardly ever lose at the Gabba so even on current form this will be a tough opener to the series.
I'm still confident that with our bowling attack and their batting we can get them out for a nice total. There we go I have jinxed it for all of us now!
73-0, 160 ao
217-2, 348 ao
85-0, 263 ao
103-2, 215 ao
In the recent two match series (which the Aussies lost 2-0) the story was much the same:
87-0, 192 ao
58-0, 223 ao
Like us, their middle order can be brittle and it is no longer a question of who will get a big score for them but whether someone will.
They said 2-1 did they? The thread I was looking at had more saying 3-1 or greater with only 2 our of 18 predicting an Aussie Series win full stop. Hope your not going to be this Grumpy everytime England have a shit day therwise could be a long Winter.
Positives:
Bell, Cook, KP.
Negatives:
Several wickets thrown away with rash shots and failure to make the most of the toss.
England should have scored ca 350 on that track, so they've underperformed by around 90 runs, though that's relative to the total that Australia post.
I'd expect the wicket to get a little quicker from here and while that could help some of the Australian stroke makers it should assist our pace bowlers. I'd have liked a wicket before the close but that's life. A quick wicket tomorrow morning and it could change things.
Positives for the rest of the series :-
Siddle apart, their attack looked distinctly average.
Siddle 9 - bowled very well
Hilfenhaus 6 - average
Doherty 6 - average (although decent for a 1st Test)
Johnson 4.5 - like Harmison in later years, but not at his worst. Can't bowl straight & posed no threat.
Even if we lose this game I believe we have a decent chance, if their attack doesn't improve.
Their attack is nothing special but Siddle just ploughed through us with aggression and persistence and only Bell ever looked really fluid.
Pietersen is very frustrating, having got to 43 he has got to be looking at a hundred, in the same situation someone like Kallis, Tendulkar or Ponting would have just stayed steady and got the big hundred we so badly needed.
We still lack a middle-order gem - and might see Bell brought to number five and Collingwood to six to alleviate that problem.
I would not be surprised to see Tremlett come in for Finn for the next Test.
Had it yesterday through BBC but not getting it today.
And remember Siddle will not bowl like that again (I hope!). The skips are a tough nut to crack at the Gabba. If the result doesn't go England's way, there is still all to play for in the next 4.
147/5