The Ashes Tour 2013

[Basil B]

Back on topic classy knock from Bell again, how many runs do you think are enough ?

Indeed, Bell to England's rescue again.

Difficult to say how big a lead England need to be safe.

Anything less than 250 wont be enough, I reckon; 275 plus would be a lot safer.

But we've a very enthralling and entertaining couple of days ahead of us.

Australia's' attack severely restricted by Watson's injury; hope he will be able to bat.

If the bloody umpires don't keep taking them off every time a bit of cloud comes over the ground. That was ridiculous; 15 men on the field and 13 of them wanted to stay on and keep playing; blue sky almost over the ground and the players back on 5 minutes later!

Another hundred would be nice, maybe more, if England can stay batting till mid afternoon with a reasonable run rate.

The pitch will be degrading so finishing the assies of should be childs play, but thats been said before and I would not write the Aussies off just yet.

[Will27]

Back on topic classy knock from Bell again, how many runs do you think are enough ?

Indeed, Bell to England's rescue again.

Difficult to say how big a lead England need to be safe.

Anything less than 250 wont be enough, I reckon; 275 plus would be a lot safer.

But we've a very enthralling and entertaining couple of days ahead of us.

Australia's' attack severely restricted by Watson's injury; hope he will be able to bat.

If the bloody umpires don't keep taking them off every time a bit of cloud comes over the ground. That was ridiculous; 15 men on the field and 13 of them wanted to stay on and keep playing; blue sky almost over the ground and the players back on 5 minutes later!

Another hundred would be nice, maybe more, if England can stay batting till mid afternoon with a reasonable run rate.

The pitch will be degrading so finishing the assies of should be childs play, but thats been said before and I would not write the Aussies off just yet.

Well gang

I reckon 275 will be more than enough, but as we all know,

It's not over until the fat lady sings. All it takes is for 1 guy

to make a big one and the others bat around him.

Again, looking forward to today.

[BookMan]

As mentioned by a few...250 would be the minimum lead England would want. Good to see England turnign over some strike and upping their run rate a bit with Bell and KP.

Australia will be hoping for quick wickets in the morning. England get a led of 300+ and it will be very tough for Australia.

Shane Watson may be injured, so that wont help Australia.

An intriguing day of Cricket tomorrow

[David48]

Not only are the boys playing for pride ... they are trying to set the scene for the next series.

Hello David.

========================

I now play badminton instead. This might sound a bit gay or poofy, but actually it isn't. Badminton is great exercise and lots of fun.

In due course, I may start a badminton thread on this forum.

===========================

I'm a squash player (not good for your knee). One of the best players at the Club was also a very handy Badminton player.

Like in any game, there is a standard routine in payer and the ultimate goal is, like chess, tennis etc ... to get your opposition playing in a poor position, then to play the winning shot ... or await their mistake.

When this guy plays ... occassionally you see a few elements of badmington in his game ... much to the surprise of his opponent ... and this surprise are often winning shots.

His overheads and lob shots are excellent.

The only sport I can think of which, for me, is difficult to watch is synchronised swimming.

BTW, if there are cute girls playing the sport you are involved ... there is no shame in Badminton ...

An an aside ... I was going to write ... always play the ball and not the man ... but in Badminton you play with ... *****...

... don't tell Jingthing

[richard_smith237]

Not only are the boys playing for pride ... they are trying to set the scene for the next series.

Hello David.

========================

I now play badminton instead. This might sound a bit gay or poofy, but actually it isn't. Badminton is great exercise and lots of fun.

In due course, I may start a badminton thread on this forum.

===========================

I'm a squash player (not good for your knee). One of the best players at the Club was also a very handy Badminton player.

Like in any game, there is a standard routine in payer and the ultimate goal is, like chess, tennis etc ... to get your opposition playing in a poor position, then to play the winning shot ... or await their mistake.

When this guy plays ... occassionally you see a few elements of badmington in his game ... much to the surprise of his opponent ... and this surprise are often winning shots.

His overheads and lob shots are excellent.

The only sport I can think of which, for me, is difficult to watch is synchronised swimming.

BTW, if there are cute girls playing the sport you are involved ... there is no shame in Badminton ...

An an aside ... I was going to write ... always play the ball and not the man ... but in Badminton you play with ... *****...

... don't tell Jingthing

I play 2 hours of football twice a week - But the last time I played badminton I couldn't get in my car or sit properly for 3 days !.... Now in light of Davids "But in Badminton you play with... ****..." comment I feel I must elaborate...

Even in some form of semi-fitness a couple of hours of badminton took me apart, for the following few days it felt like I'd pulled very muscle between my knees and back, I had to lower myself into the car using my arms... the pain !!!.. Badminton is not to be taken lightly !!!... Oh, and if recent events are to be taken into account, Badminton is now a contact sport (at least where the Thai team are concerned).

Back on to Cricket:

England 1st Innings: 238 all out

Australia 1st Innings: 270 all out

England 1st Innings: 234 for 5

England lead by 202 runs with 2 days remaining...

Enland need to scratch out at least another 100 runs today before declaring... Its going to be an interesting day..

Edited August 12, 2013 by richard_smith237

[Bangkokhatter]

Anything over 250 would be hard to chase down, but 300 would be nice. Anyone care to explain why Bresnan went in ahead of Prior ? More caution from our skipper.

[theblether]

Anything over 250 would be hard to chase down, but 300 would be nice. Anyone care to explain why Bresnan went in ahead of Prior ? More caution from our skipper.

It's a unique concept called nightwatchman. I thought you knew about cricket.

[Bangkokhatter]

Anything over 250 would be hard to chase down, but 300 would be nice. Anyone care to explain why Bresnan went in ahead of Prior ? More caution from our skipper.

It's a unique concept called nightwatchman. I thought you knew about cricket.

A concept normally used to protect your front line batsmen, not your wicket keeper who has hardly scored any runs all series. I thought you were no longer interested in the series.

[theblether]

Anything over 250 would be hard to chase down, but 300 would be nice. Anyone care to explain why Bresnan went in ahead of Prior ? More caution from our skipper.

It's a unique concept called nightwatchman. I thought you knew about cricket.

A concept normally used to protect your front line batsmen, not your wicket keeper who has hardly scored any runs all series. I thought you were no longer interested in the series.

I'm still and England fan, and I still want them to do well even if it is only a bounce game. I'll email Captain Cook and tell him your not happy.

[7by7]

Blether,

All the contributors to this thread, bar you, see each test as a contest in itself as well as being part of a series, and are very much interested in the results of each test. We want to discuss and comment upon each days play, sometimes as it happens, and speculate on the next.

But your only contributions to this thread are to say that the series has no meaning anymore and that no one is interested in it anymore. One must wonder why you have joined this thread only to make such comments.

You may have no interest in the series; but this puts you in a minority of one.

Your stupendous arrogance seems to make you believe that if you repeat your nonsense often enough we will all bow down to your ego and start agreeing with you.

You are wrong.

You may have played the game for 3 years at whatever level and watched it for how ever many years after that, but that does not make you unique; nor your opinion any more valid than anyone else's.

I am sure that, like me, many other posters here have also played the game, some of us I'm sure for longer than a mere three years, and have been following it for as long, if not longer, than you.

Once more, as you have no interest in this test nor the next, go away and leave this thread to those of us who do.

[andrew]

I play 2 hours of football twice a week - But the last time I played badminton I couldn't get in my car or sit properly for 3 days !

Even in some form of semi-fitness a couple of hours of badminton took me apart, for the following few days it felt like I'd pulled very muscle between my knees and back, I had to lower myself into the car using my arms... the pain !!!.. Badminton is not to be taken lightly !!!...

All true. But an important point is that badminton is fairly safe.

Sure, you may end up with a bit of pain if you're slightly unfit, but (hopefully) you'll never seriously damage yourself.

WARNING: ADULT CONTENT AHEAD

A great thing about badminton is that it'll help you to develop upper body strength. If you guys are lucky enough to have sexy wives or GFs who are a good few years younger than you, then you'll understand what I mean.

Upper body strength is one of the keys to giving your "amours" a good service.

=========================

And that's it. I won't disrupt your rather entertaining little thread any more.

[7by7]

Anything over 250 would be hard to chase down, but 300 would be nice. Anyone care to explain why Bresnan went in ahead of Prior ? More caution from our skipper.

A good question; even if one who knows a lot less about cricket than he claims didn't understand it.

Jimmy Anderson is normally England's night watchman, yet in this series (apart from Trent Bridge where one wasn't required and he wasn't playing) it's been Bresnan. The theory being, I think, that he is good enough to make some quick runs in the morning.

It sort of made sense at Lords and Old Trafford as he was protecting Bell and Trott; but a bit odd last night as he and Prior have simply swapped places.

Maybe it's because Prior has got out to some rash shots early on in the series so far?

If Bresnan comes close to his test average (28.47) and helps Bell to 150, I guess we'll all be saying that Cook made the right decision!

Edited August 12, 2013 by 7by7

[theblether]

Anything over 250 would be hard to chase down, but 300 would be nice. Anyone care to explain why Bresnan went in ahead of Prior ? More caution from our skipper.

A good question; even if one who knows a lot less about cricket than he claims didn't understand it.

Jimmy Anderson is normally England's night watchman, yet in this series (apart from Trent Bridge where one wasn't required and he wasn't playing) it's been Bresnan. The theory being, I think, that he is good enough to make some quick runs in the morning.

It sort of made sense at Lords and Old Trafford as he was protecting Bell and Trott; but a bit odd last night as he and Prior have simply swapped places.

Maybe it's because Prior has got out to some rash shots early on in the series so far?

If Bresnan comes close to his test average (28.47) and helps Bell to 150, I guess we'll all be saying that Cook made the right decision!

Why do you think, seriously think, Bresnan was sent in last night? I know as much as you do and in my opinion, Cook has lost faith in Prior. His performance with the bat this series has been poor. I doubt very much he was held back due to an expectation of a good knock at some point today. Unless he's injured ( possible ) I'd be a bit embarrassed if I was Prior.

[7by7]

Blether, you really should read posts before using them in childish attempts to ridicule those who made them; less embarrassing for you were you to do so.

In the post of mine you have quoted I have given my reasons for why I think Bresnan may have been sent in ahead of Prior.

The theory being, I think, that he (Bresnan) is good enough to make some quick runs in the morning...........

Maybe it's because Prior has got out to some rash shots early on in the series so far?

If Bresnan comes close to his test average (28.47) and helps Bell to 150, I guess we'll all be saying that Cook made the right decision!

[7by7]

From the BBC live text at 10:20

While most of this morning's newsprint focuses on lauding Ian Bell, in the Daily Telegraph Jim White takes a look at what "has been an odd series for Alastair Cook". He writes: "The satisfaction of retaining the urn in his first Ashes encounter as England captain will have been tempered by concerns about his own contribution. True, he is ahead of Michael Clarke in the use of the DRS (and how he needed to be on Sunday when the unerring eye of technology helpfully negated the doddery incompetence of the onfield umpires). But Cook is a man who defines himself by his batting. And so far, his batting has been well short of the dazzling peak it attained in his early days as captain. When Geoffrey Boycott criticises you for being unnecessarily pedestrian, you know you have a problem."
(My Emphasis)

Unfortunately, the forecast for Chester-Le-Street today is for rain from midday.

But it was for yesterday as well!

Indeed, mid afternoon TMS, Aggers I think, read out a text from someone who lived just 4 miles away from the ground saying it had been raining there since 11 am!.

Let's hope that what could be a tight finish isn't spoiled by the weather.

Edited August 12, 2013 by 7by7

[BookMan]

From the BBC live text at 10:20

While most of this morning's newsprint focuses on lauding Ian Bell, in the Daily Telegraph Jim White takes a look at what "has been an odd series for Alastair Cook". He writes: "The satisfaction of retaining the urn in his first Ashes encounter as England captain will have been tempered by concerns about his own contribution. True, he is ahead of Michael Clarke in the use of the DRS (and how he needed to be on Sunday when the unerring eye of technology helpfully negated the doddery incompetence of the onfield umpires). But Cook is a man who defines himself by his batting. And so far, his batting has been well short of the dazzling peak it attained in his early days as captain. When Geoffrey Boycott criticises you for being unnecessarily pedestrian, you know you have a problem."

(My Emphasis)

soooooooo.... Even the English experts think England have been too slow with their run rate this series?

[7by7]

Just Cook!

BTW, edited my post while you were posting to include the weather forecast; doesn't look good.

[theblether]

Blether, you really should read posts before using them in childish attempts to ridicule those who made them; less embarrassing for you were you to do so.

In the post of mine you have quoted I have given my reasons for why I think Bresnan may have been sent in ahead of Prior.

The theory being, I think, that he (Bresnan) is good enough to make some quick runs in the morning...........

Maybe it's because Prior has got out to some rash shots early on in the series so far?

If Bresnan comes close to his test average (28.47) and helps Bell to 150, I guess we'll all be saying that Cook made the right decision!

My point is aimed at Prior, squarely at Prior. I reckon there's something amiss. Is that not a valid point?

By the way you got the because you couldn't just make your point, you had to have another snide go.

Edited August 12, 2013 by theblether

[Will27]

Guys

For those of you who may interested, here's good article by Ian Chappell

on Clarkes captaincy so far during the Ashes series and also a bit on Cook.

Like him or loathe him (Chappell), he's a straight shooter and I think it's a well

balanced article.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/661025.html

Edited August 12, 2013 by Will27

[Exsexyman]

Blether,

All the contributors to this thread, bar you, see each test as a contest in itself as well as being part of a series, and are very much interested in the results of each test. We want to discuss and comment upon each days play, sometimes as it happens, and speculate on the next.

But your only contributions to this thread are to say that the series has no meaning anymore and that no one is interested in it anymore. One must wonder why you have joined this thread only to make such comments.

You may have no interest in the series; but this puts you in a minority of one.

Your stupendous arrogance seems to make you believe that if you repeat your nonsense often enough we will all bow down to your ego and start agreeing with you.

You are wrong.

You may have played the game for 3 years at whatever level and watched it for how ever many years after that, but that does not make you unique; nor your opinion any more valid than anyone else's.

I am sure that, like me, many other posters here have also played the game, some of us I'm sure for longer than a mere three years, and have been following it for as long, if not longer, than you.

Once more, as you have no interest in this test nor the next, go away and leave this thread to those of us who do.

Yes, i'm sure that most people on this thread have played the game, at various levels. In my experience to truly understand all the nuances of this great game it helps to have played it. But of course us lesser mortals only 'played' the game, the blether had a career, so of course he must have been a professional and got paid! But only three years? I wonder why! Was his 'career' curtailed by injury? Was his central contract not renewed? Perhaps he had a 'flounce' and took his bat home because his team mates were too blind to recognise his obvious superior skills and knowledge, and wouldn't make him captain! That is quite believable. Or maybe he wasn't awarded his 'cap' because one hadn't yet been manufactured in a large enough size to fit his head! Now that is very believable!

[BookMan]

Guys

For those of you who may interested, here's good article by Ian Chappell

on Clarkes captaincy so far during the Ashes series and also a bit on Cook.

Like him or loathe him (Chappell), he's a straight shooter and I think it's a well

balanced article.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/661025.html

I have never been a huge fan of Clarke's captaincy. Not so much his tactical abilities, which are okay, more his leadership of team mates and his seeming ability to create and not manage division.

[Will27]

Guys

For those of you who may interested, here's good article by Ian Chappell

on Clarkes captaincy so far during the Ashes series and also a bit on Cook.

Like him or loathe him (Chappell), he's a straight shooter and I think it's a well

balanced article.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/661025.html

I have never been a huge fan of Clarke's captaincy. Not so much his tactical abilities, which are okay, more his leadership of team mates and his seeming ability to create and not manage division.

I'm with you. He just doesn't inspire me as a leader of men. Having said that though, I think it was a case of there

was no one else around. Even now, if Clarke were to miss a test, Haddin would step in but after him, I can't see

anyone else.

I do think though that he's grown into the job and has improved. I don't think Ponting was a very good captain

either but he had the advantage of having a great side.

[7by7]

Well, it seems we've just seen why Prior wasn't sent in last night!

Congrats to Harris on his fivefor.

[PoolHustler]

any live streams for this please

[7by7]

any live streams for this please

Try here for radio commentary from TMS on the BBC.

There are some earlier in the topic for TV in Thailand.

[theblether]

Guys

For those of you who may interested, here's good article by Ian Chappell

on Clarkes captaincy so far during the Ashes series and also a bit on Cook.

Like him or loathe him (Chappell), he's a straight shooter and I think it's a well

balanced article.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/661025.html

I like this comment, of course I would.......

There's some truth in this, but Ian Chappell's also being fairly selective with the facts. Clarke was not especially aggressive at Old Trafford, and it cost Australia the chance of a win. He could have declared the first innings sooner, or batted on with a bit more aggression to really make England struggle against the follow-on. Instead, he settled for a score that was neither one thing nor the other. And in the second innings, a captain who was the gambler that Chappell claims he is would have declared when England needed 280.

I also fail to see what's aggressive about consistently using your most reliable quick bowler (I'm talking over 3-4 years here) as second or even third change. Bizarre, to say the least.

Finally, aggression needs to be tempered by common sense. He's shown precious little of that when refusing to post a third man to Bell. As well as Bell has batted, he's made about 40% of his runs down there.

He knew the weather was coming and he didn't give his team a chance. Poor captaincy. If he had more bottle this test match could have really meant something.

[Bangkokhatter]

If Bresnan was indeed promoted above Prior and the decision was Cook's then i shall have to eat some humble pie. Fine innings so far from Bresnan. Not sure whats happened to Prior's batting, but he can't buy a run at the minute.

[theblether]

If Bresnan was indeed promoted above Prior and the decision was Cook's then i shall have to eat some humble pie. Fine innings so far from Bresnan. Not sure whats happened to Prior's batting, but he can't buy a run at the minute.

If we can stop the chipping for a minute then there is an issue here. Prior is obviously well out of sorts and we could do without him having a crisis of confidence before the Winter series.

[Will27]

Guys

For those of you who may interested, here's good article by Ian Chappell

on Clarkes captaincy so far during the Ashes series and also a bit on Cook.

Like him or loathe him (Chappell), he's a straight shooter and I think it's a well

balanced article.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/661025.html

I like this comment, of course I would.......

There's some truth in this, but Ian Chappell's also being fairly selective with the facts. Clarke was not especially aggressive at Old Trafford, and it cost Australia the chance of a win. He could have declared the first innings sooner, or batted on with a bit more aggression to really make England struggle against the follow-on. Instead, he settled for a score that was neither one thing nor the other. And in the second innings, a captain who was the gambler that Chappell claims he is would have declared when England needed 280.

I also fail to see what's aggressive about consistently using your most reliable quick bowler (I'm talking over 3-4 years here) as second or even third change. Bizarre, to say the least.

Finally, aggression needs to be tempered by common sense. He's shown precious little of that when refusing to post a third man to Bell. As well as Bell has batted, he's made about 40% of his runs down there.

He knew the weather was coming and he didn't give his team a chance. Poor captaincy. If he had more bottle this test match could have really meant something.

But the guy who made that comment has no idea as well.

If you look hard enough, you will always find someone else

who agrees with you.

Why don't you post something from a respected player or

commentator who agree's with you?

Let me see, listen to a respected ex-captain like Chappell, or

a season campaigner like theblether

[cdnvic]

Those of you who have seen your posts disappear can cut the personal arguments now or take some enforced time off. You both know better.