The Ashes

[northbank123]

Agree - pity for Bresnan and although I don't always agree with his selection you can see he always gives 100%.

[franksav63]

I should be getting a ticket for Friday's play at The Oval, can't wait and a welcome distraction from the shit that Wenger is creating at our club!

[g88ner]

I should be getting a ticket for Friday's play at The Oval, can't wait and a welcome distraction from the shit that Wenger is creating at our club!

Brilliant.

I hit a six at Old Trafford when England and India played in 1990. Sadly for me, Sachin Tendulker stole my limelight by hitting a test century in the 2nd innings at the age of 17. I never realised at the time that I was watching a future cricketing great, and I never knew that six would be the last of my test match career*

*I say "test match career", but I was in one of many junior cricket teams invited to play mini-games on the outfield during the lunch interval. I loved it, and hit a six. Although, as I'm a bowler, I was disappointed not to get any wickets, although I'm sure I trapped a guy leg before

[franksav63]

I should be getting a ticket for Friday's play at The Oval, can't wait and a welcome distraction from the shit that Wenger is creating at our club!

Brilliant.

I hit a six at Old Trafford when England and India played in 1990. Sadly for me, Sachin Tendulker stole my limelight by hitting a test century in the 2nd innings at the age of 17. I never realised at the time that I was watching a future cricketing great, and I never knew that six would be the last of my test match career*

*I say "test match career", but I was in one of many junior cricket teams invited to play mini-games on the outfield during the lunch interval. I loved it, and hit a six. Although, as I'm a bowler, I was disappointed not to get any wickets, although I'm sure I trapped a guy leg before

Blimey, good for you g88ner at least you nearly made it.... I was a very fast bowler when I was younger (had pace to burn) but I could never get into our school cricket team as it was a closed shop.... I used to love hurting people and sending them to hospital with broken fingers when I got the ball to rear up off a good length over the park!!! I can't bowl for toffee now though...

[Leyton Gooner]

Can't bowl either but like to think I'm a handy middle order batter. Playing every weekend until the 7th September which will distract me from Arsenal, wenker and the other pillocks until then. Just wish I had the funds for a winter down under

[arseofacrow]

I should be getting a ticket for Friday's play at The Oval, can't wait and a welcome distraction from the shit that Wenger is creating at our club!

Brilliant.

I hit a six at Old Trafford when England and India played in 1990. Sadly for me, Sachin Tendulker stole my limelight by hitting a test century in the 2nd innings at the age of 17. I never realised at the time that I was watching a future cricketing great, and I never knew that six would be the last of my test match career*

*I say "test match career", but I was in one of many junior cricket teams invited to play mini-games on the outfield during the lunch interval. I loved it, and hit a six. Although, as I'm a bowler, I was disappointed not to get any wickets, although I'm sure I trapped a guy leg before

If only you'd had DRS

...then you might have amounted to something

[g88ner]

I should be getting a ticket for Friday's play at The Oval, can't wait and a welcome distraction from the shit that Wenger is creating at our club!

Brilliant.

I hit a six at Old Trafford when England and India played in 1990. Sadly for me, Sachin Tendulker stole my limelight by hitting a test century in the 2nd innings at the age of 17. I never realised at the time that I was watching a future cricketing great, and I never knew that six would be the last of my test match career*

*I say "test match career", but I was in one of many junior cricket teams invited to play mini-games on the outfield during the lunch interval. I loved it, and hit a six. Although, as I'm a bowler, I was disappointed not to get any wickets, although I'm sure I trapped a guy leg before

If only you'd had DRS

...then you might have amounted to something

[Perryashburtongroves]

3-0 up, chance to make it 4 at The Oval and keep the boot on their throat so what better time to pick two débutantes rather than Tremlet or Finn. I don't think I've seen a more horrific debut bowling performance than this by Simon Kerrigan.

[northbank123]

3-0 up, chance to make it 4 at The Oval and keep the boot on their throat so what better time to pick two débutantes rather than Tremlet or Finn. I don't think I've seen a more horrific debut bowling performance than this by Simon Kerrigan.

I saw somebody questioning what better time to give young players a chance than a dead rubber Ashes test? Well any in the two series we played against NZ in the past year for a start. Treating it like the Carling Cup pisses me off, it's an Ashes test FFS.

Could understand it if we had no decent fringe players and were desperate for new talent. That must justify throwing kids in at the deep end in the hope they deliver, but we're not in that situation. We have Finn, Tremlett and Onions as our other seam options - surely one of the latter two (who've played very little Test cricket recently) would be far better options given that we have a return Ashes series to think about. Because if we have injuries then these blokes are going to be the ones we're turning to, not Woakes. Likewise with Panesar over Kerrigan. I've seen quite a bit of Woakes and have to say I think he's overrated.

[Leyton Gooner]

Yes don't understand why Woakes is so highly rated. I follow Middlesex so have seen him a lot in county cricket, but I've never seen him do anything special that would merit Test selection, let alone Ashes Test selection. No pace particularly, doesn't swing it or move it off the seam. Bowls a nagging line and length and can bore batsmen out, but not Test batsmen. I think England want him to be a direct replacement for Bresnan, but I rate even Bresnan higher tbh.

Feel sorry for Kerrigan really. Thrown in at the deep end, rather like most aussie spinners since the "search for the new Warne" began.

[LDB]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricke ... tches.html

Really don't understand opinions like this. We've won the ashes 3-0 and played some decent cricket and found ways to win despite our best batsmen not producing.

Playing every match on the same sort of pitch — as if England had carted one drop-in pitch to every venue — has resulted in a Pyrrhic victory.

...

The glorious uncertainty of cricket is reduced by dry, slow pitches. This is exactly why they were ordered: to eliminate the possibility of Australia winning with their seamers. It is a certainty, however, that England will not have the same pitches prepared next summer for the five-Test series against India, who have Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja, a fine offspinner and slow left-armer. Pitches next year will no doubt be as green as this summer’s have been brown.

Do me a favour, does he really think Australia and just about every test playing country don't manipulate pitch conditions to favour the home side? Fantastic planning by England, they recognised Australia's strengths in seam bowling and weakness in spin and have exploited it brilliantly. England batted to the conditions while Australian bastmen got themselves out. A lot of the worry before the series was that England would underestimate Australia - they certainly haven't done judging by the professional way they've gone about winning the series. The conditions down under will be very different and England will adapt their style of play to suit it just like any serious cricket team would.

Well done England!

[northbank123]

It's like the bloke has never watched a cricket series before - every single side prepare pitches to their advantage and always have done. Just like England were never going to prepare dusty, turning pitches when they had Giles up against Warne and just like sub-continental sides aren't going to prepare rock hard pitches that favour tall quick bowlers.

If you're going to criticise the perceived negativity then fine but that's just plain stupid. I could understand it if they'd prepared five roads for the teams to pile runs up on and it was a 1-0 win or five absolute minefields with games over in three days but they've had five fair, competitive pitches that would probably all have yielded results (or 4 anyway) without substantial rain intervening.

[Steve_I]

unexpected finish this! exciting.

[Steve_I]

bugger, I really should stop posting and tempting fate.

[Perryashburtongroves]

I'm amazed, although nothing with the umpires and the ICC should amaze me any more. This was the most exciting conclusion to a test for a long time and it's been fucked right up. There's a full house, the lights are on and the game is almost over, the series has been won so it's not as if it would affect the end result and they take them off. If that was India or Pakistan, they wouldn't have dared to because the fans would have gone mental. What a fucking way to treat test cricket.

Saying that, 3-0 isn't too shabby at all. Well done England!