The Ashes 2006

[Old Croc]

Boost for Australia's Ashes confidence

Tuesday May 16 22:17 AEST

Australia's belief it has lent rather than lost the Ashes to England can only have been strengthened by the home's side's inept performance against Sri Lanka over the past three days.

The Sri Lankans were down and out at Lord's on Saturday after being forced to follow on 359 runs behind. Fourteen hours later they were still batting in their second innings when bad light stopped play for the final time.

With the Ashes rematch starting in November, England had expected a comfortable victory against a transitional Sri Lankan side which rarely travels well.

Instead, after losing to Pakistan and drawing with India in the off-season, it has now failed to put away the third of the sub-continental teams in conditions theoretically ideal for the England fast bowlers.

Abysmal catching was the source of the problem and if England had held the nine chances which went begging it would have won comfortably. Also, although none of the bowlers performed badly in the second innings, they lacked penetration on a Lord's pitch admittedly offering little assistance.

Lack of experience at all levels was probably the key factor.

Acting captain Andrew Flintoff gave a lion-hearted performance with the ball, bowling 51 overs in the second innings. His captaincy, though, lacked imagination and he singularly failed to put extra pressure on the tailenders.

When Flintoff was off the field, Andrew Strauss took over although it is only two years since he made his Test debut.

Moreover three of the bowlers - Sajid Mahmood, Liam Plunkett and Monty Panesar - were playing their first internationals in England.

England's regular captain Michael Vaughan, who consistently out-witted his Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting in last year's Ashes series, is making a slow recovery from the latest injury to his troubled right knee and may not play in the three-Test series against Sri Lanka.

If fit he will return for the four-Test series against Pakistan.

Steve Harmison, England's leading strike bowler, is expected to be fit for the second Test against Sri Lanka, which will take some of the burden off Flintoff.

In public, at least, Flintoff was not downhearted.

"We played some good cricket and got into some good positions," he told a news conference.

"We know the Sri Lankans can fight and they have some talented players in their dressing room, but our confidence has not been dented as a team and we're still expecting to win the series.

"I think the way they batted in the first innings gave a false representation of the pitch - it was still a very good wicket and they came out and applied themselves in the second innings.

"There are a few tired legs but the mood in the dressing room was great, they're a good bunch of lads and enjoy playing cricket for England.

"They would have liked to have come out of this game with a win, but there are a lot of positives coming out of it."

Edited May 16, 2006 by Old Croc

[chuchok]

England's regular captain Michael Vaughan, who consistently out-witted his Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting in last year's Ashes series, is making a slow recovery from the latest injury to his troubled right knee and may not play in the three-Test series against Sri Lanka

I liked this part.

[Old Croc]

England's regular captain Michael Vaughan, who consistently out-witted his Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting in last year's Ashes series, is making a slow recovery from the latest injury to his troubled right knee and may not play in the three-Test series against Sri Lanka

I liked this part.

You pommy bastard!

[chuchok]

England's regular captain Michael Vaughan, who consistently out-witted his Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting in last year's Ashes series, is making a slow recovery from the latest injury to his troubled right knee and may not play in the three-Test series against Sri Lanka

I liked this part.

You pommy bastard!

That's low mate!

[mittheimp]

Inexperience and youth is better than papering over the cracks with some other 30somethings!!!!

Players can get more experienced they can't get younger!!!! Ha Ha Ha

But well done Sri Lanka they batted really well and totally deserved the draw! I'm not convinced flintoff is best utilised as a captain!

[Old Croc]

Inexperience and youth is better than papering over the cracks with some other 30somethings!!!!

Players can get more experienced they can't get younger!!!! Ha Ha Ha

But well done Sri Lanka they batted really well and totally deserved the draw! I'm not convinced flintoff is best utilised as a captain!

I don't think it was so much Sri Lankas batting as the English catching. They reportedly dropped 11 catches! A couple I saw on TV couldn't have been easier.

[lampard10]

. They reportedly dropped 11 catches!

Bad light.

Were they as easy as the one Warnie dropped to present England with the Ashes?

[Old Croc]

. They reportedly dropped 11 catches!

Bad light.

Were they as easy as the one Warnie dropped to present England with the Ashes?

Very similar, but more of them.

(It was nice to see the English recognise Warnes greatness by having him deliver the match ball at the recent FA cup final.)

Edited May 24, 2006 by Old Croc

[ProfessorFart]

I love it when the Aussies start crowing 6 months in advance.

Can someone write to Glen McGrath and ask him to predict another 5-0 whitewash and can someone shake Siam Superfly out of his slumber to do an 'Ashes future post'.

[lampard10]

Are Australia going to "warm up" against Bangladesh again?

[Old Croc]

Nice start boys! Methinks you are a bit obsessed with Tsetse Lampy.

But he has been quiet. As has McGrath.

I think Australia plays against the Banglis less than any of the other major test nations. (The recent tour, when they almost buggered up the first game, was the first ever time there)

OK, a prediction 3-1 Australia!

[Pink Mist]

England's regular captain Michael Vaughan, who consistently out-witted his Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting in last year's Ashes series, is making a slow recovery from the latest injury to his troubled right knee and may not play in the three-Test series against Sri Lanka

I liked this part.

You pommy bastard!

That's low mate!

should have qualified the pommie part, they are south pacific poms mate

[Old Croc]

England's regular captain Michael Vaughan, who consistently out-witted his Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting in last year's Ashes series, is making a slow recovery from the latest injury to his troubled right knee and may not play in the three-Test series against Sri Lanka

I liked this part.

You pommy bastard!

That's low mate!

should have qualified the pommie part, they are south pacific poms mate

5555555555

[Old Croc]

The Ashes 2006-07

Ashes ticket system an 'overwhelming' success

A world-record crowd could attend the MCG on Boxing Day

Cricket Australia is not worried about "leakage" to England supporters for the Ashes after 128,500 people registered for their priority ticket scheme. Early seats go on sale on June 1 and there have been some concerns that United Kingdom fans have abused the internet system introduced to protect grounds from being over-run by overseas visitors.

Peter Young, a Cricket Australia spokesman, said the registration method had been an "overwhelming" success, but he expected some Australian-based English supporters had slipped through the system. "The experts say there is going to be some leakage and we're not particularly worried about that," Young said in the Sydney Morning Herald. "It was designed with one simple principle in mind and that is what is the best way we can go about ensuring that as many Australian fans as possible can get in early and see their team?

"There will be some leakage but we're confident that most people buying tickets on June 1 will be the mums and dads of Australia buying for themselves and their two kids. Certainly the system we've set up seems to be popular because we've been completely overwhelmed in the rush and 128,500 people enrolling tells us ... people find it to be a user-friendly way of getting into the queue."

Supporters registering for the Australian Cricket Family, who have a two-week buffer before tickets going on general release, had to provide an Australian address and mobile number as proof of where they lived. However, Paul Roach, who told the paper at the weekend he was a co-founder of the Concerned Australian Cricket Supporters, said the English were "signing up like mad".

"Every single Pom I know, and every single Pom they know, is on the list," he said. "In calling it the Australian Cricket Family they're inferring it is a privilege and something special for Australian fans - and that's appropriate. But their checks and balances aren't stringent enough to prevent as many Poms joining as Aussies."

The registration site closed on Monday night and Young said they were "overwhelmed by the level of interest". "There was an initial rush in that first week [in February]," he told AAP. "It was pretty consistent over the next couple of months. Then in the last week or so, with the cut-off looming, we've had another rush of people signing up."

Cricket Australia expects most first-day seats to sell out on June 1 and is hoping to set a new mark for attendance at the MCG on Boxing Day. "Some people are daring to whisper that it could be a world record, which was 90,800 - Australia v West Indies at the MCG in the 1960-61 series," he said. "It depends on a lot of things. We need it to be a competitive series, but if it's half as competitive as the last one was then we'll be in good shape." The five-Test contest begins at Brisbane on November 23.

© Cricinfo

[Khutan]

I don't think it was so much Sri Lankas batting as the English catching. They reportedly dropped 11 catches! A couple I saw on TV couldn't have been easier.

I heard a little story that Phil Tufnell was England's new fielding coach.

Sorry, I may be wrong, even though he was the laughing stock of the Aussies for dropping so many catches, you can read more about him here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Tufnell