Off Topic The Official Ashes 2013 Thread

The Ashes 2013

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As with Wimbledon I thought it prudent to set to a thread to discuss all things Ashes as there seems to be quite a bit of interest in all matters cricket across the board. I'll unsticky it when the footy season starts or sooner if the thread doesn't get used.

Schedule

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Betting (ladbrokes)
England 5-0 (12/1)
England 4-0 (8/1)
England 4-1 (12/1)
England 3-0 (7/1)
England 3-1 (6/1)
England 3-2 (16/1)
England 2-0 (12/1)
England 2-1 (7/1)
England 1-0 (25/1)
Australia 5-0 (100/1)
Australia 4-0 (66/1)
Australia 4-1 (50/1)
Australia 3-0 (40/1)
Australia 3-1 (20/1)
Australia 3-2 (25/1)
Australia 2-0 (40/1)
Australia 2-1 (12/1)
Australia 1-0 (40/1)
Drawn Series 0-0 (100/1)
Drawn Series 1-1 (12/1)
Drawn Series 2-2 (7/1)

 

4-0 to England. One test is bound to be lost to rain

 

Hope it doesn't affect the fourth Test, I'll be going to Chester-le-Street.

 

I'm thinking 3-1 to England.
I expect us to have a blip in one game and if course one to be a draw due to rain.

 

I am there on the Friday. You couldn't be confident though up here. Start of August but still a fingers crossed job. I can't wait.

 

3-0 / 3-1, I wont have a bet, I don't want to stiffen our chances.

Hate to say it, but nothing compares to Lords ffor a game of cricket though.

Fantastic atmosphere.

 

Think everyone is seriously underestimating the Aussies. They won't just roll-over. Would love a 5-0 but just can't see it.

 

Don't think many people will expect a 5-0, not even the optimistic Aussies.

 

It's only 12/1 in the betting AB and watching yesterday several of the pundits are asying it. Some are even saying we'll win the 5 over there as well!

 

The Aussies will battle like alley cats in a Test Series, can't see it being a whitewash no matter how poor the team is.

 

Just noted this on the Live Text and TMS commentary on BBC:

"Rapid refreshments consumed faster than David Warner with a Jagerbomb, James Faulkner returns to the Australian attack. Zip on his yellow shirt open, low action and close to the stumps, the left-armer mixes his pace, causing Mathews to scamper and dive to beat wicketkeeper Wade's throw. Four singles from it, here comes the batting powerplay..."

Its way to easy to laugh at the Aussies at present. They are like the Sunderland (I'd say Newcastle United but its still easier to laugh at Sunderland in the main) of international cricket.

 

Have to agree with this, The Oval is always a good bet for a draw, and the Aussie's like Lords

 

£80 for the Saturday at Durham is a travesty, really is.

 

Is shocking, but the costs of hosting a test match is ridiculous now.

 

I remember going to the Scarborough Cricket festival many times and it was a fiver in for bairns.
They are just taking the piss now.
I'd rather get hammered in the pub and have enough left at the end of the night for some food and Taxi.

 

Yeah but they were good Aussie teams with the ridiculously skilful McGrath. His use of the slope was superb.

In Steven Finn we have the ultimate Lords bowler, as you'd expect being his home ground. Then you have Broads record there and the obvious skill of Anderson. Swanny has been hit and miss there. I also think, and I'm unashamedly biased here, that Onions is a much better option than Bressers for that Lords test. The slope suits Onions wicket to wicket style as he'll get a few to nip back for Lb's.

We battered them there last time and this team is even worse!

I just can't see how the Aussies win a test. I could see it last time because Ponting, Clarke, Hussey and a bit of North could make runs and our top order can always collapse like a jenga tower. This time though I'm not sure they have the batting to capitilise. Clarke is still around and is better than ever but after that what have you got? Watson is good for a 50 but rarely goes on. Hughes and Warner are easy meat for our bowlers. Cowan and Khawaja aren't ready to cope with this kind of pressure. The only one I'm slightly unsure on is Rogers. Significant experience and proven in the conditions. It is a slightly diifferent pressure in an Ashes series though.

I'm never massively confident where England are concerned, but Austrailia look rank.

 

To be fair, I think when England beat them at Lords in 2009, it was the first time we'd beat them there in tests since 1937, hardly just the Glenn McGrath et al era.

 

I don't think the Aussies dominance over us in these periods has been exclusively confined to Lords though. If you look through history they have been better than us for the majority of that time bar a good spell in the late 70's and 80's. We've been humped with the Aussies winning 3 tests or more, more times than any Englishman cares to remember! I think they still have a positive record in terms of tests in England sadly, and this despite our early dominance over them. Bastards.

 

Met a rather nice Australian traveller on the Metro home... He needed help with the ticket machine and didn't know where to get off, so I assured him I'd help (missed an earlier Metro to do so, which was a bit of a b****, but there we go). We got to chatting and he was telling me about how he's backpacking and been to Scandinavia etc, and then we talked about sports he liked... He didn't mention cricket or rugby, so of course I found the nearest battered remnants of a Metro paper, pulled it tight to my face, and thought "f*** him, he can find South Gosforth by himself".

He got off at Fawdon in the end

 

Ooooohhhh, you are awful.