The Official Ashes 09 Thread

[Uwe Rosler]

and to call it 'the best sport in the world' please!
Its played by 10 nations in the world of whom maybe 4 can compete with each other!!!

 

[tommyducks]

The first Test showed a few things. One, just how weak your attack is - and I don't see Brett Lee changing that. Two, how England still have a soft centre and can turn a 200-run first wicket partnership into a crisis.

Don't worry, I'm not getting carried away. We could still lose this series. But the sheer drama of this five day, five match series cannot, in my opinion, be surpassed anywhere else in sport.

And Mr Glenn McGrath seems to have shut his mouth. I sincerely hope he backed his 5-0 whitewash prediction with a substantial amount of cash.

 

[dannybcity]

And i wouldn't say losing by 100 odd runs on the final day is 'getting spanked' i wonder what your opinion would be of the first test.......(against the weakest aussie team in 20 years)

How can a draw be a 'spanking'?

 

[tommyducks]

And i wouldn't say losing by 100 odd runs on the final day is 'getting spanked' i wonder what your opinion would be of the first test.......(against the weakest aussie team in 20 years)

How can a draw be a 'spanking'?

England won!

 

[Uwe Rosler]

And i wouldn't say losing by 100 odd runs on the final day is 'getting spanked' i wonder what your opinion would be of the first test.......(against the weakest aussie team in 20 years)

How can a draw be a 'spanking'?

you can still get outplayed and have a draw!!! and that goes for football and cricket.

you cant be serious in saying that you weren't out played and lucky to get a draw? if so ive never seen a team so happy not to win

 

[tommyducks]

How can a draw be a 'spanking'?

you can still get outplayed and have a draw!!! and that goes for football and cricket.

you cant be serious in saying that you weren't out played and lucky to get a draw? if so ive never seen a team so happy not to win

Yes, we very nearly blew the first Test despite having better bowlers and batsmen. But the momentum gained by saving it, allied to making you guys field first again 4 days later, led directly to the emphatic victory at Lord's and I strongly believe we will win at least one of the remaining 3.

 

[Uwe Rosler]

you can still get outplayed and have a draw!!! and that goes for football and cricket.

you cant be serious in saying that you weren't out played and lucky to get a draw? if so ive never seen a team so happy not to win

Yes, we very nearly blew the first Test despite having better bowlers and batsmen. But the momentum gained by saving it, allied to making you guys field first again 4 days later, led directly to the emphatic victory at Lord's and I strongly believe we will win at least one of the remaining 3.

better batsmen??!!

i'm not disputing that you will win another test in the series.....but i feel we have stepped away from the original discussion.........my final say on cricket as the best game in the world... a sport where the outcome can be decided by the toss of a coin can not be the best!
2 teams not playing on equal conditions is not a good sport, it would be like playing a game of football in the wind and not changing sides at half time!

My argument was that its not the number 1 sport in australia and is on the decline and crowd figures of the last few years will prove that! Aussie rules is bar far number 1,then maybe cricket then its close between rugby and football....but football will surpass all apart from aussie rules in the future....test cricket is dying

 

[tommyducks]

But Test cricket wasn't dying two years ago when you won the series 5-0. I have known a fair few Aussies in my time and let's face it, you are a sports-obsessed nation. More importantly, just like Americans you only love it when you win. So this series will become the forgotten series just as 2006/2007 did for us - but I'm sure the fervour for Test cricket - proper cricket - will return.

I totally disagree with your criticisms of the game. Of course the toss is crucial, as is the weather, the declaration, field placings, enforcing the follow-on, targeting certain batsman, sledging and psychological warfare. The game has everything and the low attention span, short version of the game will never come close to matching the drama of an Ashes series.

 

[Uwe Rosler]

But Test cricket wasn't dying two years ago when you won the series 5-0. I have known a fair few Aussies in my time and let's face it, you are a sports-obsessed nation. More importantly, just like Americans you only love it when you win. So this series will become the forgotten series just as 2006/2007 did for us - but I'm sure the fervour for Test cricket - proper cricket - will return.

I totally disagree with your criticisms of the game. Of course the toss is crucial, as is the weather, the declaration, field placings, enforcing the follow-on, targeting certain batsman, sledging and psychological warfare. The game has everything and the low attention span, short version of the game will never come close to matching the drama of an Ashes series.

Thats just it even when we were winning it was putting people off.....cause we were winning so much and the team/players don't have the stigma around them they once did, i think most people see them as spoiled whingers!

I strongly disagree that we only love it if we win!'05' isn't forgotten and It was dying when we won 5-0 in 06/07 the only reason it was packed houses is cause we wanted to regain the ashes from you guys. Its only the ashes that generates any interest and thats only cause of our countries history and rivalry. This alone cannot sustain intrest in cricket world wide (i would love to know the t.v audiance outside eng and aus)

Eng vs Aus has and will always pull a massive crowd in any sport cause we always want to beat you and vice versa, and thats due to our countries history with each other not a particular sport....

 

[tommyducks]

BUT there isn't and never will be a bigger rivalry between us than cricket. Eng-Aus at football or rugby wouldn't interest anyone half as much (OK rugger has its fans).

KP is out of the series by the way.