Ashes in Australia 2013/14

[JohnK]

The top order, starting with Bailey needs to change.

We will need batters in form in South Africa

But that has been our biggest problem in the past couple of years. We do not appear to have anyone that can take over unless you start risking some of the younger ones.

 

[whatmeworry]

Monty striking out on and off the pitch.

Monty Panesar does not seem to be having much success on and off the field. According to a report from British tabloid the Daily Mirror, Panesar had his advances on phone dating app Tinder, spurned by an American backpacker just hours after England slumped to a humiliating defeat in Melbourne.

Read more: Monty Panesar struggling to find form on and off the pitch
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[casanovawa]

We are getting carried away again from one series against a demoralised team.

The simple fact is this demoralised team had Australia in trouble in the first innings at 5-140 or less on 4 occasions and 3-97 on the other occasion. Each time it was Brad Haddin with someone else that has resurrected the innings to a respectable total. The most likely reason this happened is the depth of the English bowling attack and the inability to enforce the huge advantage gained from ripping through the fickle Australian batting line up. And from there the Australian bowlers demolished the demoralised team.

Something tells me though that if Australia is languishing at 5-130 against South Africa they will not go on score 326 in all 3 tests. How will the Australian bowlers then cope with the pressure? Another thing to note is the wickets in South Africa are not as bouncy as Australia. Steyn, Philander and Morkel know how to bowl on them.

Just some thoughts. It will be an interesting series.

I didn't think i was getting carried away at all, in fact i had very little positive to say for the upcoming series and we could easily gloss over some of the underlying issues in this series...

But the youth policy of trying to run older players out of the team without any younger player standing up and earning the spot doesn't always make much sense... Without Haddin this series could have ended very differently... And if Johnson could produce this in the current series, where the hell has been for the last what 6-7 years??? And how sustainable is it?? Fingers crossed but sheesh... Lets hope its not back to 6-12 months ago and the schemozzle it was and a divided dressing room...

 

[JohnK]

I didn't think i was getting carried away at all, in fact i had very little positive to say for the upcoming series and we could easily gloss over some of the underlying issues in this series...

Apologies. You werent getting carried away.

We. Australians, in general, are getting carried away with a series victory against a wounded opponent. We have forgotten all our problems and all of a sudden we are on top of the world again and players likes Hughes, Khawaja etc are going to be able to step in and solve all our batting problems.

 

[TomVexille]

Does he have an average of 0 or no average? It's almost a moral question.

It's no average

 

[QF WP]

Plenty of good stats from this Test series. Wasn't aware of Nathan Lyon, thanks TomVexille, better go and check his average now

If you can find Lyon's batting average for the series please advise (to the nearest integer) ...

I meant his average now, after this Test series - not the average from this Test Series which of course is a misnomer - one needs to get out in a Series to have an average. I note his overall average is now 16.88, so I wonder what it was prior to the Series - I'd have thought ~12

Actually, it was 13.55, so close: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...3;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting

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[Warks]

Well the ODI series looks like going the same way. Isn't it amazing how one day cricket has declined in popularity so quickly. The corresponding game at the MCG (tri-series) used to draw in the order of 80 000 in some years. I heard 35 000 last night. T20 is sucking away the heathens who were ODI fans perhaps. The Test fraternity is rather traditionalist (myself included) and it's still there. Not sure if it's growing though. In an Ashes year all of the grounds get good crowds but against other opponents, including India and SA, only the MCG and SCG pull good crowds and only for the first three days.

 

[JohnK]

T20 is stupid if you are a real cricket follower.

In fact if you have any idea about cricket then T20 is not the game for you.

 

[Pushka]

Hmmmm, hubby knows cricket quite well and loves it. He said a few years ago the only thing to resurrect the ODI's would be to have two 25 overs each, so a mini test situation. The T20 comes close to that. Me? I just go to sleep.

 

[JohnK]

The T20 comes close to that. Me? I just go to sleep.

T20? Waste of time.

Perfect for those that think neknominated is the way to go.

 

[anat0l]

Well the ODI series looks like going the same way.

You must have a bet riding on this.

It's one ODI and the English didn't do so bad in putting up their total for the Aussies to chase. The Aussies didn't chase really hard although they had 5 overs to spare. I'm surprised that they lost 4 wickets to get to the target; perhaps at the end they were being a bit frivolous.

I will submit to the fact that the English attack when it was the Aussies' turn to bat was pretty poor at times.

 

[Warks]

No bets but the resigned way the Poms seemed to play indicated that they are keen to get it over with. Cook getting out in the first over says it all. There's a guy who needs a break.

 

[moa999]

Agreed. Despite Johnson's heroic effort with the ball, I thought Haddin did more to change the momentum of games.

The top order, starting with Bailey needs to change.
We will need batters in form in South Africa

Well the selectors did the correct thing with Bailey.
Query whether Marsh can be said to be in form in FirstClass cricket, albeit two 50s in three days in the one-dayers no doubt helped his selection

 

[QF WP]

Surprised with Mitchell winning the top gong tonight but then again, I'm not Michael Clarke's biggest fan (apart from his choice of partners).

 

[JohnK]

Mitchell Johnson cricketer of the year? Man of the series was bad enough.

Just goes to show the depth of Australian cricket....

 

[Warks]

Mitchell Johnson cricketer of the year? Man of the series was bad enough.

Just goes to show the depth of Australian cricket....

37 wickets not enough for man of the series?

I guess the fact that he didn't play much for the rest of the year should have been taken into account in the award for cricketer of the year. What surprised me is that Haddin wasn't even mentioned. He took a record number of catches in the series in England and was worth at least 50% of the win in Australia.

 

[JohnK]

Man of the series was deserved. I predicted it before the series.

Cricketer of the year? No. As you mention Brad Haddin and Michael Clarke clearly ahead of him.

 

[drron]

Here is something for those that love their cricket-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-xXMHXUMZg#t=24

 

[Warks]

Looks like England should really have enjoyed that win in the dead ODI match in Perth as it might be their only win of the summer.
They lost the meaningless T20 match last night - a slog-a-thon. Amazing how they could almost get back in it late in the game due to short boundaries, poor bowling and Ravi Bopara.

As Geoff Lawson said "it's called cricket, not batting."

 

[turtlemichael]

When a batsman (Bopara) takes guard a metre outside off stump any relationship of this game to cricket disappears. I guess it is fun to watch if you have ADD.