Ashes Cricket in England 2013

[JohnK]

Something I do not quite understand.

Australia has the better bowling attack. England is supposed to have the better batting line up.

In this series England has not passed 400 once. Is this the second time Australia has done it?

And the scoring rate of Australia this whole series has been excellent and England has been lagging behind.

Who is leading 3-0 again? I think the inconsistency of Australia is shining through.

This match looks to be a tame draw.

 

[TonyHancock]

Something I do not quite understand.

Australia has the better bowling attack. England is supposed to have the better batting line up.

In this series England has not passed 400 once. Is this the second time Australia has done it?

And the scoring rate of Australia this whole series has been excellent and England has been lagging behind.

Who is leading 3-0 again? I think the inconsistency of Australia is shining through.

This match looks to be a tame draw.

To be honest neither team has looked particularly strong consistently, we have seen flashes of excellence from individuals, and when it has come to the crunch moments it has been England that has performed.

Might be close in Australia if England's top order continues to under perform.

 

[SeatBackForward]

So apparently Pietersen said to Clarke "you're the captain and nobody likes you".

 

[drross]

Wow. That's a really serious/damaging sledge!!! How could anyone recover from that?

 

[Rallo]

So apparently Pietersen said to Clarke "you're the captain and nobody likes you".

Bit rich from ol KP considering he gave away tips to the opposition about his captain at the time .
Tony Greig had a crack at David Hookes once Hookes responded at least he was playing for his own country.

 

[Shelf]

Something I do not quite understand.

Australia has the better bowling attack. England is supposed to have the better batting line up.

In this series England has not passed 400 once. Is this the second time Australia has done it?

And the scoring rate of Australia this whole series has been excellent and England has been lagging behind.

Who is leading 3-0 again? I think the inconsistency of Australia is shining through.

This match looks to be a tame draw.

If the Sherminator wasn't playing I think we'd have a different series.

 

[QF WP]

Hmmm, great to see that the Aussies cleaned up the Poms and had a healthy lead.

Not sure about this Australian idea to try and get 200+ and try and get the Poms out in a session. Think that is as likely as a 5 wicket haul by Kerrigan.

Get some practice for the 20/20 and One Day series to come.

 

[turtlemichael]

With 30 overs to go and after a "brave" declaration by Clarke, England are playing it wisely and are unlikely to lose from here. A win or a draw coming up. The Aussies have been outplayed and out-captained.

 

[whatmeworry]

I heard there is some punter out there that bet England would not win the series by more then 2 1/2 wins... They must be sweating.

 

[QF WP]

England reached 5/206, so at 5 an over they played it well - without calculating the exact amount of runs they required,

 

[JohnK]

Interesting finish to the match.

I am not sure I agree with sporting declarations. In the end bad light saved us from going down 4-0.

Also I think England were down on the ropes and now they have confidence back again. Never give a sucker an even break....

 

[Pushka]

Interesting finish to the match.

I am not sure I agree with sporting declarations. In the end bad light saved us from going down 4-0.

Also I think England were down on the ropes and now they have confidence back again. Never give a sucker an even break....

England have been doing just fine for the last few years. This test they introduced 2 inexperienced bowlers. That's the only reason they didn't play so well this time. Sadly nothing to do with Australian talent.

 

[JohnK]

England have been doing just fine for the last few years.

They have the same problems as Australia.

A fickle batting line up and if not for Bell this series would have been in trouble.

Lets not forget our fickle batting order has been scoring at a better rate than England the whole series and 377 in this test was their highest innings total.

 

[Pushka]

They have the same problems as Australia.

A fickle batting line up and if not for Bell this series would have been in trouble.

Lets not forget our fickle batting order has been scoring at a better rate than England the whole series and 377 in this test was their highest innings total.

It was a dead rubber. England didn't really care all that much. Our fickle batting order is still fickle and you will find that except for this last innings, it is mostly the middle - lower end making all the runs.

 

[Warks]

Interesting finish to the match.

I am not sure I agree with sporting declarations. In the end bad light saved us from going down 4-0.

Also I think England were down on the ropes and now they have confidence back again. Never give a sucker an even break....

Agreed, while it was sporting of Clarke, realistically if the Poms got into trouble they were always just going to put up the shutters and block it out. To bowl a team out in 44 overs hours on a road was an impossible ask. If it was a turner and we had a spinner a bit better than Lyon then it might have been game on.

I think this didn't help our confidence as you said. If we'd just drawn the game it would have been dull but we could have said "we woulda won it" which we can't say now. It was only ever going to be a manufactured result of course after yesterday was lost.

It wasn't a 3-0 series but that's what's on the scoreboard so we have to suck it up. What it shows is that England isn't that great - certainly not as good as the team that toured here last time - but Australia has a lot of work to do and don't appear to be getting any better soon. The return series will have plenty of interest though but if Aus is 2-0 down after two Tests people will turn off in droves.

This article on Cricinfo sums up the problems in Australia cricket rather well. The rot starts at the top.
Jarrod Kimber: Australia's era of decline | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[QF WP]

Agreed, while it was sporting of Clarke, realistically if the Poms got into trouble they were always just going to put up the shutters and block it out. To bowl a team out in 44 hours on a road was an impossible ask.

I hope you meant overs - that was always going to be a tall order - apart from England trying to chase the total an dcrush us 4-0. God, I hope we could bowl them out in 44 hours - imagine the score

The return series will have plenty of interest though but if Aus is 2-0 down after two Tests people will turn off in droves.

Well, it won't bother me as I'll be at the first Test. I think on home soil the mindset might be different at least we'll expect a result from the Gabba pitch (usually in 4 days)

This article on Cricinfo sums up the problems in Australia cricket rather well. The rot starts at the top.
Jarrod Kimber: Australia's era of decline | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo

Brilliant article!

 

[whatmeworry]

What was with the fireworks at the end? Does every sporting event now need them?
England players can't find a toilet?
England players urinate on the Oval

 

[QF WP]

The first I've heard of it - that was done in poor taste. I'm sure that with clearer heads, they would not do it again. Sure they were a long way from the nearest toilets after a ton of lagers, but still...

 

[samh004]

What was with the fireworks at the end? Does every sporting event now need them?
England players can't find a toilet?
England players urinate on the Oval

That headline doesn't match the story, as far as I can see...

 

[QF WP]

samh004, from the beginning it reads:

LONDON: England have celebrated their third successive Ashes series win by urinating on The Oval pitch in a distasteful postscript to a thrilling finale.

Four hours after England cemented their 3-0 series triumph, players moved their post-match party from the dressing rooms to the centre of the field just behind the wicket.

Around 11.30pm, several players including Stuart Broad and Kevin Pietersen took it in turns to get up from where they were sitting and wander over to relieve themselves on the pitch.

You speed reading too fast??