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Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (28/8/2008 10:20:45 AM)

Michael Vaughan returned to county cricket yesterday and fell for just 10 against Kent in Yorkshire's CC tie.



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (29/8/2008 7:44:16 PM)

What a superb day of cricket, did anyone else watch?

Lots would argue that the result of this series has been partly down to South Africa being "below par." I would argue that in fact it has been largely down to England hugely improving their one-day performance all across the park. The batting is consistent and safe, no silly shots are played, we've managed to avoid major run-outs and we've had some very impressive partnerships come to the fore. We've used the powerplays to our advantage and we seem to have found an opening pair who on their day can bat till near the 80 mark for the first wicket. The fielding is as good as ever really with few dropped catches and KP running things smoothly so everyone knows what they're doing. The bowling has seen an awesome amount of frontline bowlers come to the forefront recently leaving us spoilt for choice and offering the likes of Harmison and Broad a chance to compete and show their quality which they've done finely.

The second ODI will obviously be the memory but today was once again exceptional. We batted very well and managed to avoid the dominoe effect we've fallen ill of so many times before land us in the tail-enders. There was a unique and surprising partnership between Freddie and Patel with the latter covering one end safely and allowing the big man to hit out and pick up the run rate. Only one batsmen disappointed and that rather bizarrely was Pietersen. Collingwood also fell foul of the pad catch once again.

The bowling was class again as well (Jimmy Anderson looks like he could use a rest though, now the series is technically over we should look at bringing Tim Bresnan or Chris Tremlett in for him) with Samit Patel proving worthy MOM with some great wickets and there was some especially great fielding from himself and Luke Wright.

I think we've outclassed South Africa so far in this series and hopefully we can continue the bounce right into the India tour. Our problems seem to be solved very quickly with the only problematic issue that of the test openers. The other "problems" are which pace bowlers to select for the Ashes and after today whether to consider Patel for test cricket. They aren't really ones to be worried about though![:D]



The Lensman -> RE: Cricket (30/8/2008 12:10:06 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Goodfella

What a superb day of cricket, did anyone else watch?

Lots would argue that the result of this series has been partly down to South Africa being "below par."


Lots of people are right - The Boks came here to win test matches and thats it. With all respect they should of changed the players around to freshen things up, but do you seriously think the Number 2 team on the planet are playing to their potential.

As with Broad's "five-for". One swallow doesnt make a summer. And the test will come in the Winter.



JamesMcManus1 -> RE: Cricket (1/9/2008 11:37:39 AM)

I know the pace bowling unit has been fierce lately but i still have my reservations about Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad ahead of the next Ashes series. Broad is young and is getting better with every test but whether or not he will take the wickets required of him against the Aussies is unlikely at the moment as he has a tendency to bowl to short, something they'll thrive on. Jimmy is quick and can swing the ball both ways and on his day he can be a great bowler, but too often than not he's wayward, expensive and gives the batsmen a couple of 4 balls an over.

Well done to Samit Patel though, he's been first class so far....hopefully that'll put all the Graeme Swann talk to bed now!



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (3/9/2008 9:27:46 PM)

Well thank you very bloody much Wales![:D] No surprise really, it was pretty obvious after the 3.45 inspection was done during a near-hurricane that there wasn't ever going to be any play. Still in my eyes its a whitewash, we've won every playable match and the team deserves a full-on rest after this, they've been fantasic, although I hear Harmy is heading back to Chester-Le-Street to try and help Durham knock us and Notts off our pedastools. No chance Mr Beard![;)]

quote:

  As with Broad's "five-for". One swallow doesnt make a summer. And the test will come in the Winter.



He'll come good, trust me. Took another good wicket today even though it didn't effect the outcome. Prior is looking really good despite his duck the other day and I think he should tour India. I'm assuming we'll take two wickeys so I imagine him and Ambrose will go although Chris Read took three straight catches against us at Trent Bridge today.

Freddie Flintoff has hit fifth gear and seems to be pushing for sixth. If he carries on at this level it should worry Ponting and co.

Want to take a moment away from the international scene and pay tribute to two superb cricketers who have retired in the last few weeks. Spinner Mushtaq Ahmed and the legend that is Graeme Hick. Both turned county cricket on its head with some memorable moments and I personally want to thank Hicky for a superb 126 first-class centuries. Next to Ramps he's been the most entertaining bastmen to watch in county cricket over the last five or so seasons, especially in the limited overs game.

[image]http://img.skysports.com/07/09/218x298/MushtaqAhmed_569145.jpg[/image]

[image]http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0gS05PB2ZYbT9/340x.jpg[/image]

Sad to see you go boys. Enjoy your resting years, you deserve it.



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (4/9/2008 9:12:50 PM)

What a recovery from Somerset today! All-rounder Peter Trego looks to have given the Sabres some relative hope of possibly going into the Durham match at Taunton in a few weeks (which I'm going to![:)]) with a realistic possibility of winning the Division One championship only two seasons after we finished bottom of Division Two. Justin Langer and Cameron White are owed big-time for that one.

I bought KP's autobiography 'Crossing The Boundary' today. Was going to get Tressy's but it's nearly nineteen quid and I don't have that sort of money at the moment with uni and all that. KP is a cocky, arrogant git but he you cannot deny him that right. Mind you Shane Warne's foreword is probably the most stuck-up part of the book so far!



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (9/9/2008 10:22:25 AM)

Where have all the cricket fans gone? [:(] You do realise it's virtually played all year now don't you....

The Stanford Twenty20 squad is announced today. All the old boys without a doubt as the ECB will not deny them a shot at close on a million pounds. The naming of the squad to tour India is being delayed though, according to Peter Moores, "to allow some players to regain form." I imagine that's going to get a mixed reaction as some will feel that will knock the improvements and achievements made by fringe players in the side whilst others will feel it can only be positive to have a bigger list of on-form players too choose from.

The big title match starts at Taunton gets going in a bit, Somerset v Durham. Bring it on Harmy![:D]



JamesMcManus1 -> RE: Cricket (9/9/2008 8:06:35 PM)

Don't worry fear not Goodfella...a fellow cricket fan returns.

I would come on here more mate just don't get the time really with work and all.

I think it's a bit far giving Michael Vaughan a central contract and it smacks of tokenism...he left the captaincy to go get runs and prove himself in county cricket, and in his time there he's contributed very little to Yorkshire runs wise and what does he get, a central contract.
I'm a big Michael Vaughan fan, always have been he's a class batsmen, captain and person but for gods sake if there's an agreed rule and plan stick to it don't just reward him for the sake of it. I'd much rather see Owais Shah and Rob Key given a chance at test level than Vaughan at the moment. They seem destined to be the Ramprakash and Hick of this generation of promising batsmen.

On Harmison, i think he deserves a chance in the Stanford game, now he's realised he's not irreplaceable he's come out of international retirement in the one day game and to great effect so far. His pace has been up his spells have been consistent and he's a constant threat. He'll no doubt have bad days in this form of the game still but he's very much a form bowler and the more cricket he gets under his belt the better. Darren Gough once said that after playing one-day cricket for over 10 years he still on any given day didn't have the same sort of control with the white ball as opposed to the test ball so Harmison hasn't been the first to struggle. I think while he's red hot we've got to take advantage of that and i welcome his inclusion.

There ya go, something to get your teeth round!



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (9/9/2008 10:50:15 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: JamesMcManus1

Don't worry fear not Goodfella...a fellow cricket fan returns.

I would come on here more mate just don't get the time really with work and all.

I think it's a bit far giving Michael Vaughan a central contract and it smacks of tokenism...he left the captaincy to go get runs and prove himself in county cricket, and in his time there he's contributed very little to Yorkshire runs wise and what does he get, a central contract.
I'm a big Michael Vaughan fan, always have been he's a class batsmen, captain and person but for gods sake if there's an agreed rule and plan stick to it don't just reward him for the sake of it. I'd much rather see Owais Shah and Rob Key given a chance at test level than Vaughan at the moment. They seem destined to be the Ramprakash and Hick of this generation of promising batsmen.

On Harmison, i think he deserves a chance in the Stanford game, now he's realised he's not irreplaceable he's come out of international retirement in the one day game and to great effect so far. His pace has been up his spells have been consistent and he's a constant threat. He'll no doubt have bad days in this form of the game still but he's very much a form bowler and the more cricket he gets under his belt the better. Darren Gough once said that after playing one-day cricket for over 10 years he still on any given day didn't have the same sort of control with the white ball as opposed to the test ball so Harmison hasn't been the first to struggle. I think while he's red hot we've got to take advantage of that and i welcome his inclusion.

There ya go, something to get your teeth round!


Yay![:)]

True about Vaughan. I had great faith he would hit the ground running when he got back with Yorkshire, especially with their relative success at county level, but 27 runs in 3 matches isn't too re-assuring. He's going to have to show us now what he can do at the beginning of the next summer unless he's picked ahead of Owais Shah for the test side in India although that would be a great injustice towards young Shah who looks like he's just about finding his feet in the national side. The last thing he really needs is another spell with Middlesex, it will only shatter his confidence like it did last year. I'd like to see Rob Key make the England side, but can you honestly see it happen? He's 27 now, that's three years older than Shah, one younger than KP and two younger than Freddie. If he's going to get his chance he should have had it by now, what are the selectors waiting for? Joe Denly certainly looks like the next Alastair Cook though.

Harmy has suffered some pretty serious criticism over this whole Stanford affair but does it make him that much of a bastard if it is slightly money-orientated? And to be honest who can fill his boots as well as Harmy at the moment? Cricket is actually a pretty shocking business money-wise, everyone knows it's not in the same league as football and F1 but it doesn't even come close to the money some of our Olympics stars have made off the press. Poor Matthew Hoggard (about to lose his patron status at the Barmy Army which is very sad in my eyes![:(]) is looking at having to find another career after cricket to support himself financially. Many of the young cricketers are surviving on close to minimum wage, although perhaps it does prove in opposite to our national football side, they have to work and carry on performing to a certain level to earn the money. And look what it's done for a national cricket side?

Anyway this is the squad...

England's 15-man one-day squad for Stanford Super Series and India ODI series: Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire) capt, James Anderson (Lancashire) Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire) Stephen Harmison (Durham), Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire), Matt Prior (Sussex) Owais Shah (Middlesex), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Luke Wright (Sussex).

Nice to see Swann back in there although others here may not agree, Swann has been taking big wickets for Notts recently and no-one can really question that he's worked for his place, he always seems up for it in the media as well and is very vocal about wanting to play for England (the only one of our players who was actually disappointed when the Pakistan CT got called off).

Can't wait for Thursday. Going to see the third day of Somerset v Durham at Taunton so should get to see some more of Harmy in action but especially looking forward to see Shivine Chanderpaul at the crease, cricket fans live for the day to watch players like Brian Lara, Kevin Pietersen and Adam Gilchrist bat and Chanderpaul rates up there with them. Plus it's a hugely crucial title-run in match although today was called off due to rain. Bastard weather, looking okay for later on in the week though.



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (10/9/2008 12:20:38 PM)

Well the bad weather has held off today and play is underway at Taunton with us on 78-2. Losing Langer and Trescothick before we could get to a 100 isn't great especially with our wickey Craig Kieswetter being out injuired. I hope we can make 250 as that will set Durham quite big target with a wet outfield predicted tommorow.

I seem to find very contrasting weather reports for tommorow. BBC says heavy rain but the maps show that Taunton is in the relative clear all day, just expect to it to be overcast. That'll do, don't expect much after the shit summer anyway.



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (11/9/2008 10:45:22 PM)

Interesting day at Taunton today. Some bizarre tactics from Durham considering that bowling us out for 224 and with the sun expected to shine right through today and into tommorow ideally they should have gone on, tried to make a big score and then tried to bowl us out and win the match bringing them back into the title race. Now today after their extremely slow batting, the match will most likely (bar a Willoughby miracle) finish a draw and bonus points can only really do us a favour, not them.

I only saw two wickets taken today (Thomas with a superb ball to remove Will Smith and then Chanderpaul running out of luck when after being dropped twice he hit Willoughby into his own wicket). Shiv got named the ICC Player Of The Year the other night in Dubai and it was great to see him in action, he spanked two sixes into the stand I sat in and for what is a fairly short guy he doesn't half have a lot of power behind him but it was Italian/Australian (now there's one for you!) opener Michael Di Venuto who really shone finishing the day on 131 not out, with the way he's going, especially up against slow bowlers Ian Blackwell and Wes Durston, he could have a realistic chance of a double century.

Steve Harmison spent most of his time up wandering about (generally think most of the Durham players were pretty bored) and Phil Mustard even came and sat in our stand for a while (he was definitely bored because we had some right wankers sat with us! One bloke who felt he needed to name the national identity of every single player who so much as touched the ball!) but generally it was another good day of cricket. Won't see any more of it this season as I'm at uni by the time the game-in-hand against Lancashire rolls around.

Anyway here's the ICC awards list...

Cricketer of the Year
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
Test Player of the Year
Dale Steyn
ODI Player of the Year
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Emerging Player of the Year
Ajantha Mendis
Associate Player of the Year
Ryan ten Doeschate
Twenty20 International Performance of the Year
Yuvraj Singh
Women's Player of the Year
Charlotte Edwards
Spirit of Cricket
Sri Lanka
Umpire of the Year
Simon Taufel


No real surprise to see Mendis beat Broad as best emerging player although it was mightily disappointing to not see more English players in the running (KP, Anderson and Sidebottom seriously overlooked) but that's life. Wonder whether Steyn will still be second best bowler in the world come next summer as they have Australia this winter, think his position is up for a strong test.



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (16/9/2008 10:14:53 PM)

We beat Lancashire on Sunday to avoid relegation from the Pro40 Division One and face them from tommorow onwards in which if we can finally get four rain-free days this summer and get some batting or bowling points we may very well win the CC.

And it looks like Hick won't get his Worcs swansong as it looks like his season and career has been ended by injuiry.



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (17/9/2008 11:05:00 AM)

Yorkshire rather. Lancashire. Yorkshire. Same thing, right...[:D]

Everywhere else is rained off. The summer has been quite shocking.



dh_19 -> RE: Cricket (18/9/2008 10:53:04 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Goodfella

Everywhere else is rained off. The summer has been quite shocking.


True. Not quite as bad as last year though where everywhere seemed to be flooded. What a shit County season that was!

I've enjoyed the last couple of weeks though since some Counties have played a few of their youngsters like Cobb (Leicestershire) & Mickleburgh (Essex).



Beatrice Kiddo -> RE: Cricket (19/9/2008 6:21:42 AM)

Cricket season here in Australia has just about started....I love cricket, but I am getting more than a little tired of watching the Aussies win everything....they're unstoppable! [:@]

The Australian cricket team is kinda like a billionare stilling going to work! They don't even need their whole team to play a match, their first 3 or 4 batsmen do all the work and the rest just sit on their arses waiting for the next innings!

Here's hoping our boys can reclaim the ashes this year....it was painful wandering around in my team shirt being heckled by Aussie supporters....[:(]



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (23/9/2008 12:10:12 PM)

Final week of the county season chaps and we have Lancashire at Taunton this week and bugger but I am 200 odd miles away so surprisingly won't be attending.

Need some serious points on the board. Langer is confusing me at the moment, he's making some strange bowling choices - slow bowlers seem to be the pick of the day if things don't quite go to plan early on.

Hopefully he and Blackwell will put things behind them before Langer jets off to the IPL in March as that's another unwanted side effect at the moment.



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (26/9/2008 12:15:52 PM)

Current CCD1 scorecards for those interested (besides me...[&:]):

Kent 225
Durham 369-5

Notts 211
Hampshire 203 & 132-2

Somerset 202 & 118-5
Lancashire 248

Sussex 83-4
Yorkshire 400-9

Looks like it's going to be a tight battle. Durham are looking the most positive side at the moment with us and Notts seriously slipping up when it comes to the bat.

Anyway with this being the end of the season and BBC already announcing their's I was going to post my team of the county season, frequent international players obviously not included...

1 Marcus Trescothick (Somerset)
2 Joe Denly (Kent)
3 Mark Ramprakash (Surrey)
4 Owais Shah (Middlesex)
5 Ravi Bopara (Essex)
6 Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire)
7 Samit Patel (Nottinghamshire)
8 Chris Read (Nottinghamshire)
9 Adel Rashid (Yorkshire)
10 Darren Pattinson (Nottinghamsire)
11 Charlie Shreck (Nottinghamshire)
 
 



dh_19 -> RE: Cricket (26/9/2008 6:57:11 PM)

English players only?

Trescothick (Somerset)
Sales (Northamptonshire)
Ramprakash (Surrey)
Bopara (Essex)
Smith (Durham)
Patel (Nottinghamshire)
Foster (Essex)
Rashid (Yorkshire)
Ali (Worcestershire)
S Harmison (Durham)
Shreck (Nottinghamshire)

No doubt i'm overlooking other worthy candidates but oh well.



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (1/10/2008 10:22:04 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: dh_19

English players only?

Trescothick (Somerset)
Sales (Northamptonshire)
Ramprakash (Surrey)
Bopara (Essex)
Smith (Durham)
Patel (Nottinghamshire)
Foster (Essex)
Rashid (Yorkshire)
Ali (Worcestershire)
S Harmison (Durham)
Shreck (Nottinghamshire)

No doubt i'm overlooking other worthy candidates but oh well.


Good call although I would probably include Denly, Key and perhaps Carberry in there somewhere.



dh_19 -> RE: Cricket (2/10/2008 12:37:56 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Goodfella

I would probably include Denly, Key and perhaps Carberry in there somewhere.


Certainly some of the best County batsmen around but all three have had poor seasons in the Chamionship hence their exclusion.

Denly
100's - 2
50's   - 4
Ave   - 30.79

Key
100's - 1
50's   - 4
Ave   - 31.18

Carberry
100's - 0
50's   - 4
Ave   - 28.60

I thought it was criminal that Foster (who Jack Russell recently called the 'best gloveman in the world') was overlooked for England yet again. Now Prior has been selected, i really hope he does well but as soon as he starts dropping catches again (which he will), people will be calling for him to be axed again. I'd imagine Sidebottom will be a little pissed at his selection since he'd have 8 extra test wickets if it wasn't for him.

P.S.
 
Foster
100's - 3
50's   - 4
Ave   - 50.66



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (2/10/2008 2:37:00 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: dh_19

quote:

ORIGINAL: Goodfella

I would probably include Denly, Key and perhaps Carberry in there somewhere.


Certainly some of the best County batsmen around but all three have had poor seasons in the Chamionship hence their exclusion.

Denly
100's - 2
50's   - 4
Ave   - 30.79

Key
100's - 1
50's   - 4
Ave   - 31.18

Carberry
100's - 0
50's   - 4
Ave   - 28.60

I thought it was criminal that Foster (who Jack Russell recently called the 'best gloveman in the world') was overlooked for England yet again. Now Prior has been selected, i really hope he does well but as soon as he starts dropping catches again (which he will), people will be calling for him to be axed again. I'd imagine Sidebottom will be a little pissed at his selection since he'd have 8 extra test wickets if it wasn't for him.

P.S.
 
Foster
100's - 3
50's   - 4
Ave   - 50.66


Key's average isn't bad for a captain/batsman in an underachieving team who has been constantly switched between the batting positions of 1, 2 and 3 all county season. Denly is a good young batsmen who has exceled in the limited overs game this summer and Michael Carberry, well I've always liked Carberry as a player so what can I say![:D]

Anyway back to the international stage for a bit. After Millionaire's Month, we get back to more serious play with the tour to India, likely to be the real staging point ahead of the Ashes next year. Even though we have the Windies and Sri Lanka (hopefully on the last one there as I have a ticket for the ODI at Bristol!) many see India as the real test for two reasons -

a) They are similar in stance to Australia and their batsmen will be a very strong test for our bowlers who will face the firepower of Marsh, Hayden, Ponting and co. next summer

b) We haven't won a test series in our travels in this part of the world in some years I beleive. It is also KP's first series as captain abroad and that is always a big assessment point. Will the success of the SA ODI series get carried away with and will we get a reality check or will we be able to continue in the same confident vein and go to a very difficult part of the cricketing world and get some results?

The squad for the tour:

England squad: Kevin Pietersen (capt), Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Tim Ambrose (wk), Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, Steve Harmison, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Ryan Sidebottom, Owais Shah, Graeme Swann.

A little surprised to see Swann pip Samit Patel to the second spinner spot but I'm happy nontheless as I think Swann is a great and enthuasistic player who will get stuck more into his all-round game than the likes of Patel and Wright do. Shah has beaten Bopara to Vaughan's open spot at batting number three although it still sounds like the door is open for the former England skipper due to him receiving a central contract which expires around this time next year. Apparently according to the selectors Shah was chosen ahead of county young player of the year Bopara because "he offers more with his spin." If we have to use Shah as a slow bowler over there then we will be well and truly in the shit so let's hope that was just the reason used because they both impressed the selectors so much and not an actual categorised reason although knowing Geoff Miller and co. it really wouldn't surprise me either way![:D]

The rest is as expected although there have been questions over Sidebottom's fitness and how it may effect his form abroad but it seems the selectors are doing everything humanly possible to avoid selecting godamn obvious choice Kabir Ali so it also doesn't come as any real surprise.




Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (8/10/2008 10:50:31 AM)

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/cricket/article1779578.ece

Has Shane Warne moved back to Hampshire or something because clearly he has not been following Cricket Australia back home has he?

I also think it is a wishful thinking at this early point in the KP era to suggest England will win next summer but Warne's suggestion Australia will cream us because of their "strength in depth" is either very mis-guided or wishful thinking on his part. The lack of a half-decent spinner (MacGill's retirement has hit them hard has seen them resort to surprise leg-spin inclusions), the questionable opening partnership of Marsh and Hayden, Ponting's fitness, questions over Michael Clarke's one-day captaincy and general influence on the team in Ponting's abscence and perhaps since the retirement of Gilchrist, the loss of McGrath and the fitness concerns over Lee, the form of key middle men Hussey and Symonds etc.

Shall I carry on Shane?




dh_19 -> RE: Cricket (10/10/2008 10:00:09 AM)

Personally i would have to agree with Warne. The only weakness i can see is the absence of a world class spinner. Their team for the current test against India:

Hayden
Katich
Ponting (c)
Hussey
Clarke
Watson
Haddin (wk)
White
Lee
Johnson
Clark

They bat down to 10 and they have players like Symonds (if he decides on Cricket over fishing), Hodge, Jaques, Marsh, Siddle etc etc waiting in the wings. Couple this with their winning mentality (which i hope we develop under KP) and they still look number 1 to me.




Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (10/10/2008 10:23:13 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: dh_19

Personally i would have to agree with Warne. The only weakness i can see is the absence of a world class spinner. Their team for the current test against India:

Hayden
Katich
Ponting (c)
Hussey
Clarke
Watson
Haddin (wk)
White
Lee
Johnson
Clark

They bat down to 10 and they have players like Symonds (if he decides on Cricket over fishing), Hodge, Jaques, Marsh, Siddle etc etc waiting in the wings. Couple this with their winning mentality (which i hope we develop under KP) and they still look number 1 to me.




Ok let's go man for man...

Hayden v Strauss
 
I'll go for Hayden. He's a more frequent century hitter and is generally considered the best opening batsmen in the world since Lara's retirement.
Aus 1-0 Eng
 
Katich v Cook
 
I think Cook edges this. Katich's form has been in-different recently and Cookie has made his mark in the last few test squads, he rides a lot on confidence and the England side has some at the moment
Aus 1-1 Eng
 
Ponting v Shah
 
Everyone will go for Ponting but I'm going to leave this one as a draw as Ponting has had some injuiry problems recently matched by some low scores and Shah seems to be really coming into his game as of late however no-one can deny Ponting's presence on his day and his captaincy.
Aus 1-1 Eng
 
Hussey v Pietersen
 
KP for me. Hussey has been improving a lot recently but KP has hit some great form and his captaincy doesn't seem to be effecting his batting.
Aus 1-2 Eng
 
Clarke v Bell
 
Another tie methinks. Clarke has come under some criticism and has yet to hit a big score while Bell is still a bit on-off.
Aus 1-2 Eng
 
Watson v Flintoff
 
If Freddie carries on in the same vein then there is no real competition here for me.

Aus 1-3 Eng
 
White v Collingwood
 
I like White due to his Somerset connections and Colly still needs to improve his batting so I'll give this one to the Oz.
Aus 2-3 Eng
 
Haddin v Prior
 
I like Haddin (Ponting's boots are very difficult to fill) but Prior was exceptional towards the end of the summer. Draw again I think.
Aus 2-3 Eng
 
Lee v Anderson/Broad
 
No need to worry about the possible England duo as there's only one winner here.
Aus 3-3 Eng
 
Johnson v Harmison
 
Harmy hit top form this summer both at county and international level and if he takes that into the winter season, I think he'll be back to his very best.

Aus 3-4 Eng
 
Clark v Panesar
 
Tight choice but Oz's lack of a spinner with as much potential as Panesar could see them lose out on our surfaces.

Final Score: Aus 3-5 Eng
 
Not getting ahead of ourselves, just my view, feel free to slate it but I think we stand a very good chance.



dh_19 -> RE: Cricket (10/10/2008 11:14:07 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Goodfella

Not getting ahead of ourselves, just my view, feel free to slate it but I think we stand a very good chance.


I'm not going to slate anything you put, you obviously follow the sport closely and always back up your opinions with solid arguments. I think it will be an interesting year though leading up to the Ashes. Australia have been hit by retirements and are rebuilding whereas England may finally develop a bit of a swagger and self belief under KP.



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (10/10/2008 3:51:25 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: dh_19

quote:

ORIGINAL: Goodfella

Not getting ahead of ourselves, just my view, feel free to slate it but I think we stand a very good chance.


I'm not going to slate anything you put, you obviously follow the sport closely and always back up your opinions with solid arguments. I think it will be an interesting year though leading up to the Ashes. Australia have been hit by retirements and are rebuilding whereas England may finally develop a bit of a swagger and self belief under KP.


Fair enough assessment there. Australia do tend to rebuild much better and quicker than we do - Mitchell Johnson's re-introduction to international cricket and the waves he made it in where virtually overnight where it has taken the likes of Harmison and Sidebottom a long time to win back their credibility. Our tours to India and Windies will be a big assessment of KP's captaincy and also of the selectors and their squad choices, especially no.3, as we get closer to next summer. Whatever they choose, the side that faces Sri Lanka in the early months of next season must, barring injuiries and unforeseen circumstances, be the side that makes its way down the steps at the Swalec Arena.



The Lensman -> RE: Cricket (10/10/2008 10:42:01 PM)

Hayden v Strauss

Hayden for me. Strong physically but more crucially, Strong Mentally. A bedrock for any side in the world.
Aus 1-0 Eng

Katich v Cook

As fairly new comers to the Test arena (though Cook is more experienced) Both are at the same level. They both need to convert scores more often and carry their bat better. Draw - big series for Cook.
Aus 1-0 Eng

Ponting v Shah

Ponting = World Class. With his ton against the indians this week, bringing his total of tons to a massive 36* the guy simply outclasses Shah in every aspect of Test match Cricket.
Aus 2-0 Eng

Hussey v Pietersen

Hussey for me.

KP is England's best player by a country mile and will carry the hopes of a nation on his already wide shoulders along side his ego, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, a true world class performer.

but if KP is a world class performer - then the man with the best batting average and best cricketing brain on the planet, then Hussey is out of this world, there are no words to describe how good this guy is. and on writing this, I would say that Hussey may have the better series due to lack of attention and expectation held upon him. He carries his bat on numerous occasions for the Aussies, he makes scores, big scores often.
Aus 3-0 Eng

Clarke v Bell

I would say a draw too for this - Bell struggled against the Aussies last time, but I just cant see Bell being a better player in Clarke's home patch.
Aus 3-0 Eng

Watson v Flintoff

Freddie Flintoff.

Aus 3-1 Eng

White v Collingwood

I havent seen much of White to justify anything above Collingwood. so a draw for me
Aus 3-1 Eng

Haddin v Prior

I think Prior is coming into his own, I dont think Haddin has the batting game to compare to Prior's and the glovework is equal. Prior for me
Aus 3-2 Eng

Lee v Anderson

Fast Bouncy Tracks + Fast Bowler = Dangerous. Lee takes this easily - but against Harmison, thats a different question entirely
Aus 4-2 Eng

Johnson v Harmison

Harmy

Aus 4-3 Eng

Clark v Panesar

This is a crucial one. its either 5-3 to the Baggy Greens, 4-4 Draw or it stays at 4-3 again back to the Baggy Greens.
If I were Australian, and a Groundsman, I would try to make my test pitch, Hard, Bouncy, and quick not allowing a spin bowler to get any kind of advantage. If we were talking about an English Ashes, then Monty would nail it. but over there, I'm not sure, and Englands Batting Order except for KP looks shakey and with the Line and Length from Big Stu. He takes this for me

Final Score: Aus 5-3 Eng



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (11/10/2008 10:58:54 AM)

Are you going to any international cricket next year lensman?

I'm in the process of trying to get tickets for the ODI against Sri Lanka at Bristol yet there's confusion over the ticket sales due to Sri Lanka's non-committment to the tour.



The Lensman -> RE: Cricket (11/10/2008 11:14:22 AM)

I havent been to a test match since the West Indies came over, Edgbaston - Freddie made a ton and lofted a drive to his dad who dropped it in the pavillion. Marvelous Day.

But since then I've been more interested in playing the game and working on my batting. But the prices these days for international cricket is amazing......



Goodfella -> RE: Cricket (11/10/2008 11:16:39 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: The Lensman

I havent been to a test match since the West Indies came over, Edgbaston - Freddie made a ton and lofted a drive to his dad who dropped it in the pavillion. Marvelous Day.

But since then I've been more interested in playing the game and working on my batting. But the prices these days for international cricket is amazing......


I'd love to do an overseas tours but they are an awful lot of money, me and a friend were thinking of doing in South Africa in 2010 but with uni debts and whatnot it doesn't really look doable.

Mind you I do have a cousin who has a flat in Sydney so the Ashes in 2011 is a distinct possibility.



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