Moderators PowerButchi Posted August 22, 2009 Moderators Share Posted August 22, 2009 (edited) Yeah. It was a bit OTT. Especially Collingwood picking one up, even though he only played in the 5th test, and only contributed 17 runs with the bat. If Colly got one, where was Gary Pratt's? Pratt's contribution was very important. Edited August 22, 2009 by FrankSidebottom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey Dent Posted August 22, 2009 Share Posted August 22, 2009 (edited) Havent been able to see any action today so just watching the highlights. Really enjoyed the batting from Fred, Broad, Swanny, really entertaining big hitting which is what you need in this kind of situation. Add that to a well played innings by Trott and we've set a huge target. Hopefully we can knock them all off tomorrow when everyone can watch it, either way its looking very good for us and if we can't bowl them out in 2 days then we won't deserve anything. Â Â And also it was really heartwarming to see Ricky Ponting shake Andrew Flintoffs hand when he got out in the middle, a real class act that is and its one of those little moments that make me love the game even more. Edited August 22, 2009 by Andy Of Deth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted August 23, 2009 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 23, 2009 You know, I can't remember seeing two run outs in two overs in a test match before. Unbelievable. This pitch is so weird, it's doing all sorts yet the scores have been getting bigger as the match goes on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted August 23, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted August 23, 2009 One wicket to go! Harmison~! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Four Horsemen Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 (edited) Well done England, fantastic series which was full of swings and roundabouts. Really good effort at the target from Pontin and co and an amazing effort especially from Hussey. Â Edited August 23, 2009 by The Four Horsemen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members gadge Posted August 23, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted August 23, 2009 Great conclusion to what has been a very dramatic series, not up there with 2005 for drama or the quality of England's performances, but very good nevertheless. Atherton and Hussain have done some very good interviews with the team over the last half hour or so. Â Here's hoping England can capitalise on this series victory in a way they really didn't in 2005, especially with new world #1 team South Africa to go to in the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members bAzTNM#1 Posted August 23, 2009 Paid Members Share Posted August 23, 2009 Congrats England! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Windham Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 An epic series ends with the greatest result. Almost up there for 2005 for different reasons, Edgbaston being heavily affected by rain doesn't help. Â Great scenes and interviews afterwards. An amazing result when you consider headingley. I thought this test would be a draw at best for England but to bounce back was special. Lets hope it's the start of things rather than the culmination that it was in 2005. I'll certainly buy the dvd when it comes out, another fantastic series to look back on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted August 24, 2009 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 Great stuff but Australia must be wondering how they lost that series with so many of their players showing such good form. Â I reckon we might win in South Africa, they are pretty overrated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted August 24, 2009 Moderators Share Posted August 24, 2009 The TMS Player Ratings are out. Â Andrew Strauss - 9 When Strauss took over in the wake of the Kevin Pietersen-Peter Moores affair, he was labelled by many as a "safe pair of hands", and that's exactly what he's been. Â His batting has blossomed with the responsibility of the captaincy - he scored more runs than anyone else in the series - and he has forged a close and fruitful relationship with coach Andy Flower. Â Out-skippered opposite number Ricky Ponting and, aged 32, he could be in charge for some time. Some call his captaincy "conservative", but he's just won back the Ashes - what more could any Englishman want? Â Alastair Cook - 4 Not a great series for the Essex opener, and not even a good one. His 95 at Lord's suggested he had found some form, but those old technical deficiencies came back to haunt him. Â Top-class seamers know that if they plough a line outside his off-stump, he's likely to nibble sooner or later. And South Africa, where England will tour this winter, has its fair share of top-class seamers. Â Ravi Bopara - 3 Cook's county team-mate had a torrid series, stumbling through the first four Tests before being replaced by Jonathan Trott for the decider at The Oval. When you're averaging below Jimmy Anderson, you know you've had a stinker. Â Three tons in a row against West Indies earlier in the summer suggested he might be special, but the Windies aren't Australia and the Wisden Trophy's not the Ashes. Showed his mettle by scoring a double-ton for Essex after being discarded, and the England selectors should keep faith in him this winter. Â Ian Bell - 5 Looks classy, just hasn't got it when it matters: it's what people were saying about Bell before the series started, and most won't have changed their minds. Â Eked out a fifty on his return to the side at Edgbaston and made a fighting 72 in England's first innings at The Oval. But he's now failed to make a hundred batting at number three in 32 innings, and England's selectors might decide Jonathan Trott is a better bet first wicket down in South Africa. Â Kevin Pietersen - 5 The 2009 Ashes was a humbling experience for Pietersen: clearly struggling with injury in the two Tests he played and unable to impose himself, he then had to watch as his team-mates regained the urn without him. Â Managed a fifty in Cardiff, but the Aussies had clearly penetrated his head by the time the series had rumbled on to Lord's. Still, he's still England's best batsman and when he's fully fit he'll slot straight back in at number four. Â Paul Collingwood - 5 It was the tale of the two Collingwoods in this series. Obdurate in Cardiff, his twin fifties saved England from going 1-0 down. But it rather went downhill from there. Â Did manage another fifty at Lord's, but thereafter was a walking wicket, his technique seemingly shot to pieces. With Kevin Pietersen returning in South Africa and Jonathan Trott now a shoo-in, The Oval might be Collingwood's last Test for some time. Â Jonathan Trott - 9 It frustrated some, and irritated the Aussies immensely, that England had to turn to a man forged in South Africa in their hour of need. Few will be complaining now. Â Came in at awkward times in both innings at The Oval, and glowed in the heat of battle, scoring one of the great debut tons in England's second innings. Looked so assured, he may well be pushed up to number three when he returns to the place of his birth. Â Matt Prior - 7 Like football referees, they say you barely notice the best wicketkeepers. That you didn't notice Prior much behind the stumps during the series is the best indicator of how far his glovework has come. Â The Sussex man is also a glorious-looking batsman on his day, and contributed some useful knocks here and there, with important fifties at Cardiff and Lord's. No reason to think he won't be on the England scene for a long time to come. Â Andrew Flintoff - 6 The statistics will tell you that Flintoff, his body flaking and crumbling like a weathered statue, didn't do a great deal in his final series. Â He squeezed out one last match-winning burst at Lord's, but took just eight wickets in four matches at an average of 52.12. He hit just one fifty, at Edgbaston, but when he wasn't there, at Headingley, England got clobbered. Â Produced one final conjuring act in the crucial final Test at The Oval, running out a well-set Ricky Ponting to swing the game back in England's direction and just to remind everyone how much we'll miss him when he's gone. Â Stuart Broad - 7 Hands up who wanted to drop Broad after Edgbaston? Come on, I know there were more than you than that. Just six wickets in the first three Tests, the school of thought was that you can't keep picking him because he scores a few runs. Â However, his exploits with bat and ball in a losing cause in Leeds seemed to galvanise him and he made mugs of his critics with a match-winning blitz at The Oval. Ended up as England's highest wicket-taker, with two half-centuries. "The new Flintoff"? Still only 23, let's wait and see. Â Graeme Swann - 7 Perhaps not the impact many were expecting from the Nottinghamshire off-spinner in the first four Tests, but did what he had to do on a turning pitch at The Oval, snaffling eight wickets in the match. Â A chirpy, upbeat character, he was an irritant with the bat, scoring a crucial not out in Cardiff, plus fifties at Headingley and Lord's. The only mystery is, why wasn't he in the England set-up earlier? Jimmy Anderson - 6 Anderson went into the series off the back of a nine-wicket match against West Indies in Durham. The enigma had come of age... or so we thought. Â His devastating five-for in Birmingham aside, the Lancashire paceman struggled for swing elsewhere, and therefore struggled to make much of an impression. Wicketless in the final two Tests, although there were suggestions he wasn't fully fit. But let's not forget that match-saving knock in Cardiff. Â Graham Onions - 6 The Durham seamer took a very handy four-for at Edgbaston, but was thereafter less effective, managing only a couple of wickets at Headingley, where many thought he might prosper. Â Made way for Andrew Flintoff for the crucial final Test, but a useful man to have in and around the squad and should make it on the plane to South Africa. Â Steve Harmison - 5 Overlooked for the first four Tests, despite taking a stack of wickets in county cricket, the selectors finally relented only when Andrew Flintoff went lame in Leeds. Â However, county scalps are clearly easier to take than Australian ones, and his form at Headingley was depressingly familiar in its mediocrity. Did improve at The Oval, and may have done enough to earn a place on the plane for South Africa - if he wants to go. Monty Panesar - 4 Courtesy of his match-saving knock in Cardiff, left-arm spinner Panesar can claim he effectively won England the Ashes. Unfortunately, he was in the side for his bowling, and he only managed one wicket. Â Eleven first-class wickets this season for the one-time cult hero of English cricket suggests something is seriously amiss. With Yorkshire's Adil Rashid pushing for a place on the winter tour, it is not stretching things to say Panesar's England days might be numbered. Â Nothing there I don't agree with, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted August 24, 2009 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 24, 2009 I'd have given Prior a 9. Aside from his very good batting, his keeping was world class throughout but you won't hear many people congratulating him on it. Next time he lets 4 byes through his legs in Johannesburg though, you'll never hear the end of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted August 30, 2009 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 30, 2009 This thread is now about all cricket. Â 20/20 time today. England's form in limited overs cricket is as unpredictable as you can imagine so I've no fucking idea what's going to happen today. I'm predicting an Aussie victory though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Windham Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Still hoping for an England win but i'm not as bothered if they don't in the T20's. Watch them just for the fun of it really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted August 30, 2009 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 30, 2009 They should have picked big fat Ian Blackwell. Can't field, can't run, but he's a useless spinner and he can hit boundaries about as well as anyone in this country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Windham Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 How about Ian Austin? Â What a rotten pitch for what should be some fun, bit of a dump. England have bowled pretty well but if i were Collingwodd i'd have used Bopara and Wright more seeing how Collingwood bowled Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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