So it begins - Ashes 2010/2011

Originally posted by davespanners
It's certainly been quiet in this thread considering the amount of Aussies that are on ATS.

Better show my head then.

A few years back when the Aussies were at their peek,a number of Aussie coachs were employed by England to help them out of their slump (if I recall correctly) can we please have them back now Dave thanx?

Englands doing great for a change and its good to see.

Is cricket losing its popularity down under?

Good question,one I`d like to know for sure also.

At a guess I`d say yes,for a number of reasons.My opinion....

Young sportsmen although they may love the game of cricket here would rather pursue a sporting career in a feild that is easier to get into.

Its quite hard to make it into the Aussie team because they believe (selectors coach captain) in sticking with a well gelled team,rather than basing it on form.I just think there is a better way of going about it,which will encourage more new talented young blood that seems to be coming through as it is.

We are a fantastic sporting nation,when we take into account the size of our population (which is 22 mil approx) compared to other countries in the olympics and commonwealth games etc,same as New Zealand (4 mil approx)

America 305 mil
England 51 mil

So my guess is when Australia is playing badly at one sport we will change channel and watch them win at something else.

Anyway looking forward to the up and coming match.

im english but i know from watching enough cricket and other sports....australia arent done yet in the ashes.....its in your nature to win! i reckon the ashes is only going to get better. australia dont like losing and they wont give up.

IF ! australia win the ashes i think that will be enough to get people back into the sport down under.

PS. I hate my mate hes gone to australia to play cricket while im stuck in england in the freeezing cold!

Originally posted by pearcester
australia dont like losing and they wont give up.

Of coarse your right there,but Australia have been showing cracks since the loss of the likes of Warnie,Glenn Mcgrath,Gilchrist,Hayden etc etc etc when their at the top of their game,even Bret Lee at least he would trouble batsmen or steam roll through the tail end.

PS. I hate my mate hes gone to australia to play cricket while im stuck in england in the freeezing cold!

If you know what state he`s playing in,keep an eye on the weather there,if it gets over 100 degree`s on a day he`s playing,just imagine him standing around out in the feild or trying to chase down a personal ton while melting,you`ll feel much better about where you are and you can at him.

I often sit in a comfy chair with the air/con on while sipping a cold beverage and yelling at the Aussies tellin them to lift their game and what their doing wrong.

I call it the perks of getting old.

reply to post by gps777


Australia have always been consistent in their selection procedure.
The swapping and changing they are doing reeks of shear panic.

And the mere suggestion of a recall for Warne is laughable and must fill England with even more confidence.

As much as I admire the Aussie grit, determination and will to win I really can not see any serious challenge coming from them.

Australian cricket needs to ask some hard questions of itself.

Of coarse your right there,but Australia have been showing cracks since the loss of the likes of Warnie,Glenn Mcgrath,Gilchrist,Hayden etc etc etc when their at the top of their game,even Bret Lee at least he would trouble batsmen or steam roll through the tail end.

If you know what state he`s playing in,keep an eye on the weather there,if it gets over 100 degree`s on a day he`s playing,just imagine him standing around out in the feild or trying to chase down a personal ton while melting,you`ll feel much better about where you are and you can

at him.

yeah i know what you mean but siddles already troubled us along with hussey with his batting and aussies seem to have people who can bat down to 11 that always worries me.
just a shame ponting cant do anything at the moment

That could work he is abit lets say on the over weight side so he will be struggling and me and him are always horrible to each other so its going to be good knowing that!

Originally posted by Freeborn
Australia have always been consistent in their selection procedure.

Well? there was no real need to chop and change as much before,unless for injury etc

The swapping and changing they are doing reeks of shear panic.

Yeah,when the alarm bells have been ringing and the flames are licking their legs they had better start doing something.

And the mere suggestion of a recall for Warne is laughable and must fill England with even more confidence.

Yeah I laughed when Richie got upset about that,well he got upset because they weren`t asking him

As much as I admire the Aussie grit, determination and will to win I really can not see any serious challenge coming from them.

Australian cricket needs to ask some hard questions of itself.

Exactly Freeborn and is the reason why "a new broom always sweeps clean" attitude needs to be put into place,we will have to go backwards to go forwards for a while I think.

I cant believe that Micheal Clarke has remained in the team for as long as he has,yet they have been still grooming him for Captain.Johnson? I dont know whats up with him,he is one guy not to dismiss lightly,he maybe just getting used to the wieght of the new ink down his arm,who knows but geez is he having a rough time of it,like Broad who can have an off game yet good value when firing with bat and ball.

I`ve been watching cricket every year since Thomo and LIllee when I was a young fella and hooked for life, it was quite obvious serious cracks were beginning to show the last ashes.Not because we lost,but because of their performance.

Its all good though,I`m only hoping to see more fight for everyones enjoyment.

Bring it! die you English scum

Originally posted by pearcester
just a shame ponting cant do anything at the moment

Yeah Ponting has been a great Captain over the years,but its time for him to go and go quickly before he becomes a well known bad Captain.I dont know whether Hussey has a Captains head but I think he would have to fit the job until a better replacement.

That could work he is abit lets say on the over weight side so he will be struggling and me and him are always horrible to each other so its going to be good knowing that!

Unless he tells you "Naw mate we didn`t play cricket that day it was to hot so we all went down the beach,heck did you know a lot of chicks go topless down here,is it snowing there?"

4-48

I`ll tell you guys just how bad the situation of Australian cricket really is,something that all cricket loving countries would start rubbing their hands together over,who maybe tired of seeing Aussies win so often.

When I was a young fella guys like Thomo Lillee Marsh Boon Hooks etc etc were hailed as heros every kid wanted to be like them,if we weren`t paying backyard cricket we would go down to the nets at the local park after school and often found them over crowded.One of my school mates went all the way and was knocking on the door of the position that Warnie took.(Brett Mulder) if you said you didn`t love cricket back then it would have been seen as unAustralian.

It was close to that generation of kids that produced the likes of the great Aussie cricketers that recently retired and those who are on the verge of retireing now.

Now this is the part that has made my mind up on just how bad Australia is going to be into the future....Locally here we have a number of public cricket nets and over the past ten years I have only seen once two mates having a bash in the nets and I get out a lot,add to that back in my day everyones home was planted on a quarter acre block,which was great for backyard cricket,now a lot of homes take up nearly the entire block.So this says to me a complete lack of interest in playing the sport.

Australia should have seen this problem coming years ago and it should not come as a shock to Aussies either,I was panicking before the greats retired,who the heck was going to replace them.Aussie kids nowadays would rather be doing something else,maybe computer or video games or Australian rules footy? I dunno.But if you think we are playing bad now,I can only see it getting worse,gone are the days we could have taken on a team selected from the best payers from around the world.

But anyway its still very good to see the English have something to smile about with their team getting stronger each year now because they had the want to do better.Heck with your English weather and added to that the woes of a pathetic cricket team must of been almost unbearable at times.So go England! as I love to watch good cricket played no matter what country, shut the barmy army up and I`d like you guys even more.

Its not very surprising that australia find themself's in a tough position. If Australia are to win this test match they will need to bowl england out for a low total, however given Australia's bowling attack it seems very likely that England will easily overtake the total and quite likely win the test match, unless Australia can bat and bowl well.Overall a pathetic performance by Australia so far and it seems unlikely they can recover.

reply to post by keelan55


Yep.

I suppose thats to be expected when we have to mainly rely on our mediocre bowlers to score our runs. I think they get more batting practice than those at the top of the order.

Hussey and Haddin did alright as usual.

England bowled well and bowled to their feild.Good captaincy.

And the barmy army wasn`t overbearingly loud

By the way English folk its a nice day today here in Perth,perfect for cricket.

well thats just mean.......its Pi**ing down here and i can not wait for my first game of our season. lucky winter nets start first weekend of january really.

but i can wait to see pontings face at the end of this test when strauss is lifting that ern in australia!

reply to post by pearcester


Howz about we swap weather pearcester? We`ll have better chance at a draw.

Least we can say is "well yeah we suck at cricket,but its sunny!"

i would gladly swap weather with you! i dont know if id like a hot christmas tho wouldnt be right.

i remember the days when you could say. Yeah we great at cricket and its sunny cant see that happening anytime soon lol

Australia has a massive task ahead of them and if they want to win this test they have to control the day's play. If England can get to the end of day 2 with very few wickets down which seems the most likely scenerio then they will be in a commanding position, however if Australia can get their bowling form back on track and bowl well with their 4 seam bowlers then australia may have a chance to bowl England out. Anything can happen, but the odds are on England.

reply to post by gps777


Overall I think it was England's day.
Some mediocre bowling to the middle order and tail spoilt what could have been a truly memorable day, but, I'm not complaining.
I think our bowling unit has been excellent and will only improve even further with time and experience, they can be excused the occasional lapse.

I don't know where Australia go from here.
Maybe a repeat of when Allan Border was appointed Captain and he went about slowly developing a great team bit by bit.
They went through some heartache along the way though.
But I'm not sure Australia has a new budding 'Allan Border'.

I grew up watching Lillee and Thompson, they were both great bowlers but Lillee was extra special.

I was fortunate to see both play, unfortunatley in he twilight of their carear's but I still witnessed glimpses of what they were capable of.
I even got the chance to have a bit of craic with Lillee both when he was fielding on the boundary and in the bar afterwards.
A true legend.

reply to post by Freeborn


Now there`s a post that put a bigger grin on my face for a number of reasons.

Cheers Freeborn and agreed

I was doing a little bit of pondering this morning about cricket and wondered why the US and Canada aren`t involved due to English early influence etc.

I often wish more countries were involved with cricket because its a positive to our countries,I`d doubt many team sports could say or witness the whole stadium and oposing team members applaude sportsmen who earned it regardless of their origin or flag.

Heck the last Ashes there was a terror plot from from muslim extremists to blow up our Aussie team,they decidided against it because some of them liked cricket and our players.

Which got me thinking that why doesn`t/didn`t America play cricket and maybe things wouldn`t be as bad as they are in the world,so I went searching and could believe my eye`s.....

The first ever international cricket game was between the USA and Canada in 1844. The match was played at the grounds of the St George's Cricket Club in New York.

Wiki

I would never have guessed that!

I now suppose the the tensions between the US and England that stopped cricket,but then why didn`t` America and Canada continue and fourish.

Anyway the morning play is about to start so I`ll be you know where,if England smashs Australia I think this maybe whats needed to spark a fire in Aussies bellies for the next Ashes and for the future of Australian cricket.If that happens ,beware!
......................
PS pearcester

Another nice day here,though once or twice a year it may sprinkle and the locals start screaming "we must have angered the gods!" not only that! the girls start putting clothes on,its a terrible 5 minutes that I wouldn`t wish on anybody

Woohooo! the Aussie fight back!

At lunch.
England 5/119

What a dramatic turn around for Johnson he`s getting the ball to move and swing not to mention top scoring with the bat(oh I just mentioned that),seems like he has at last gotten used to the wieght of the ink down his arm.

Entertainment overload.

reply to post by gps777


WE ARE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO JOHNSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well we are in the match thats for sure OZ!


England had us on the ropes, there was going to be someone who was going to stand up and show some fight and out of the whole Aussie side I`m tickle pink it was Johnson,because he`s better than what he has recently shown.

Not to get ahead of myself but if we can somehow turn this into a win,this series is going to be super entertaining to watch for both countries.

Catch ya later.