Congratulations Australian Cricket Team.

Not sure how many cricket fans there are here on ATS.

Cricket is probably my favourite sport, I can literally watch every ball of any game.
I really enjoy watching T20 and one dayers are great.
For me Test cricket has everything - it is exactly what it says; a Test of every facet of the game.

I'm not going to try and explain the game, it's nuances or its history.
But in my eyes the pinnacle of Test cricket, and possibly even sport in general, is The Ashes.
And whilst other cricket fans may appreciate the historical relevance etc of The Ashes I think its fair to say that only we Brits and Aussies fully understand what it means to both sets of fans, supporters and players etc.

In recent encounters England has enjoyed the upper hand and have given Australia something of a drubbing.
At one point England was even rated the best Test team in the world, and they were indeed a fantastic team.

Earlier in the summer England succesfully defended The Ashes at home in England.

Australia handled defeat with remarkable grace and both Clarke the Captain and Lehman the Coach won over many cricket fans in the manner which they conducted themselves.

For some bizarre reason, (something to do with the Test championship or something), a return series was scheduled for this winter.

Australia have dominated England in every single department.
They obviously learnt many lessons from the summer series and have worked exceptionally hard in between.
They've applied themselves to every single aspect of the game and have humiliated England on the pitch.
Yes, they've played hard - nothing wrong with that in my book - but they've been fair and again have been beyond reproach in their attitude. They have epitomised true Aussie grit and are a credit to their nation.

On the other hand England have been nothing but a disgrace.
All of their big names have been abject failures and question marks must be asked of both Cook in his role as Captain and Flower the coach and all his backroom staff.
There has been something seriously wrong behind the scenes and in their preparation and attitude.
The only players who look like coming out of this tour with any sort of respectability are Broad and Stokes and I suppose there's still time for the newcomers Ballance and Borthwick to enhance their reputations.

Botham summed it up - they are an embarrassment.

That's in no way intended to take anything away from the Australian players who have performed brilliantly.

But England have been found wanting in so many ways, not least in their lack of balls and shear guts.

Once again England must learn from Australia and perform some of that brutal honesty that they are renowned for and take drastic action if we are to recover from the desperate position England Test cricket team is now in.

Congratulations to Australia, I only hope we have recovered sufficiently to give more of an account of ourselves when next we meet in 2015.

I completely agree with everything you said and your analysis is very well articulated.

England have enjoyed a period of greatness recently and, as an avid cricket fan myself, I have been very proud of the performances and dominance we have had for a spell. Our world beating bowling from Jimmy Anderson has been a great help, as has our excellent fielding.

However, anyone who also watches England in various sports has to admit that the teams seem to collapse when put under a certain amount of pressure. I say "certain amount" because it appears to happen when both teams are 100% and the media are over speculating. When, for example, England lose a key player or get a red card in football, we will then fight like lions and tough out a win or draw so it is perhaps a weird psychological problem.

This isn't to say that Australia have thoroughly thrashed England with great performances, because it is clear to see how hard they have worked. I have just realized after watching England for so long at various sports, that there seems to be a pattern in the drubbings we get.

Well done to Austalia, and God Bless Mitchell Johnson's tash.

reply to post by Freeborn


G,day mate. Yes quite a turnaround from the northern hemisphere summer of cricket in the land of my forefathers.
Well done chap to take it on the chin. you ever come down to aussie give me a u2u its my shout at the pub and you have a swag to hoochie up with north off Adelaide. my place. and i will try to put bally001 on the spot to see you right in NSW. but you must remember he is ex navy and therefore needs prayer and understanding lol. he will friiggin ringbark me for dobbing him in lol. take care bloke

reply to post by DARKJEDIG


Indeed the Tash was a thing of magnificance!

I didn't get much of a chance to see any of the tests this year, but it's good to see the Aussies rebuilding a bit. Personally, I lost a tonne of interest when they gave Andrew Symonds the boot because he skipped training to have a fishing trip and a few beers. He was in top form, and was just being a bloke enjoying a bit of blokey time with mates. It deflated the entire team I think, and the old gaurd started retiring and getting dumped. Anyhoo, it's nice they are getting in form again, but the highlight of this series was most definately Brett Lee vs. Piers Morgan.

He got what he deserved. Brett Lee has copped a lot for this punishment, but Morgan asked for it, pure and simple. (skip to 2:30 for the full over)

reply to post by DARKJEDIG


G,day mate, yes i agree.
now just to ark up (upset) the yanks and canucks. when baseball first started it was played on a cricket pitch.
also GODs Angels in heaven have a cricket team. not a bloody baseball team.
put on a flak jacket mate i hear incoming. lol

reply to post by Qumulys


G,day mate piers morgan is he that wanker that hates guns and reckons we would be better off if no one had one. er except the coppers who dont know how to use em and the govt who dont know how to look after em.
plain to see he has not been to Adelaide or Sydney since Canberra took away our guns to ensure a safe and compliant society. bring yer own friggin flak jacket you'll bloody well need it
. OH bugga yer not allowed to have one.
guess what. you dont get to go home alive.

Man, this thread just convinced me to watch cricket. I'm gonna check it out. Thanks, guys!

reply to post by pronto


Crikeys pronto!! Put me in a spot now. Staunch cricket supporter that I am I'd have a hard time with the balmy army here watchin channel nine. Then again they may not like me beers - they're ice cold flavoured. Yeah, and now its known in the open paddock, I'm ex navy an all. Goodness knows who'll turn up.

Thats another case of ice colds you owe me son. Go the aussies. Tragic for the white and reds but honourable foes I admit and I enjoy watching the green and gold thrash them and the kiwis.

Bally

reply to post by Freeborn


I believe the weather was on your side during your "summer"

And a little rhyme for you...

Catches win matches but 'tashes win Ashes.

reply to post by AlphaHawk


England have been on the slide for a couple of years now.
We only won The Ashes here in our 'summer' because we had a few exceptionally good days separated by many mediocre one's.

Australia changed coaches during the series and looked at the series as something of a rebuilding exercise all geared towards regaining the urn during your home series.
And that's exactly what you've done.

Australia worked very hard - England rested on their laurels and assumed they were better cricketers.....but they quite obviously aren't.

Cook has been found out as a batsman and looks a shadow of the player he once was. His on field captaincy has been pretty poor really.
He needs to go away and concentrate on what he does well....which is score runs, his record prior to the last two series has been second to none.

Anderson was at one point possibly the best seam /swing bowler in the world. He too hasn't done anything of note for 2 series now. What's gone wrong with him?

England took 3 tall pace bowlers yet only played one in the first Test and one in the last Test.
Who selected them and why?
Selectors, coaches and the players themselves must share the blame and responsibility.

Swann was the greatest all round spinner in the game 12-24 months ago. He was always relied upon to give his all for the cause and fight to the end. Yet he quits all cricket mid-tour, why? There's something wrong somewhere.

Trott's mental frailties were apparently well known by all - should he have been allowed to go on such a long and high pressure tour so soon after the demanding summer series?
Something seriously amiss here.

Pietersen consistently under performs. He's not the only one yet he seems to be the one facing most of flak back home even though he's got more runs than any other English player on the tour.

Bell has really manned up recently and shown himself to be a class batsman. Barring one innings he's looked like a scared rabbit caught in a cars headlights on this tour.

Despite a promising start Carberry seems to have gone into himself.

Matty Prior was Mr Reliable - this tour he was average at best behind the stumps and appalling with the bat.

How have so many quality cricketers gone backwards at the same time or developed 'issues'?

None of this should detract from excellent performance of the Aussies.
They did their homework, developed a plan and implemented it very well.
Every one of their players has stepped up to the plate at some point during the series.
They've pulled for each other and played very hard but fair and have been incredibly gracious with it.

England need to look long and hard at themselves, ask some awkward questions of themselves, look at what Australia have done and take note.
We have some exceptionally talented cricketers - they need to start showing it, working hard, grow some balls and stop being pretentious prima donnas.

Sorry for the rant like nature but its hard to fully express the embarrassment and indignation I feel at present.

reply to post by bally001

Then again they may not like me beers - they're ice cold flavoured.

Like all Northerners I know there's only one way to drink beer - cold, very cold.

Goodness knows who'll turn up.

Who knows, one of these days I may just turn up unannounced....would have to drag pronto along for the ride as well.

Tragic for the white and reds but honourable foes I admit and I enjoy watching the green and gold thrash them and the kiwis.

That's the worst of it - we just laid down and didn't put up any sort of fight....a national disgrace.

And I assure you, there's nothing more I enjoy than watching us beat the Aussies, at anything but especially cricket.
You can always guarantee that Australia will somehow try and make a fight of things.

Australians - the only people apart from us Brits who see humour in almost every situation and like nothing better than taking the piss out ourselves and each other.

As for Piers Morgan, he's a complete tosser - we should just leave him with the Yanks, it seems quite a good fit.

reply to post by Qumulys


LOL I saw that and I thought Brett Lee should have just aimed for his neck/head area the whole time and done us all a favour. Piers Morgan isn't liked in the U.S., England, Or Australia and quite frankly its been proved he is involved in several criminal activities but that's for another day.

I got to watch most of the ashes but I am living in the U.S. now so I had to find alternative methods of watching .

I have to say, Brett Lee's face when bowling lol, if you watch cricket a lot and have seen him from '05 upwards you will see the anger in his face every time he's running at you with the ball. His face is bright red and clenches his teeth, its great.

on a side note, if they brought in t20 to the U.S. (they have some games down in Ft. Lauderdale, FL) I think it would catch on. But they have to explain the rules first!