The Ashes

[therock67]

Ashes start in four months from yesterday....whilst I'm ridiculously excited about the whole thing I predict it to be a whitewash for the aussies. Was reading steve waugh today and he was saying that england aren't near as sharp as they need to be going into the series. Think of the buildup to the last ashes (away win in sa, hosing of windies and new zealand at home) in comparison to their preparations for this one.

[cully]

Interesting insight Rock. I must admit that whilst i eagerly await the series, i've a feeling it could well be an anti-climax. Don't get me wrong it'll be exciting and pulsating and there'll be twists and turns along the way, but no matter how good a series it will be, and lets hope it's a cracker, the drama and excitement of ashes 2005 will be hard to equal.

Freddie and Gilo are doubts, jonah and vaughany are gone too england will be pumped.

Tip for the tour, if the selectors have any balls is the 20 year old Stuart Broad, smashing prospect.

[therock67]

cully said:

Tip for the tour, if the selectors have any balls is the 20 year old Stuart Broad, smashing prospect.

The new Pup Clarke eh?

Is Jonah Jones?

How is the form of the key Aussies?

[cully]

hayden is back in the runs since the ashes, langer has struggled but is playing for somerset of late and is carting it around, got 340 last week for them, gilchrist averages on 17 since the lords test, ponting has a ridiculous amount of runs, hussey is on fire and taken katich's place, pup clarke looks to be struggling, damo martyn is back in favour having scored a match winning century v SA this winter, mcgrath hasn't played much at all seeing as his mrs is crook, brett lee is maturing into a quality bowler (this started during the ashes in my opinion when pidge couldn't play and he was asked to lead the attack), gillespie got a call up again but i reckon stuart clarke will get his spot, don't think the poms will fear either to be honest, think they'll go with andy symonds as the all rounder. warne is god.

stuart broad is an young english fast bowler, think he's chris broads' son.

[bandage]

I’m not as pessimistic as that though England and Wales’ form since the triumph does cause concern. The injuries are also getting even more worrying now with Freddie out for 12 weeks. Hopefully this will get to the root of his problem and he’ll be ready to go come November. As an aside you’d have to question the England and Wales medical team. There was a big kerfuffle around Vaughan also with him back playing for Yorkshire and testing out his knee only for him to break down again requiring further surgery that will keep him out for 9 months. It’s the same with Fred and his ankle. Ashley Giles’ hip injury was also misdiagnosed and Simon Jones had to have further knee surgery in the US after the initial operation was unsuccessful. So with Vaughan definitely out and Simon Jones extremely doubtful there are genuine concerns in the camp. But they are still scoring runs lately. Strauss is back in the runs, Collingwood is growing into the role and hell even Belly is doing his stuff of late. With Hoggard, Harmison and Fred there they do have the firepower to take wickets. Jones would be a big loss because his reverse swing had the convicts in all sorts of trouble last summer. He actually hasn’t ruled himself out yet so the hope is that he’ll be fit as the new seamers they’ve turned to in his absence like Mahmood, Plunkett et al haven’t convinced as of yet. The main worry at the moment would have to be the keeper. Geraint Jones came into the team as batsman/keeper in response to Gilchrist’s savage run scoring from that position for Australia. Granted his keeping has improved but now he’s really struggling with the bat. Chris Read, a specialist keeper who has improved his batting of late, could reclaim his place from Jones.

I don’t fear Australia. They’ll rely heavily on Warne again. Can he keep reproducing? McGrath says he’ll be back but surely time will catch up on him eventually too – he’s 36 now I think. Brett Lee did a fine job last summer and bowled wholeheartedly but his average was in the mid 30s when the series was done and dusted all the same. Their back up or first change bowling options don’t seem to be that threatening. England and Wales had the measure of Kasprowicz and Gillespie last summer and I don’t believe Clark and Bracken are any better than that. Hussey is a real find in their batting order – his average is ridiculously high but Gilchrist is still struggling. Ponting will be the key wicket again. Australia are an aging side and if England and Wales go in hard with the same intensity and will to win as last summer then I think they can beat them.

Interesting to see Ian Bell score a test century last week while Pup Clarke’s whereabouts remains unknown.

[cully]

just read there that the aussies are allowing england's injured players to play club cricket over there to allow them get some match fitness, quote from the head of cricket aus, ''We want to win back the Ashes against a full strength, fully fit England side''. love that mentality.

[preshy]

Was doing some reading of the newspaper there today...and i wasn't aware until now that freddie was out of form, no ashes series is complete without him.

[bandage]

preshy said:

Was doing some reading of the newspaper there today...and i wasn't aware until now that freddie was out of form, no ashes series is complete without him.

Fred's injured Presh. He hurt his ankle because he bowled 50 overs in the 2nd innings against Sri Lanka in the first test at Lords. They batted for 3 days to save the test and he bowled himself into the ground trying to get them out. His ankle has played up before when he's been overbowled - he had an operation on it prior to the Ashes last summer when he had a massive workload on the South African tour in the 2004/05 winter.

Anyway, he was testing it out after 5 weeks rest and rehabilitation in a comeback game for Lancashire against Kent last week and had he came through that game successfully he would have been included in the squad for the second test against Pakistan starting this week. However, he felt very uncomfortable on it so they looked at it again and decided surgery was the only option. Now he's out for an estimated 12 weeks and faces a race against time to be ready for The Ashes. It definitely wouldn't be the same without him.

[bandage]

Glenn McGrath has named his bunnies for the Ashes. I wish old grandad would shut up a little. Like it not as if he's been really successful at this lark for the past few Ashes series. From the BBC:

McGrath to target Strauss & Cook

Australia pace bowler Glenn McGrath has named Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook as his batting "bunnies" for the Ashes.

McGrath's tongue-in-cheek threats have become a feature of the build-up to a series against England - last year he predicted a 5-0 whitewash.

"There's the young fellow Cook who's done well so far, he's one of many," McGrath told Sydney commercial radio.

"There's no use naming one, these days you name two or three. You always name the captain."

McGrath, 36, began the tradition in the 1990s by singling out then England skipper Michael Atherton, who he dismissed 19 times over the course of his career.

He has nominated Michael Vaughan as his bunny in the last two series.

But Vaughan was the leading run-scorer on either side in Australia four years ago and played a major role in his side's success last summer, while McGrath missed two Tests through injury.

Strauss, who will hand over the captaincy if Andrew Flintoff returns to fitness, hit key centuries against McGrath at Old Trafford and The Oval in 2005.

Cook, who hit a century on Test debut against India in March and already has two tons in the series against Pakistan, averages 59.40 after seven Tests.

Test cricket's most successful fast bowler with 542 wickets, McGrath said he was feeling sharp and fit after a six-month layoff to help his wife Jane overcome breast cancer.

"The body feels good, just running in to bowl, so that was very good to get onto the outdoor nets," he said.

"It will take a little while to build it up but I'm probably in front of where I thought I would be."