Off Topic The Official Ashes 2013 Thread

It is just difficult to see where they will get runs from to prevent it. I thought if Watson and Clarke hit their straps early, then maybe there might be some tight moments. Watson doesn't look like an opener, at least not in english conditions. He'll often get off to quick starts, hit some glorious cover drives, but eventually he is getting one on the pad. If you play across the line that many times, it'll get you in the end. The ball moves about too much for that style. I wouldn't care the bloke can play straight, he just lacks patience. Clarke is feeling the pinch, he doesn't look in horrendous nick at times, but one brain fart follows another.

The rest I just can't see it myself. Hughes is technical wise a walking wicket. He gets into some bizarre positions. Fine for T20 but ruthlessly exposed in test cricket. Lets not forget we are yet to encounter a quick bouncy pitch either so we haven't even had to test that short ball weakness Freddie exposed. We may not of course with this weather.

Khawaja actually looked ok for the first time yesterday, I liked his technique. Kept it simple. Whether the Ashes is the best place to flourish is debateable, maybe if you're the team on top. Rogers is ok and has had some shockers, and his confidence will have taken a pounding. He'll be questioning himself, asking if he good enough for test cricket or just another county/shield cricketer.

We have to remember England are below par too. We are winning without getting out of 2nd gear in the main. Yes Bell and Root had to produce three fabulous knocks, and Jimmy a great spell of bolwing to win these first two tests, but Trott, Cook and Pietersen who are our heavy hitters have been out of sorts. Trott looks in great nick but hasn't made it count. KP is having one of those spells he goes through and Cook's fantastic run has come to an end. He has not always loved English conditions and has had a few issues if you can the ball moving just outside off. Swann is below par for him too despite his wickets.

I can't see it getting much better for them down under either because Cook looks those wickets where his square of the wicket play really comes into its own with the bounce. Trott, Prior and KP too. Root looks tailor made for their wickets and Belly is looking better than ever. Bothams 10-0 doesn't actually seem that far fetched for all it is unlikely.

 

Amazingly this isn't true. Sports like football, rugby union and league, basketball, aussie rules etc. have completely destroyed Aussie cricket. Kids have no interest in cricket anymore

 

I think you are mistaking those sports diluting the interest in cricket, with destroying it. Spend a bit of time with Aussies, and you'll soon find that thye still love their cricket. Watch test matches over there against any nation, let alone England, they are still packed out. They've undoubtedly had their wings clipped but cricket is still big business in Austrialia, and the kids are still loving it (a bit more T20 Big Bash stuff than tests maybe but one will lead to another)

Rugby (both codes), Aussies Rules, Cricket are the premier sports, and the ones the kids want to be more than any other. Football (soccer for them) has grown as has basketball but they still don't match the big three.

 

No DG is right. Unless they're all serially bad losers (smelly convicts) and just refuse to attach themselves to the embarrassment, cricket has certainly taken a dive in popularity, and a marked one. It still has a good following, but when I start to grin maliciously when I hear an Aussie accent at work, it invariably ends with them admitting no interest in the sport (and asking if I'm always so creepy). I'm sure I've read about the decline on bbc sport before as well. But I could be making that up.

 

As I say declined, yes, destroyed, no. I'm sure I read it is still the third biggest sport in the land of Oz based on TV viewing figures, participation and spectating. Aussies Rules and Rugby have always been massive. Footy etc have ate into crickets popularity but it is still big business. The Big Bash is huge. Certainly my cousin who lives over there says its still massive. The NRL and AFL are the big ones though and one son wants to be a league player, one wants to be Warne (not sure why, he's a bit of a belltop)

 

Speaking to the (admittedly few) Aussies I know, they say that there is very little interest in cricket (unless they are playing the poms). Quite possibly it is different in different provinces, but its definitely a reason wy the Aussies are so **** at it these days

 

David Warner's been involved in another altercation this time on the pitch playing for Australia A, things just get worse for them.

 

To be honest the main reason is they got really lazy and complacent. Not uncommon when you reach the heady heights they did. They relaxed a bit because they were unbeatable for so long. They had no long term plan of what happens when guys retire. If it wasn't for Ponting and Hussey sticking it out a little longer, they'd have been in this strife a whole lot earlier. You can't just watch Hayden, Langer, Ponting, Hussey, Gillespie, Lee, McGrath, Warne, Gilchrist, Martyn, Lehmann etc retire and say "oh well, its just a cycle, we'll wait for the next batch". Its just way too passive. Its the one area we have always had the one up on the Aussies. We have great structure to our coaching and production line.

The main thing they lost was getting the 30 plus guys involved in the coaching side. Their best coaches have all went round the world for employment. You only have to look at Cooley and Saker, great bowling coaches. Cooley has now been tempted back but for too long he was lost to their system. The advent of T20 has impacted of course. Big money and big business there. So cricket is still huge, but test cricket has taken a huge knock. Yes T20 keeps the youngsters interested in cricket, but it doesn't prepare them for test cricket. Its all coming home to roost now as they look a team who can't be bothered to bat long periods.

Partcipation is undoubtedly down though. That is natural and if they do rise again (which they will eventually), that participation will rise again.

 

Played it down massively, as have cricket austrialia. Supposedly umpires intervened on more than one occasion. He just can't seem to keep himself out of the wrong spotlight. Not the best after you have just given a series of interviews how you have learned from your mistakes. I don't have a big issue with the sledging with the wickie getting feisty, just timing wise, probably would have been wise to avoid!

 

What they need is a Director of Cricket, enter JK!

 

we are the same stage we were in the early 80s. a team cannot lose players such as Waugh, warne, McGrath, hayden, langer, gilchrist etc and replace them all at once. I think we have tried 20 odd spinners since warne retired. regarding other sports - league is #1 in qld and nsw, aussie rules in vic, tas, sa, wa and nt. union is getting big in qld, nsw, vic, act and wa. football is getting bigger but to say kids don't play cricket is not true. I believe the 31 recreation over here is fishing believe it or not.

as to our side - Watson is a #6, not an opener. Rodgers a waste of space, hughes an enigma, cowan should be dropped, Clarke, when he is hot he burns but I dunno. maybe we should turn the batting order upside down. if only we had mr swann.

 

and wtf has mr warner been up to, heard nothing over here, you have a scoop

 

I don't think its anything too bad with Warner. he was being heavily sledged by the SA wicket keeper and it got a bit heated. I think Warner took to Twitter and was just chuckling about it saying it was all good fun. The umps felt it warranted a bit of input and I suppose he could do without the publicity but no big deal.

I defo think Watson needs to shift down. Particularly over here where the duke tends to move around. It is frustrating for an Aussie though because he is a talented lad, and just has this one technical fault. I think they did the right thing not playing him in the tour match. He is better working on something like that with Lehmann in the nets.

Regardless of how much planning was done, there is only so much you can do to combat losing so many great players. I did think it would be Warne and McGrath that would be the killer. Your bowling is not too bad though. Not what it was but still able to get wickets. Its the batsmen you miss most. T20 worldwide seems to making some forget how to bat for hours on end. Everyone wants to be Sehwag!

 

totally agree with all the above comments

 

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He will never learn, seem to remember him playing for Durham and him having questionable commitment to the cause.

 

3rd test today. Hope the weather holds. Sun today but then the forecast looks a bit iffy!

 

Come on! Win this one and the 5-0 becomes very possible. I do think they are poor but test match cricket is rarely as simple as it looks on form or paper. I just can't see them handling our attack. Lets hope Cookie does the right thing and wins the toss again. Not a pitch you want to be batting last on if reports are to be believed.