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The Ashes - 2010/11

Interesting article - still rate him as the unluckiest cricketer of the decade though. I guess we'll find out the whole story when this generation writes its autobiographies in the next few years.

Speaking of Hodge, I have noticed he's been getting knocked over by the full, inswinging ball in the Big Bash matches I've seen, and has had little impact. Anyway, it's all over for him now (internationally) and it's a shame it played out that way.

So, we're 3-0 up in the one day series :wtf:

I'm not sure where we're at though. England's second choice attack is a few notches down from their top flight bowlers. Yardy is dreadful, and absolutely gifted us that match tonight.

Encouraged by Hussey holding firm while those around him threw their wickets away. I honestly thought we'd lose chasing 4 an over tonight, but the Duss stood up.

'Winning ugly' is better than losing I suppose, but I could easily see England winning three of the last four games.

The biggest shame is, even if we win 7-0, not one person will remember it beyond next week. :borg:
 
Botany Bay said:
The biggest shame is, even if we win 7-0, not one person will remember it beyond next week. :borg:
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It was ever thus for me, though; I struggle to remember which countries were here for some of those tri-series one-dayers back in the day, never mind who won them. The hit 'n' giggle crap is even more meaningless. Deep down England won't really mind how crap they've been so far, even though it's hardly a great World Cup preparation; they won the thing that really matters, after all.

We made far harder work of last night's win than was even remotely necessary. Our World Cup preparation is pretty crap, too.
 
You're right - they've taken home the big prize. I'm sure resting their A grade bolwers at this stage was always part of their (meticulous) plans for this tour.

But winning is a habit - so is losing. England need to pick a better bowling line up before the rot sets in. I'm sure they'd be a little nervous over the form of Pietersen and especially Prior (after dropping Davies for him, who looked a gun in his brief stay on these shores). Collingwood's dismissal in Sydney was probably the worst I have ever seen from an international batsman. Time has marched him by. He is finished, and that Yardy guy is a Ronnie Irani caliber spud.

You've heard me say it over and over : 50 over cricket should be phased out in this country after the World Cup. Certainly a series should be no more than five matches. Seven is really dragging out the torture.

Anyway, happy Australia Day, all. Hopefully we get a more entertaining match for the occasion.
 
I love 50-over cricket and can't stand T20, so I don't mind. At least the long series gives each state the chance to see a game live.

It'd be more interesting if the squad was being rotated, but obviously that won't happen with the WC on the horizon.
 
T20 might be fine for the short attention span generation, but that's about all it has going for it. Anyone who thinks 4s and 6s are what cricket is about hasn't got a clue. Still, it seems there are a lot of people without a clue out there and as long as that's the case and the almighty $$$ is served, there'll be a lot more T20 rubbish about. Such is life. I'm not a huge fan of one-day cricket but I'd rather watch it than any amount of hit 'n' giggle crap.

I didn't see most of yesterday's match; not one of our better efforts, I'm guessing. The Poms had to get their act together eventually, I suppose.
 
Apologies for the double post, but...

Sad to see Nathan Bracken forced into retirement because of that knee injury. Not a great bowler, by any stretch of the imagination, but a damned good one. We could have done with him these past couple of years. It was rather poignant to hear him on Aunty this afternoon, talking about not being able to run around with his kid. Disappointing as it is to see him go out on this note, he has his priorities right. :bolian:
 
Bracken was an incredibly skilful short form bowler. Probably would have played a few more tests had he not come across a rampaging Indian team during his time in the side. He's the sort of guy who should be retained as a bowling coach during our rebuild - he would have plenty to offer, there's no ball he couldn't bowl.

My only complaint - I hated that head band :lol: Enjoy retirement, 'Andy G'.

The domestic 20/20 cricket continues to leave me cold, and the ODI's have been of a very poor standard. Both teams seem content to use it as an extended World Cup warm up - England in particular look like they just want the tour to be all over. I don't blame them - these seven games feel like they're never going to end - who approved this schedule?

We're playing two ODI's a week to accomodate the Big Bash, no doubt. I have no idea what good it would be doing the England team to hang around here when they are probably homesick as hell and want a rest back home before they're off to the World Cup.

They've certainly played themselves into rotten form - it will be intersting to see if they can turn it around.
 
The scheduling is absurd, but the money for the pay cheques these blokes collect has to come from somewhere. The injury toll for both sides is becoming ridiculous, too.

It's interesting that the ratings for these one-dayers have been up (I'd imagine that once the series was decided that would have changed a bit) - the tennis fared quite poorly by comparison, apparently - and the ratings for the hit 'n' giggle crap have been down. It's possible that's because we're playing the Poms, but maybe one day cricket isn't finished yet.

Going on his innings the other night, claims that Michael Clarke is "finished" may have been just a bit premature, too. :p Great win for us.

I haven't noticed that Botham arsewipe screeching about cheating when it involves an England player. Prior knocking off a bail, then appealing for a bowled decision, came a lot closer to that line than Hughes's not even half-baked pseudo-"appeal". Very ordinary stuff from Prior, IMO.

One game to go, and then we can consign this godawful summer to history. Our success in this series has been pleasant but I know which I'd rather we'd won.
 
Orac Zen said:
The injury toll for both sides is becoming ridiculous, too.
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Sure is, but one unintended positive consequence is that Jason Krejza is back in national colours. I had thought he'd had his cards marked, but I'm pleased he's there. He's the best spinner in the country, and I hope he a) plays in the final ODI, b) does well and c) gets a berth at the Cup.

It's interesting that the ratings for these one-dayers have been up (I'd imagine that once the series was decided that would have changed a bit) - the tennis fared quite poorly by comparison, apparently - and the ratings for the hit 'n' giggle crap have been down. It's possible that's because we're playing the Poms, but maybe one day cricket isn't finished yet.
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It will never be finished while Indians still watch it, but I think the crowds over recent seasons in this country suggest it is the third preference for viewing (at the ground at least, I'd put any ratings spike for 50/50 ODI's here down to England playing). But, in NZ, RSA and India, 50/50 ODI's are packed out, and tests sparsely attended. Not sure how it will all play out, but if 20/20 must stay (which it will - IPL is what 99% of future elite cricketers will aspire to be involved in), I hope tests can be preserved, and would not shed to many tears if 50/50 cricket was the format that dropped away to ensure the future of the longest format.

Going on his innings the other night, claims that Michael Clarke is "finished" may have been just a bit premature, too. :p Great win for us.
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One swallow does not a summer make :p. Sound like it was the standout ODI of the summer, and of course, due to other commitments I didn't see a ball of it :rolleyes:

Speaking of Clarke, he seems to have a real feel for rotating the bowlers - especially the spinners. He looks to get the best out of Smith. If we can get 10 quality overs out of Smith, we're suddenly a much better looking side, balance wise, and I think Clarke should take some credit for Smith's considerable improvement over this ODI series.

Can't let a post go by without having a crack at the selectors : why 'rest' Clarke now? He's just played an innings of substance, and is probably feeling good about his cricket for the first time in twelve months, so why not let him build on the momentum? These are strange, strange days in the Aussie selection room.

I haven't noticed that Botham arsewipe screeching about cheating when it involves an England player. Prior knocking off a bail, then appealing for a bowled decision, came a lot closer to that line than Hughes's not even half-baked pseudo-"appeal". Very ordinary stuff from Prior, IMO.
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Just watched this on youtube - can't believe Prior would so blatantly cheat like that in these days of 100 cameras and 1,000,000 replays. If he did, well, as I was saying, England have played themselves into rotten form in this series, and they know it. Could have been a brain explosion under pressure. At this point, I'd be nervous if I had money on them for the World Cup.

One game to go, and then we can consign this godawful summer to history. Our success in this series has been pleasant but I know which I'd rather we'd won.
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Seconded.
 
God 20/20 cricket is boring.

I think I must be getting old - I utterly fail to see the attraction of this format, yet people will pack out grounds week after week to watch mediocre domestic teams go at it. (Is it the convenience? ie: see a full game after work. If so, maybe test matches should be trialled between 5pm - 11pm?)

Football commentators, cheerleaders, flamethrowers, and I still find myself playing on the internet all the way through these games.

Bring on footy season.
 
It's very much a to each their own thing, as far as I'm concerned. The sport is supposed to be a contest between bat and ball; hit 'n' giggle stuff is so heavily weighted in favour of batting that it almost entirely eliminates that contest. It's fine for people with minuscule attention spans, or who are incapable of understanding or appreciating the nuances of the game, but otherwise...boring.

I see South Australia actually won something. I wonder how many of that side are actually from SA?


In other news, the ICC has handed hefty bans to three Pakistani cricketers over the spot-fixing mess. The irony of the ICC - FIFA's only competition for the mantle of the most corrupt sporting body on the face of the planet - throwing out players for anything pertaining to corruption would be hilarious if it wasn't so sickeningly hypocritical. Some old saying about a fish rotting from its head seems to apply here.


Thank God the new Super rugby season starts soon. :bolian: Even the Waratahs couldn't disappoint me as much has this summer has.
 
Eh, AFL. :p To each their own etc, although I'd rather watch it than rugby league.


The vaunted Krejza is bowling a considerable amount of rubbish here - short stuff that pretty much any international batsman can deal with easily. Not impressive. And if Tait bowls like this at the World Cup we'll get a lot of practice at chasing 300-plus totals.

Thankfully the international cricket summer will be over very soon. I think all Australian fans can agree that's a good thing, regardless of what footy code we follow. :lol:
 
Hmm...now that I think about it, footy season may not be that appealing either. Fulham are in a relegation fight, and St. Kilda show all the signs of a team about to take a steep drop down the ladder. Ah well...at least we get a break from Ian Healy for six months.

I'm starting to feel a bit better about our World Cup chances - Krejza supported by Smith bowling ten overs suddenly makes us look a bit more suited to subcontinent conditions. Absolutely shattering news about Mike Hussey though. It's going to be a World Cup of power hitting. Not sure we have the batting to do it this time around, but we'll leave that to the World Cup thread.

Thanks, all, for the fun thread.
 
Yes, shame it wasn't a particularly successful series for us, but I think it was a pretty enjoyable one nonetheless.

Bring on the World Cup! Last chance to see the minnows in action at least (though for those of us without Pay-TV, we won't be seeing much at all...).
 
Yeah, I won't see a ball bowled aside from whatever (hopefully from an Australian viewpoint) highlights on the news. Such is life.

I hope we do well, but I'm not exactly confident - to put it mildly. :lol:
 
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