Just what exactly are you talking about? Were you hiding under a rock in 2001? Go on, knock yourself out... http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/105390.html http://usa.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2001/MAR/081140_AUSIND_15MAR2001.html http://usa.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/2000-01/AUS_IN_IND/SCORECARDS/AUS_IND_T3_18-22MAR2001.html And then in 2003-2004? http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/137410.html http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/125851.html
another classic game - but more sweeter this time as the result went our way Now Australia better regroup and shuffle the XI a bit before the Trentbridge test - England thoroughly outplayed us in this match, and only a slice of luck (the rain), a gritty captain's knock and a stubborn tail saved us from the brink of going down 2-1 in the series.
Michael Kasprowicz should be restored to the XI for the next test at the expense of the out of form Jason Gillespie. I'd be surprised if our top order continued to fail in the last 2 tests. Ponting is back in form now and Clarke looks like he's in reasonable touch, now we just need Hayden and Langer (who always scores at least one century in a series) to fire and we should be right. If we can win the next test, England will crumble in the last test as the Ashes will already be retained. I'm still confident we can win the series 3-1.
I must say, regardless of the outcome of this particular series, England are going to dominate the world of cricket for next few years, especially when the stalwarts such as Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist all retire. Their squad is so young, especially their batsmen who probably still are in the process of maturing, and their bowling attacks are quite accomplished and very fit. The Australian dynasty has lasted too long, and it resulted in the new generation of players sorely lacking the international experience and class to pick-up from where their predecessors left off. Langer, Hayden, Martyn, Gilchrist are all 33-35, and won't last for more than 2 years, and in the bowling Warne/McGrath are over 35 and Gillespie has declined pre-maturely. There are probably plenty of young talents just waiting to be given a chance, no doubt, but while they take time to mature into a group of well-seasoned veterans I think England will take the next Ashes series or two and dominate the rest of the world. I fear that Ponting, Lee and Clarke are going to see a plenty of heartbreaks in the next few years
Alright now, time to wake up from the slumber for the benefit of North American who don't have much non-PPV TV coverage. Here are extended highlights of the 3rd test. And remember, these are far more detailed that the little snippets they show on the Fox Sports World Report. Enjoy! Day 1: http://media01.news.com.au/foxsports/video/120805CRIupdateFri.asf Day 2: http://media01.news.com.au/foxsports/video/130805CRIupdateSat.asf Day 3: http://media01.news.com.au/foxsports/video/140805CRIupdateWeb.asf Day 4: http://media01.news.com.au/foxsports/video/150805CRIupdateWeb.asf Day 5: http://media01.news.com.au/foxsports/video/160805CRIashesFinal.asf
You been following cricket very long eh?? even if we was to lose the next match we have a history of winning the dead rubbers in ashes series. But this is a team that doesnt crumble im afraid. You're clutching at straws if you think we're just gonna throw in the towel. never suprises me how much sh1te you spazzy green fans talk .
I think that the fitness of the England squad has been a major factor in making them competitive over the past couple of years. It used to be that there were players, major players for England, who were regularly getting injured and would be missing for crucial tests, especially the bowlers. Having a consistently fit attack has enabled the team to gel and makes the captain's job a bit easier as he gets to know his players better. A settled lineup in any team sport helps, this is the most consistent selection policy in English cricket for years. As for the third test, as well as both sides played, Ricky Ponting's second innings stood out as a great piece of batsmanship and leadership. When all around him were crumbling the captain showed his class and determination not to be beaten. The look on his face when he got out four overs from the end and thought he'd lost the game was one of utter dejection. It reminded me of Atherton's rearguard action to save a test in Johannesburg a few years ago.
Did you here me say "by anyone", i'm talking about us and them, in the ashes. Not about India or anyone else. I'm not surprised an anorak with the photographic memory of Richie Benaud would come out with stats to prove me otherwise. I was on about the fact that we haven't put them under this sort of pressure in that amount of time. Yes we've won tests against them but most have been dead rubbers. I shall endeavour to make my posts more clear in future so as not to upset a Stato like yourself.
Well Hayden has been "failing" for quite awhile now, not just these last three tests. All off England's batsmen have made contributions to this series (Tres 2 50's, Vaughan 1 ton, Strauss 1 ton, Bell 2 50's, Freddie 2 50's, the boer 3 50's) which is something which hasn't happened for a long time. You carry on letting your baggy green fall down over your eyes to hide you from the real world. There's a new kid on the block cobber (well the return of a once great kid), apart from Clarke (what is it with aussies and bleached "surf hair") your teams getting old son. Deal with it.
Boy I'm loving these comments. The Aussies have barely won a session, let alone a days play, since Lords and yet their fans are fully expecting to win the series 3-1. In your defence I can only assume you have been watching edited (favourable for the Aussie point of view) highlights of the series rather than a complete days play.
Not having an oratory vocabulary myself, I'll assume that the words "anorak" and "Stato" are meant to be complementary. Yes, it would have helped if you clarified that you were only referring to Australia being under pressure during Ashes. The way it was written, it read as if Australia has never been under such pressure for 15 years, period. (I'm sure some other less-informed readers misinterpreted that way as well. There were few newbie users who complemented me for providing that bit of information, to give a perspective. They did it outside of the format of this thread.) BTW as the 2 series results I posted indicate, those were serious test wins putting Australia under severe pressure (one of them being a loss of a series). So, previous dead-rubber wins by England are orthogonal in comparison to those test results. In fact, in 2004 Steve Waugh had said that the Australia-India rivalry matched Ashes in intensity level. http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2004/jan/01ash.htm Probably the pendulum has swinged now with this Ashes series, and the Indian team having lost some of their lustre.
Obviously old Waughy boy was being diplomatic. Would probably insert whichever country he was playing at the time into the quote, whether it be New Zealand, Pakistan, the Windies and the boers. The Australia-India rivalry may be a player rivalry but its not a fan rivalry. For the aussie fans, its always us they want to beat the most and vice versa. Though i do think the Pakistan v India games (what with the history between the countries) is more intense, thats just all out hatred. With us, we just pity the aussies, what with their all year sunshine and fabulous beaches.
Thanks for all the positive rep. These are through a back-door mechanism from Fox Sports. I wish our Fox Soccer channel's cricket section (if even such a thing is possible - I'm talking about http://msn.foxsports.com/cricket ) would share the same highlights. It appears that the various sister Fox Sports/Sky Sports organizations don't share information as transparently as they could. It's not surprising given that cricket is not FSC's charter, that they don't devote much resources to this sport. I'm surprised they have even kept the cricket and Formula-1 sections alive.
Now this clearly shows you're not a cricket fan, but rather follow it with interest only when Ashes roll around. You obviously don't know about the level of intensity during Boxing day test match of 2003 at MCG (Steve Waugh's penultimate test) and then Steve Waugh's retirement test at SCG. Any serious Aussie fan here will remember those. Entire nations of India and Australia were literally glued to the tube during those last 2 tests. It was not a derby passion like India-Pakistan, but still it was nailbiting and thrilling. Here, go on and take a look at this scoresheet. Tell me which country has piled up more than 700 runs in an innings against Australia in Australia recently, putting them under severe pressure in a potentially series losing situation at home? http://live.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2003-04/IND_IN_AUS/SCORECARDS/IND_AUS_T4_02-06JAN2004.html And which country has not lost a series to Australia in Australia recently? England of old have not done that for the longest time. The current England team may do it, but you can't count chickens before the eggs are hatched. You cannot possibly state that Waugh would diplomatically say the same about New Zealand, Pakistan or Windies and keep a straight face at the same time.
I saw some of those India Australia tests on Sky Sports. They were awesome, can't remember all the details but I think India followed on in one game and won the test! Laxman and Ganguly with big scores. Also massive crowds in India.
The batsmen in the team aren't young, but they're hardly over the hill just yet... it's hardly the same as fast bowlers. Hayden is really the only one who hasn't looked comfortable at any stage during the series. With such a long batting lineup, it's really only a matter of time until they start firing... hopefully, though, it'll happen before the show's over.
in regards to chandu and his posting of cricket highlights.. You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Chandu again.
hey, the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy is very big and huge, world wide. especially with all the history of the trophy.....
Hehehehe. Getting mighty personal there, not so fast. If you're talking "back in my old days" smack, I think I've got you beat here. That's right. Viv Richards, Marshall, Holding, Garner, all these kids ( ) came along after the West Indies team I used to follow, with Bernard Julian, Andy Roberts, etc. in it. I even remember the England team which had toured India back in those days, with Tony Lewis as the captain. But the 2 English players I remember most were Tony Greig (a fantastic person, not just a player) and wicketkeeper Alan Knott. Don't know about Ravi Shastri's batting average off the top of my head. But I do remember a strange statistic about him without looking up cricinfo. He is (or at least was at some point) the only test player to have batted at every batting position during his career. I think he started at no. 11, incredibly worked his way up to be India's opener and then dropped to some lower number before retiring. The specifics are hazy, but that particular quirk remained stuck in my mind. Anyway, enough with this threadjack. Back to Ashes. P.S. And no, I don't click on cricinfo 24 hours a day.