Aussies won the 1st test.
India lost by 109 runs
pathetic display by the indians....

The poms better try harder next time... it was just too easy...

Better luck next time, England! Learn to bat next time, before dismissing the firepower of Glenn McGrath as 'over the hill'! These last few weeks in England are going to be sweet...

Australia are just superior in every department .
That is all there is to say really.

Written by Judas on 27.11.2006 at 10:33

Better luck next time, England! Learn to bat next time, before dismissing the firepower of Glenn McGrath as 'over the hill'! These last few weeks in England are going to be sweet...

Yeah, I laughed my head off when I heard that they had dismissed as McGrath over the hill. Okay he might be old for an opening bowler but he is still way better than that sorry dispaly of a Harmison, Hoggard and Anderson will ever be during this Ashes series.

Btw, it was a god decision not to follow on. Remember Ponting only has FOUR bowlers at his disposal and McGrath and Warne are old and more prone to injuries.

I can't understand why England didn't play Panesar, okay so his batting isn't as good as Giles'but at least he does take big wickets often and also other wickets, a thing that cannot be siad about Giles. And for fuckssake drop Jones for Read, battingwise Jones is only slightly better but Read is miles ahead when it comes to his keeping capabilities.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 29.11.2006 at 12:22

Written by Judas on 27.11.2006 at 10:33

Better luck next time, England! Learn to bat next time, before dismissing the firepower of Glenn McGrath as 'over the hill'! These last few weeks in England are going to be sweet...

Yeah, I laughed my head off when I heard that they had dismissed as McGrath over the hill. Okay he might be old for an opening bowler but he is still way better than that sorry dispaly of a Harmison, Hoggard and Anderson will ever be during this Ashes series.

Btw, it was a god decision not to follow on. Remember Ponting only has FOUR bowlers at his disposal and McGrath and Warne are old and more prone to injuries.

I can't understand why England didn't play Panesar, okay so his batting isn't as good as Giles'but at least he does take big wickets often and also other wickets, a thing that cannot be siad about Giles. And for fuckssake drop Jones for Read, battingwise Jones is only slightly better but Read is miles ahead when it comes to his keeping capabilities.

Well, I don't know why Giles was played over Panesar, since prior to this match he had not played for almost a year. Also, Panesar is one of those bowlers who seems to make things happen - there's never a dull moment when he's involved. Apparently Flintoff wanted Giles, and so did Duncan Fletcher. In England they've speculated whether racism was a factor, since Fletcher made racist remarks towards Pakistanis during England's tour there earlier in the year, but I doubt it. It might have been that with Panesar in the team, they would have really had 4 no.11 batsmen, since Harmison, Hoggard and Anderson are not crash-hot whatsoever with the bat.

As for Geraint Jones over Chris Read, I have a friend who is a coach at the Kent County Cricket Academy in Canterbury, and he told me that Jones would be played over Read about 4 weeks before the team was selected. Apparently some strings were pulled by Jones and co, and Flintoff again wanted Jones instead of Read. Don't know why, since the in-joke here is that the reason Harmison's first delivery was so wide was because he didn't trust Geraint Jones to stop it and decided to bowl to the safest pair of hands in the slip cordon instead!

Written by Judas on 27.11.2006 at 10:33

Better luck next time, England! Learn to bat next time, before dismissing the firepower of Glenn McGrath as 'over the hill'! These last few weeks in England are going to be sweet...

It seems our batsmen took your advice.

Cricket is a strange game .
Well done to the under-rated Paul Collingwood and also Kevin Pietersen.
Without them we may have had more problems.

Now lets see if our bowlers have improved as well.

Written by hanna of steel on 02.12.2006 at 10:29

Written by Judas on 27.11.2006 at 10:33

Better luck next time, England! Learn to bat next time, before dismissing the firepower of Glenn McGrath as 'over the hill'! These last few weeks in England are going to be sweet...

It seems our batsmen took your advice.

Cricket is a strange game .
Well done to the under-rated Paul Collingwood and also Kevin Pietersen.
Without them we may have had more problems.

Now lets see if our bowlers have improved as well.

Although it pains me to say... well done to Collingwood and Pietersen, well batted. Pietersen out for a thrid time on his career high score of 158
Collingwood should ALWAYS be in the English testside, he is by far the best fielder and THE gritiest batsman they have.
And ffs when will they bring in Read instead of Jones and Panesar ahead of Giles.

At lunch Enland are 5/89 Bwahaha
Indeed it was a super effort from Collingwood and Pietersen... i laughted so hard when Pietersen got out for the THIRD time on his highest career score haha.

Definalty think that England are in trouble on the 2nd day if thats the score at lunch with 5 wickets. The Aussie bowlers must have stepped up their playing after England showed them what they could do.
Prediction: Australia will win the 2nd test... well i hope

WOW, wow, wow, wow.

How the hell did England manage to grab defeat from the claws of a certain draw?
England 129 all out Australia needing 168 to win and made it with 3.1 overs to spare. So that's 168 for 4 in 32.5 overs.

What a match, what a match.

England 2-0 down, and will they be able to hold on to the Ashes? I doubt it, only threetests left and need to win at least two and then draw another one.

^^Seriously wow
Shane Warne...he was so damn good....he made a bold statement before this match that the English Players Fear Him...
Couldnt cause much trouble in the first innings but my word when it mattered he took the wickets in the second innings and won a match which was so drawn till yesterday....

How nice to see the 'proper' England team turn up for the second innings .

If we had half the fight and a quarter of the ability of Australia we might get somewhere.

What a cheering start to a cold and rainy day in England

WOW, a Dutchman in an exclusive club of cricketers.

Ryan Ten Doesschate's performance against Canada in the 4-day match (259* and 6 for 20 in the first innings of the match) has earned him a place amongts ONLY 9 cricketers in history who have scored 250 and taken 6 wickets in the same first class match. And the first since 1964-1965 (Doug Walters was the last one)

Here's the link and text
http://www.cricketeurope4.net/DATABASE/ARTICLES/articles/000034/003458.shtml

Ryan ten Doeschate joined a select company when he took his score past 250 in Pretoria this afternoon, to add to his six for 20 in the Canadian first innings.

He became just the ninth man to score 250 and take six wickets in the same first-class match, and the first to do so since Australian legend Doug Walters for New South Wales against South Australia in Adelaide in 1964-65.

He is only the fourth to do so since World War II, the others being VS Hazare for Baroda against Holkar (at Vadodara in 1946-47), and Gary Sobers for South Australia against New South Wales - again at Adelaide - in 1961-62.

The full list is:

WG Grace, 261. 5-62 and 6-77, South of England v North of England, London, 1877
G Giffen, 271, 9-96 and 7-70, South Australia v Victoria, Adelaide, 1891-92
MA Noble, 267 and 6-39, Australians v Sussex, Hove, 1905
TF Shepherd, 277 not out and 6-78, Surrey v Gloucestershire, The Oval, 1927
EH Bowley, 280 not out and 6-31, Sussex v Gloucestershire, Hove, 1929
VS Hazare, 288 and 6-85, Baroda v Holkar, Vadodara, 1946-47
GS Sobers, 251 and 6-72, South Australia v New South Wales, Adelaide, 1961-62
KD Walters, 253 and 7-63, New South Wales v South Australia, Adelaide, 1964-65
RN ten Doeschate, 259 not out and 6-20, The Netherlands v Canada, Pretoria, 2006-07

He's now scored 4 centuries in consecutive innings in the INtercontinental Cup, in total scored more than 700 runs in that cup (of 5 innings) at an average of almost 250.

This Monty Panesar guy is a genius....picked up 5 wickets in his very first innings of Ashes.....
England certainly seem motivated..

Written by Valar on 14.12.2006 at 12:39

This Monty Panesar guy is a genius....picked up 5 wickets in his very first innings of Ashes.....
England certainly seem motivated..

Well, I have been saying all along that Panesar should have played from the first test, at least there will be a contest now. He ALWAYS picks up big wickets, so what if his batting isn't too great (neither was Giles' in this series) he compensates that immensely by taking wickets (which Giles doesn't do).
And now England still gotta realize that Jones should be ditched in favour of Read. But that will never happen because when Fletcher selects a team he also goes up to Flintoff, Harmison, and Jones and asks them who he should select (of course Jones won't say: Well, select Read instead of me.) Fletcher is a moron, that much is apparent.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 14.12.2006 at 15:39

Written by Valar on 14.12.2006 at 12:39

This Monty Panesar guy is a genius....picked up 5 wickets in his very first innings of Ashes.....
England certainly seem motivated..

Well, I have been saying all along that Panesar should have played from the first test, at least there will be a contest now. He ALWAYS picks up big wickets, so what if his batting isn't too great (neither was Giles' in this series) he compensates that immensely by taking wickets (which Giles doesn't do).
And now England still gotta realize that Jones should be ditched in favour of Read. But that will never happen because when Fletcher selects a team he also goes up to Flintoff, Harmison, and Jones and asks them who he should select (of course Jones won't say: Well, select Read instead of me.) Fletcher is a moron, that much is apparent.

Moron?? i had read on BBC that Panesar didnt play because of Flintoff as he was more in favour of playing Giles....
Neways much credit for todays performance also goes to Harmission who finally is bowling a good line and length...which is enough to do the trick on these wickets.....

My god... I really DO have to watch the Ashes highlight tonight on BBC, I do NOT want to miss Gilchrist's century, which is the second fastest EVER, off ONLY 57 balls. Only Viv Richards has scored a quicker test century (off 56 balls). What an onslaught that must have been, my god. Last wicket partnership before declaring between M. Clarke and A. Gilchrist was 160 odd off about 20 overs, ffs that's 8 an over.

It seems like Australia's got the Ashes sewn up. IMO there is no chance in hell that England can avoid defeat needing around 540 runs for a win and 9 wickets left with six sessions to go. One recognized batsman is already dismissed and only 4 more recognized ones left. Yes, I am discounting Flintoff and Jones as batsmen because during this series they have been atrocious with the bat. Jones has also been quite bad once again with the gloves, missing a stumping and dropping a regulation catch. When will Fletcher come to his senses and not let Jones co-decide who is going to play? Read should be in, NOW. Not that I really mind since I am an Aussie fan ever since I was 10.

Yeah!! Let me say it once more YEAH!!!
India Kicked the South African right in the arse and got them all out for 84...TAKE THAT.....
We have a lead of over 300 now....
YEAH!!

Written by Valar on 16.12.2006 at 19:42

Yeah!! Let me say it once more YEAH!!!
India Kicked the South African right in the arse and got them all out for 84...TAKE THAT.....
We have a lead of over 300 now....
YEAH!!

You might still lose

But who cares about South Africa - India and New Zealand - Sri Lanka
when all that matters at the moment is the mother of all cricket battles... THE ASHES

@ Marcel Ozman - battle ?

More a surrender I think

Written by hanna of steel on 17.12.2006 at 00:42

@ Marcel Ozman - battle ?

More a surrender I think

Just saw the highlights, and yes, currently it seems like a surrender, but of course you know what I am talking about.
Well, this shambles is all the fault of the run-up towards this series. Harmison is finally getting into his rhythm and would have got into it much earlier if the english team had gone straight to australia right after the Champions Trophy insteade of flying home first because they wanted to have time with their families.
FFS get your priorities straight, this is THE most important series of them all and instead of preparing for it they wanted to go home. And those guys are professionals
If I were manager of the England team I would have blown a couple of fuses. I already threw some sort of a tantrum with my first tem this year concerning a wedidng of a second team player they wanted to attend the day before a match in not even the highest class of cricket in Holland. Imagine how I would be like as manager for a test team.
Also there is too much of a democracy going on concerning team selection. Team selection should be done by the manager, the captain and a NON-playing board. You ahve to be a minor Hitler in those cases, IMO.

And that's what I LOVE about the Aussie mentality, the never give up and play it as hard as possible, don't walk unless you're given mentality. Some might say that's not cricket, but we're not in the 1800s and early 1900s anymore. It is not an amateur sport ffs, it is a professional sport with lots at stake.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 16.12.2006 at 20:35

Written by Valar on 16.12.2006 at 19:42

Yeah!! Let me say it once more YEAH!!!
India Kicked the South African right in the arse and got them all out for 84...TAKE THAT.....
We have a lead of over 300 now....
YEAH!!

You might still lose

But who cares about South Africa - India and New Zealand - Sri Lanka
when all that matters at the moment is the mother of all cricket battles... THE ASHES

The fact of the matter is Ashes has been hyped so much this year when we all knew tht Aussies were gonna kill the English team...just cause England managed to pull out the victory last yr(somehow) the media went crazy...perhaps this series should calm them down....

I certainly care abt the other tests which have been a lot more enjoyable than the Ashes specially the first test between Lanka and NZ was full of contreversies....

Written by Valar on 17.12.2006 at 10:46

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 16.12.2006 at 20:35

Written by Valar on 16.12.2006 at 19:42

Yeah!! Let me say it once more YEAH!!!
India Kicked the South African right in the arse and got them all out for 84...TAKE THAT.....
We have a lead of over 300 now....
YEAH!!

You might still lose

But who cares about South Africa - India and New Zealand - Sri Lanka
when all that matters at the moment is the mother of all cricket battles... THE ASHES

The fact of the matter is Ashes has been hyped so much this year when we all knew tht Aussies were gonna kill the English team...just cause England managed to pull out the victory last yr(somehow) the media went crazy...perhaps this series should calm them down....

I certainly care abt the other tests which have been a lot more enjoyable than the Ashes specially the first test between Lanka and NZ was full of contreversies....

That is true about the controversies. Somehow there's always controversy where Sri Lanka plays (or for that matter also Pakistan), those two countries somehow always seem to think they are the best and when they lose they blame the umpires and NEVER their own players. Funny, don't you think?

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 17.12.2006 at 15:13

Written by Valar on 17.12.2006 at 10:46

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 16.12.2006 at 20:35

Written by Valar on 16.12.2006 at 19:42

Yeah!! Let me say it once more YEAH!!!
India Kicked the South African right in the arse and got them all out for 84...TAKE THAT.....
We have a lead of over 300 now....
YEAH!!

You might still lose

But who cares about South Africa - India and New Zealand - Sri Lanka
when all that matters at the moment is the mother of all cricket battles... THE ASHES

The fact of the matter is Ashes has been hyped so much this year when we all knew tht Aussies were gonna kill the English team...just cause England managed to pull out the victory last yr(somehow) the media went crazy...perhaps this series should calm them down....

I certainly care abt the other tests which have been a lot more enjoyable than the Ashes specially the first test between Lanka and NZ was full of contreversies....

That is true about the controversies. Somehow there's always controversy where Sri Lanka plays (or for that matter also Pakistan), those two countries somehow always seem to think they are the best and when they lose they blame the umpires and NEVER their own players. Funny, don't you think?

But most of them are valid ones....like look at the Oval debacle and finally the blame was put on Hair who was found guilty, for sri lanka i felt Murali was always unfairly treated with regards to his action....i mean wtf is bend you arm but not more than 5 degree, its bullshit.

Anyways India won by 123 Runs against South Africa... Hell Yeah:banger2:

Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi.

Whitewash here they come.

And after Jones' pair he must surely be dropped in favour of Read. What and idiot Jones was standing outside his crease waiting what the umpire would do with Warne's appeal, ball wasn't dead so Ponting flicked it into the stumps, so, runout... bye bye mr. Jones.
If Jones is out that will be a shoddy batsman and shoddy keeper less.
I have never ever understood what people saw in Jones as keeper. Even in Dutch domestic cricket I have come across better keepers than Jones.

Indiansteel, our friends joke: in an indian's body, there is a vein in which blood flows, and another vein in which cricket flows...I am interested in cricket; I play as well as watch them.Cricket is popular in this country Nepal. We are neighbours, IndianSteel!

Written by Paganblood on 19.12.2006 at 17:33

Indiansteel, our friends joke: in an indian's body, there is a vein in which blood flows, and another vein in which cricket flows...I am interested in cricket; I play as well as watch them.Cricket is popular in this country Nepal. We are neighbours, IndianSteel!

Nepalese cricket is certainly on the rise and I think that in a couple of years they can easily compete with the likes of Ireland, Scotland, Holland for the remaining World Cup places.
I think it is a good sign that countries such as Nepal start to emerge. And if I am not wrong... Nepal has been the strongest best of the rest Asian team the last couple of years. Always beating Malaysia who is behind them.
Btw, I think a lot of teams will have lots of problems playing in Nepal due to the altitude adjustments that are needed.

Written by Paganblood on 19.12.2006 at 17:33

Indiansteel, our friends joke: in an indian's body, there is a vein in which blood flows, and another vein in which cricket flows...I am interested in cricket; I play as well as watch them.Cricket is popular in this country Nepal. We are neighbours, IndianSteel!

Never noticed a person from Nepal on MS before....

@ Ozman - I didnt know Nepal had a cricket team man(that too the best in Rest of Asia)....some good info in your post....

@IS: Ozman knows everything there is to know about cricket. I think he must have memorised every page and article that it's possible to access on Cricinfo...

paganblood: Outside Kathmandu and Pokhara I didn't see much cricket being played in Nepal compared to India, while I was there. But in those 2 places you could have been anywhere in an Indian city. Seriously, some of those maidans were like Mumbai's Shivaji Park! It would be nice to see Nepal come up into the World Cup.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 19.12.2006 at 22:03

Written by Paganblood on 19.12.2006 at 17:33

Indiansteel, our friends joke: in an indian's body, there is a vein in which blood flows, and another vein in which cricket flows...I am interested in cricket; I play as well as watch them.Cricket is popular in this country Nepal. We are neighbours, IndianSteel!

And if I am not wrong... Nepal has been the strongest best of the rest Asian team the last couple of years. Always beating Malaysia who is behind them.
Btw, I think a lot of teams will have lots of problems playing in Nepal due to the altitude adjustments that are needed.

Most of the matches held in Nepal is held in capital Kathmandu(it is a valley located at an altitude of around 1500m) , so I don't think any teams will have any difficulty in altitude adjustments.
However about 68% of the country's land area is high hills and mountains.