Cricket

[Tom]

Wazzing it down out there we may fluke a draw and turn the series around

They may be kicking themselves about not enforcing the follow on

[thenodrog]

Wazzing it down out there we may fluke a draw and turn the series around

They may be kicking themselves about not enforcing the follow on

Rearrange this well known phrase Tom

Straws.... grasping..... at

[Tom]

Maybe it isn't as bad as it looks but Michael Vaughan tweeted a picture from inside the stadium and the field was a right mess and will take a bit of work to see any action

They'll be working their backsides off to get it sorted no doubt I suppose though

[dave birch]

Tom, they've had about 2mm of rain overnight, according to the Bureau. Pitch would have been covered, plus the fact it's a newly laid ground, it will drain very quickly.

[Tom]

This was the picture I saw

https://pic.twitter.com/I5DcInHewT

May have been a while back I suppose

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Wazzing it down out there we may fluke a draw and turn the series around

They may be kicking themselves about not enforcing the follow on

That would be ironic.

[dave birch]

TS, if you were being objective about Ashes tests, you'd probably agree that both sides are as bad as each other.

England went OTT when winning after such a long time of being on the wrong end. Those OBE's (or whatever) were a little overdone. I mean, it's one series. It's a sport that the players get handsomely rewarded for.

Additionally, your press went way over the top as they are prone to do, (they do it when they win, and double their efforts when they loose). England's Football team cop it both ways, don't they?

This was the picture I saw

https://pic.twitter.com/I5DcInHewT

May have been a while back I suppose

Tom, I'm the bearer of bad news.

That photo is at least two years old. It was taken before the redevelopment of the Adelaide oval.

You can tell, because the covers over the stands, in the background, have been taken down.

[Tom]

My apologies then, seems a few people have been tweeting it and is the reason I expected little play

[dave birch]

My apologies then, seems a few people have been tweeting it and is the reason I expected little play

Tom, if you want to see the weather (and rain) in Adelaide, check out www.bom.gov.au/australia/radar and click on Adelaide.

It should bring up the rain radar.

[jim mk2]

Funny how some people are all over this thread when they're winning but nowhere to be seen when they're losing.

[dave birch]

All the usual suspects were there, plus a few more.

[jim mk2]

Win or lose England supporters are always around. When it's going badly the other side disappear into the undergrowth.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

TS, if you were being objective about Ashes tests, you'd probably agree that both sides are as bad as each other.

England went OTT when winning after such a long time of being on the wrong end. Those OBE's (or whatever) were a little overdone. I mean, it's one series. It's a sport that the players get handsomely rewarded for.

Additionally, your press went way over the top as they are prone to do, (they do it when they win, and double their efforts when they loose). England's Football team cop it both ways, don't they?

Tom, I'm the bearer of bad news.

That photo is at least two years old. It was taken before the redevelopment of the Adelaide oval.

You can tell, because the covers over the stands, in the background, have been taken down.

No I don't think both teams are as bad, if I did I'd be honest enough to say so. You can celebrate a win that has been hard earned, that's natural and for me fair enough. Having said that, again there is a line you don't cross. You don't rubbish or denigrate your opponents. When England won in 2005 it was like Rovers winning the Premiership. We'd been down so long being up there was great. At no point did any of that celebration reflect on the Australian team, we knew how good they were and how close that series had been. If Warne had have caught Petersen on the final day of the final Test it could have so easily gone the other way.

If you took the OBE's seriously you're more of a chump than I take you for.

Edited December 8, 2013 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[Tom]

When resilience is needed Broad does that early

[thenodrog]

Win or lose England supporters are always around. When it's going badly the other side disappear into the undergrowth bush.

is that better?

[Tom]

301-9 now

Good job it was free for folk today as they are going home soon

[dave birch]

No I don't think both teams are as bad, if I did I'd be honest enough to say so. You can celebrate a win that has been hard earned, that's natural and for me fair enough. Having said that, again there is a line you don't cross. You don't rubbish or denigrate your opponents. When England won in 2005 it was like Rovers winning the Premiership. We'd been down so long being up there was great. At no point did any of that celebration reflect on the Australian team, we knew how good they were and how close that series had been. If Warne had have caught Petersen on the final day of the final Test it could have so easily gone the other way.

If you took the OBE's seriously you're more of a chump than I take you for.

TS, it's widely acknowledged that sledging from both sides in this test and others throughout the year has been going on. It was not just one side. If you think it was, I'd suggest that you take your rose tinted England specs off.

As to the highlighted portion of your post, obviously someone, somewhere took it seriously by offering them. On a personal basis, I'd consider myself a Republican, and would do as a former PM of ours would do, and that is to politely decline. If you still don't understand, "Honours" like that are a joke.

Anyway, on to the WACA, even more bounce. MJ's home pitch. Bring it on, and oh, may the best team win. All I want is to see good cricket.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I'm not talking about sledging during the game, I'm talking about rubbishing your opponents after the game.

[dave birch]

OK, show me an example, and I'll show you the same.

It works both ways. It really does.

I'd ask you not to take the british press for what they put out.

Check the more balanced press, I'm sure you have some non Murdoch press there.

If you want to check out a more balanced Australian view, then I'll give you www.abc.net.au/sport

Jim Maxwell is a very knowledgable ABC cricket commentator, one whose knowledge way surpasses mine, and just tells it as it is

[ABBEY]

Dave are you not English any more ?

Edited December 9, 2013 by ABBEY

[dave birch]

Abbey, I've lived here for more than 2/3rds of my life, my kids are Australian.

I wanted to integrate like you want many immigrants to integrate into British society.

I haven't forgotten my heritage (as some would want you believe), but this is now my home.

I ask you, how would England be, if all those immigrants had blended into the society the way the English wanted them to.

Would you feel easier, would the nation feel easier?

There comes a time where something like this has to be done. With me, it was shortly after the birth of my daughter in 1981 when, as it happens, Australia was in the pits (ashes speaking).

This country has been incredibly kind to me. I'm paying it back (taxes notwithstanding and I do pay a lot)

[thenodrog]

301-9 now

Good job it was free for folk today as they are going home soon

Those aussies are going to get their wings clipped soon! It's absolutely inevitable. 3 and 4 day test matches must be losing / costing the cricketing authorities / sponsors / advertisers etc etc a bloody fortune! It can't go on. Money rules sport. Cue some rather laid back bowling and a few dollied catches toward our lot for the rest of the series.

Abbey, I've lived here for more than 2/3rds of my life, my kids are Australian.

I wanted to integrate like you want many immigrants to integrate into British society.

I haven't forgotten my heritage (as some would want you believe), but this is now my home.

I ask you, how would England be, if all those immigrants had blended into the society the way the English wanted them to.

Would you feel easier, would the nation feel easier?

There comes a time where something like this has to be done. With me, it was shortly after the birth of my daughter in 1981 when, as it happens, Australia was in the pits (ashes speaking).

This country has been incredibly kind to me. I'm paying it back (taxes notwithstanding and I do pay a lot)

I shall refrain from mentioning William Joyce at this point BUT as somebody suggested previously if you had stayed in Blighty and moved to Cliviger, Barrowford or Harle Syke would you have become a Burnley fan? How about Keighley or Hebden Bridge would you have come to support Yorkshire CCC perhaps?

As Norman Tebbitt once opined which JIM mk2 cannot help but endorse fully ... 'which cricket team do you support'?

Edited December 9, 2013 by thenodrog

[Guest Norbert]

Arse.

Right now, I'd get rid of half the team, including Cook and tell them to just play the county game and work on their batting. Cook would be first to go, he's too brittle right now, Prior would be next, and I'd even bin Broad, Pietersen (living off his past reputation for ages) and Trott. Finish this tour and then these players should be forced to earn their place in the team.

[broadsword]

It's all in their heads. They can do it, Cook in particular. I really think it was a mistake to make him captain.

More controlled aggression required, you can't create confidence without first performing well, but you can at least be determined that if you go down, then go down fighting. If a few players can take the lead on that, they could take the others with them.

But this situation does again make me think that the cricket calendar is too crowded. I'm not talking about the physical effects here, but rather the mental drain. Cricketers are only human. But if some players are so jaded that they've lost all motivation, then they should be removed from the team temporarily, for their own good if no-one else's.

[jim mk2]

Dave are you not English any more ?

Yes he is. But then he forgot his "heritage" and went over to the dark side. In my book you just don't do that - you know your roots, you remember where you come from and you stay loyal. I know Australians living over here for years who support England at all times except when they are playing Australia - which is fair enough and the way it should be.

Ask yourself my little Abbey friend, if you went to live in Burnley (god forbid) would you stop supporting Rovers and support our six-fingered friends ? Of course you wouldn't, and neither would anyone else. Well, in a cricketing context this is what this guy has done, and then comes on here (an English messageboard with 95 per cent England supporters) to boast about it. It's inexcusable -and shows what tolerant folk we are even when we have a traitor in our midst.

Back to the cricket I think there must be a case for some England players to be arrested like DJ Campbell. More than 50 per cent of the dismissals in this match were batsmen getting themselves out to poor shots, many of them so bad we would have a bollocking from our skippers when I played in the club game. Were some England players having bets too?

I read in the paper that of England's 40 dismissals so far more than 50 per cent have been down the leg side ! How do you explain that - except for downright poor play and muddled thinking by the batsmen ? Flower has to make only one demand of his players for the next Test and that is to leave legside balls alone. It's not rocket science.