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The Ashes

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Our Lady Has Left the Building

13:29 / 28.08.05

England need 129 to win. What was that last wicket about? Was he trying to position himself to sweep it to his left or something?

Our Lady Has Left the Building

14:55 / 28.08.05

Oh shitting Christ. 57 for 4. 57 for 4! We're going to loose another Ashes aren't we?

Our Lady Has Left the Building

15:33 / 28.08.05

OK, I've peeled myself off the ceiling, this is why I shouldn't get emotionally involved in games. This is also why I support Kent, there's never any danger of Kent winning a series...

Our Lady Has Left the Building

16:10 / 28.08.05

Dear England,

Please explain to me why you're trying to lose this game?

Our Lady Has Left the Building

16:30 / 28.08.05

YES!!!!

Our Lady Has Left the Building

16:31 / 28.08.05

Thanks be to God and all his noodly appendages.

21:09 / 28.08.05

YES YES!

I was watching Trescothick and Strauss walking towards the pitch and I was thinking, "YAWN. This'll be boring but I hope it's a ten wicket defeat." Trescothick was looking good until he tried something he's not very good at. Footwork.

To be fair, the Aussies really fought back. Lee has been rather expensive through the Tests but after the beating he takes while bowling or batting, he still shows grit. Warne and Lee are the hardest working all rounders in the side, contributing both with bat and ball significantly. I think Katich played superbly until that poor decision. Same for Ponting. Damien Martyn has been very unlucky. I dont think the Aussies are playing that poorly and suddenly aren't a just a good side with two great bowlers, an Ian Chappell quote that's gettign thrown around the web...
There have been an atrocious number of decisions going against them. But full credit to England here, they've dominated and haven't made half as many mistakes.

If Australia can hold their catches at the Oval, they could very well win but it won't be easy. After Lord's I was wondering if I should be following the series as closely as I am because England can't possibly win after a 239 run defeat. But England have that they may be the best side in the world.

Today England played very very stupidly and thank god for some sense from the tail enders. I would've quit watching cricket again for another four years if they fucked up here.

But we won. That's the important thing no matter by how many wickets like Geoff Boycott said.

I hate the 10/11 day wait between Tests.

23:25 / 28.08.05

clarke's little snick and his reaction said it all - that was australia's turning point - that and an extra 33 runs over what england gave us in sundries... 33 runs could have been all the difference with only three wickets left!

the last test will be a cracker. i suspect that our five nil white wash is a little unlikely now!

11:39 / 06.09.05

Bad news for England - Simon Jones has been ruled out of the final test after a fitness test this morning. I would be more inclined to pick Anderson than Collingwood as his replacement - picking a bits and pieces player to replace a specialist bowler would seem like caution, and England have achieved what they have this year by being bold.

Again, who knows what the position is with McGrath - we'll have to wait til Thursday morning I supsect.

In other news, the ECB have booked Trafalgar Square for a bit of triumphalism. Tempting fate or what.

12:04 / 06.09.05

A more superstitious person that I would say that it's not a good idea to plan the victory party a week in advance.

I know I've said this after every test, but with each passing match the odds grow higher of our batsmen finally coming good, so I'm going to continue playing the same record and vote for an Aussie win. Plus by the sounds of it this pitch will give our openers (particularly Haydos, who I reckon punter will stick with despite all sense and reason) their best opportunity to play their natural game, so if we can win the toss and bat first, we just might have a chance of getting back to the old formula of getting a big score and defending it.

I truly believe that if our bowlers have a big score to defend then they will bowl far better. I'm not too sure about this talk of 5 bowlers. What we need is 4 bowlers on form. If McGrath is fully fit (rather than 80% like at OT), then I would be confident playing McGrath, Lee, Tait and Warne.

Either way it'll be a great end to a gripping series. Let's just hope for a result.

04:16 / 08.09.05

seems ooh aah is fit and ready to rumble...

unsurprisingly, a poll in today's sydney broadsheet has a majority of australians think we can and will win this test. i imagine a similar poll in the guardian or its ilk would see a sizeable proportion of brits inclined to think the inverse..?

hayden will play, i'm sure. i just want clarke to be fit and last a whole match! and i want punter to wake up and start captaining like a real one. sheesh, the pm here is doing a better job at his racket than punter is at his - an australian shame!!

what's the news on the pitch? haven't heard much - been a busy day at the orifice and a tough week. hope i get to see some crikkut tonight, 'cause i won't see much of the next two nights' (for us downunda) play unless plans change... drat.

go aussies - i concur with loomis. we'll win by an innings and 200 runs... a right rampage!!

07:19 / 08.09.05

I'm rooting for England to win, but think Shane Warne is fantastic, and it really wouldn't surprise me if the Aussie's won. That makes it all the more exciting!! Evenly matched and ready to play! Come on England!

07:55 / 08.09.05

Apparently the pitch is hard and bouncy which will be good for all batsmen but particularly for our guys who have struggled on the English wickets so far. This is Hayden's best chance to perform in what could be his last match regardless of whether he fires or not.

Good weather for today but could be iffy over the next couple so I'm praying there'll be enough time for a result.

I'm pretty sure Australia will stick with the same lineup as the last test, except McGrath back in for Kasper. As much as I think Hussey should be opening, it's probably too late now to fit a new member into the team. They should've done it earlier in the series. So now it's time to see if the Aussie experience and mental toughness can come through when it's needed most.

bad luck for England with Jones out, though as the other bowlers are in form I don't think it's as much of a blow as it could have been. What do you guys think of Collingwood vs Anderson? I can see them picking Anderson as it's a like-for-like substitution, but I would go for Collingwood. He's mentally tougher, a good fielder and a good batsmen. There's a good possibility Anderson will get spanked which will give the Aussies more confidence and the juggernaut could roll to victory.

Cannot wait for 10.30. Possibly the most important match of our generation. Wish I was home to watch it but will have to make do with radio.

08:16 / 08.09.05

England have won the toss and are batting. Good start.

I would have preferred Anderson over Collingwood as the more attacking option. Just listening to Angus Fraser's views on TMS and agree with his assessment of England success being down to putting pressure on Australia's batsmen and how England might be in difficulty if another fast bowler breaks down. I can however see that there would have been a possibility on a batsmen's track that Anderson could have gone for plenty.

There is a TV at work so I will be able to catch some of the game on telly. Come on England!

09:09 / 08.09.05

I've only got Times online and the Barbe for updates. No TV, no radio. gutted.

09:30 / 08.09.05

Good start by ENgland, although there have been a couple of edges and a good lbw shout so Aussies not doing too badly, besides Bing having trouble sticking to his length.

Rod Marsh is sticking it to Ponting on the radio and he's dead right. You have to set attacking fields and tell your bowlers to bowl to them, rather than setting weak fields because a bowler isn't doing his job. Marsh should be our next coach. I'm sure he'd make more time for fielding practice than Buchanan!

nedrichards is confused

09:44 / 08.09.05

Jub: sample the guardian over by over then. It's good. I've set up a TV card on a machine in the corner of the office which almost everyone seems to be clustering around. Good stuff.

England 76-0. Warne's on and I expect him to bowl out the rest of the day in one long spell of attempted containment.

10:51 / 08.09.05

Mobile phone sex-pest though he is, Warne does have a habit of making things happen. 80-odd for 0 to 100-odd for 3, and it's not as though he's getting much turn or anything. England really must follow their winning formula and post a big 1st innings score.

10:51 / 08.09.05

thanks for the gaurdian tip ned, will do.

England 115-3 at lunch - disgraceful. I think that well known Aussie arrogance will be rewarded by the close of this match.

Goodness Gracious Meme

14:51 / 08.09.05

282-5. Go Flintoff!

Goodness Gracious Meme

14:53 / 08.09.05

To all those w/o telly: you at least don't have to listen to Geoff Boycott.

Goodness Gracious Meme

14:55 / 08.09.05

D'oh. I meant Strauss. Some super strokeplay.

14:58 / 08.09.05

Gawd I hate Boycott. Takes obnoxiousness to strange new places.

Goodness Gracious Meme

15:08 / 08.09.05

You haven't truly felt nauseous until you've heard GB practically making love to his mike when discussing how he'd direct fielding for Warne so much better than that Pontinng. (a fair point but the tone.)

Collingwood gone. 289-6. Strauss has got to hang on overnight for England.

Goodness Gracious Meme

15:19 / 08.09.05

Painful to be again agreeing with Boycott, but what is Ponting upto with his fielders? He's playing an incredibly conservative formation for this early in the proceedings, and switching rather often....

I'd agree with what someone(?) said upthread, whoever wins this, Vaughn definitely comes out of the series with more credit as a captain.

18:09 / 08.09.05

Another amazing performance from Warne. For a legspinner to take five wickets on the first day on a flat pitch - just unheard of. If only he were captain. With his cricketing brain we could have gone from strength to strength.

Yeah Vaughan is all over Ponting in the captaining dept. Funny how fortune can go. Not only had Vaughan had a very lean patch in tests, he had a bit of a shocker in the ODI series not only with the bat but in some of his captaincy decisions as well. Just about the only thing keeping him in the test team was his captaincy and winning record. Now he's on the brink of going down in history. If England win the ashes then there could be a new plinth needed at Trafalgar Square for him.

A good result for us I think today. Honours fairly even but we may just have our nose in front. Assuming we don't bat as poorly as we have so far this series, there are plenty of runs in this pitch. If we can get ENgland out for around 350, then we'll be in a very good position.

21:50 / 08.09.05

if only he were captain!

bah, i think we have a long hard toil in front of us to win the match, but we need to get three wickets first. if england can bat through the next session they may well have done nearly enough... going to be an intriguing and hopefully beguiling next few days. (and yes, bloody boycott is obnoxionville itself!)

what a grab by hayden, too, i must say, before we forget. one of the catches of the series?

what are some others??

Goodness Gracious Meme

00:58 / 09.09.05

If we're talking catches, Katich's from Warne on Strauss=the business, really.

(CJ: in my mellow age, I seem to be finding myself partisan for England on this one. Though that has alot to do with the 'underdog' thing and I still get a colonial cackle for that)

But: test matches without Richie Benaud? Whaaaaa?

Goodness Gracious Meme

01:04 / 09.09.05

but, not so partisan as to not salute Shane Warne, IMO probably the only genuinely terrifying bowler in the game today.

Was talking with friend this evening just how frightening it must be to stand at the crease and have Warne thundering down at you...

Goodness Gracious Meme

01:16 / 09.09.05

If only he were captain. With his cricketing brain we could have gone from strength to strength

Indeed. But wasn't he disqualified on, ahem, temperament, grounds?

04:26 / 09.09.05

i think he was disqualified on account that he doesn't actually have a brain (he borrows one of richie's pre-commercial old ones for cricket...)

07:20 / 09.09.05

Yeah it's generally acknowledged that he was a certainty for captain (he was already vice captain) until his continuing indiscretions forced Cricket Australia to can the idea. Role model and all that.

I think we've already discussed the role model vs sports ability thing in the past (with ref. to football I think). Maybe we could take another crack at it.

imho Warne would be the best captain in current world cricket by far. Possibly one of the best captains of all time. His understanding of field placings and the shots batsmen can be tempted to play is uncanny.

09:56 / 09.09.05

Yes, amazing performance by Warne to take 5 wickets on a flat 1st day pitch. But then again, he is without doubt one of the best bowlers in the history of the game, so amazing but hardly surprising. He has lost the googly (though he did bowl one yesterday), doesn't have the in-drift he once had, but he still has astonishing accuracy and variation of pace and delivery point on the crease.

Good catch by Hayden, but not in the same class as Strauss' catch at 2nd slip off Gilchrist in the last test. I only saw it once, but Martyn's catch in the deep off Pietersen in the 1st test was the best outfield catch.

England just bowled out for 373 after a useful 28 last wicket stand. Not enough for my liking but I have given up predicting anything in this series. Let's see how Australia bat.

10:51 / 09.09.05

I heart Gideon Haigh. How's this gem:

"Michael Vaughan then struck a blow against the Kansas Board of Education. It was 20 minutes to lunch when England's captain tried tugging a short leg-break against the spin, hit it in the air as is his regrettably casual habit and was caught at midwicket: no evidence of intelligent design behind that shot."

And even better:

"Warne has, we are often reminded, two deliveries - one that turns, one that does not. But he no more needs additional variation than The Ramones needed a third chord."

Goodness Gracious Meme

12:16 / 09.09.05

I *heart* that second quote. More magic:

Warne, as ever, was a law unto himself. As a batsman - and it should be emphasised that it is of his batting I write here - he is a frightful flirt. He intersperses shots of utter conviction with off-balance and open-bladed speculations, which are followed by penitential rehearsals of the stroke he absolutely fully intended to play.

In the end, Ponting experienced the epiphany that usually follows unrequited love: that you can only be responsible for yourself. There is vindication in this discovery but also a kind of disappointment, a resignation. And so it is here: innings of solitary grandeur are not how Australia have built their enviable record, and they are not really a viable means of defending it.

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