Just when..............

[CusworthRovers]

we thought it was safe to laugh at the Aussies.

I still think we are far better than them. This test has gone now. 2 more to go and we are still taking the Ashes home before the next penultimate test.

Well done Tremlett and Hussey is really starting to annoy me now.

[donnyjay]

When we were taking those early wickets on the first morning I was a little disappointed that it was all going to be over before the Boxing Day test.

This the the England cricket team we're talking about. How could I have been so stupid?

Still, it's nice to get up on a Saturday knowing that this weekend's three points are already in the bag.

[ReadingViking]

CusworthRovers wrote:

we thought it was safe to laugh at the Aussies.

I still think we are far better than them. This test has gone now. 2 more to go and we are still taking the Ashes home before the next penultimate test.

Well done Tremlett and Hussey is really starting to annoy me now.

Hussey is just showing how good he is. Some of those cover drives were fantastic - I just wish he wasn't Australian - or fancied a summer playing for Yorkshire.

[Donnywolf]

It WAS good getting up with 3 points in the bag ....

...but as you infer England and Rovers seem to find new ways to \"torture\" you as I said on leaving the Britannia Stadium all those years ago !!!!

We should have known then (One for Watto there we should HAVE known NOT of known) and as England fans we should HAVE known not to count chickens ....

I was guilty too because I predicted The Ashes were in the bag after the last Test ... they wont beat us twice in 3 attempts ... says I .... mmmm I hope I was right

Should OF kept me trap shut

[CusworthRovers]

On we go now to Fortress Melbourne on Xmas Night. Does this mean we are back to midnight starts for us over here.

I'll leave Hussey for now, as in all honesty he's a bit of a gentleman type and clearly a decent cricketer. I now switch my attention to that slinger Mitchell Johnson. Every ball he slings down he has to walk up to the bowler and eye ball him. Then he's at the verbals all the time. Just not cricket old boy, but a new tactic Dicky Ponting has employed to get them back in it. I tell thee, if I was Anderson or any of the others I would knock the chuff clean out and then shove the fat end of the bat up his back eye and lift him up in the air and hold him aloft like a trophy. Now that's more like Cricket.

[I-was-there1976]

it is cricket its happened for years. Its called a \"test\" for a reason


Time for the English / Africans to show some b*llocks and do the talking with bat and ball again


Aussies are now hitting some form. Its gonna be hard infront of 90,000 Aussies. Time for the big boys to come to the party or crawl back under the covers.

I know where my £10 bet is going.

[The Red Baron]

I don't think this England team lacks balls, but I think they've been guilty of underestimating the Aussies. They've gone into one of their defaults mode when being outplayed- either they whinge about the opposition's unfair tactics or they get hyper-aggressive. In this case they've gone for the latter one.

I also think the loss of Broad is a huge blow to England. He may not have taken many wickets in the series, and he looks (and at times acts) like a bit of a mummy's boy but he gives the skipper control and he's liable to blow a team away when running hot- like Slinger Johnson did in the first innings here. Although Tremlett was excellent, Anderson was well below par and Swann got no help from the pitch.

I still think we can win one of the last two and hence retain the ashes- but PLEASE move Bell up to five. It's a waste when he gets out having a thrash because the tail-enders are in.

[donnyjay]

CusworthRovers wrote:

On we go now to Fortress Melbourne on Xmas Night. Does this mean we are back to midnight starts for us over here.

I notice that Sky's coverage begins at 10.30 so I'm guessing it's a 11pm start. If you tune in at midnight then you'll have (hopefully) missed the first three Aussie wickets to fall.

[jonrover]

I think it was a mixture of rank bad batting and not having the balls to drop Swann (who was never going to be as effective at the WACCA) for another seamer that cost us this game. The amount of times we were guilty of fishing for deliveries outside off stick was crazy. There was no need to do it with 2 and a bit days left. We only needed 60-70 runs a session to win which is easy in the modern game. Dropping Swann admittedly would have taken balls and might not have been popular, but I'm a firm believer in matching your attack to the wicket conditions. Shazad and Bresnan are no slouches with the bat either, and Shazad is arguably our best reverse swing bowler and would have been much more of a menace than Swann in my opinion. Similarly, I'd seriously consider picking both Swann and Panesar at Sydney where conditions have historically suited spin. Either that or let Petersen turn his arm more often than normal.