The Official Ashes 09 Thread

[Blue down under]

A quick question for Wheelsy, Nathan, Blue Down Under or any other Aussie; Is Johnson the worst Australian bowler you have seen play? The bloke is hopeless.

there has been worse bowlers that have played odis for us lately but not test cricket.

first time i saw johnson and was taken back was in an ODI against the windies about 2 or 3 years ago. he was swinging it a mile and bowling quickly. he went away a bit after that, but real came back last aussie summer. first test against the saffers at the waca (its not as bouncey as it use to be =[ ) johnson had a spell of about 9 over, 7 wickets for 2, basically removed the whole south african team. other then that spell, he never really delievered for the remaining tests; siddle did.
then when we went over to south africa, i wouldnt say he bowled as good as his world rating suggest (3rd best test bowler eww) but he was very accurate and swung the new and old ball consistantly and as a result got a fair few wickets.
this tour it looks like he has lost all accuracy and confidence, and as a result, he is not swinging the ball. things can change, but how long will ricky ponting and the selectors wait for him?? i really hope if lee is fit next test that johnson gets a rest and works really hard to get his action right. he can come back from this, seeing as he has come back from far worse in his career. but this is the ashes, and inform players must be picked. sadly he is in terrible form.


On another note, Haurtiz has been SUPERB this series. For a guy who was said to be rubbish in the English press, he now (after just removing Ravi =]) is the equal leading wicket taker in the series. Compare this to Swann, yet to take one yet...

 

[jimharri]

I've been impressed with Hilfenhaus (sp?) so far in this series. And Hauritz is bowling very well today, considering his gammy finger.

 

[masterwig]

We could be relying on Freddie getting a big score.

Prior needs to support Collingwood for as long as possible but keep the run rate up. KP and Ravi were scoring too slowly and that caused their downfall.

 

[bizzbo]

We could be relying on Freddie getting a big score.

Prior needs to support Collingwood for as long as possible but keep the run rate up. KP and Ravi were scoring too slowly and that caused their downfall.

KP and Ravi very poor effort. never looked settled. waste of time trying to play themselves in, we've lost some initiative. now we have to up the rate to get another 80-100 tonight but also need to stay in tonight to judge the conditions tommorow.

 

[johnny on the spot]

Anyone got a decent stream?

 

[coimbatore blue]

Match is firmly in England's clasp. Its next to impossible to chase 450 in the fourth innings. My guess is that England will try to bat the first session tomorrow and give themselves 5 sessions to get the aussies out. Australia have to bat very well to save this match.

 

[masterwig]

Come on Freddie!

Smash 'em out of the game.

 

[Grohl]

Test going very well atm, what's the time they'll be coming off at today?

Should start smashing some runs all over the place, and declare at the end of the day.

A decent score over 500 for the Aussies to target, and 2 days to skittle them out sounds good to me.

 

[coimbatore blue]

Fantastic, positive innings from Prior. Unbelievable throw from North though.

 

[jimharri]

Fantastic, positive innings from Prior. Unbelievable throw from North though.

Brilliant throw from North. However, that had to be a large element of good fortune about it. To score a direct hit on a target about 40mm (?) thick from over 50 yds away? Bag another 50 or 60 runs tonight and bat for an hour in the morning, and hope the weather doesn't misbehave too much tomorrow.