The Cricket Thread 2013

[martin o`who??]

The empire strikes back - again!!.....

[PaulWinch again]

Jimmy Anderson's average is justifiably coming down now.

[KevinGage]

I hope this banishes any complacency from our players as well, this Australia side will fight and push us very close.

Yes.

England aren't as good as they think they are and Australia aren't anywhere near as bad as has been reported.

Looks like two pretty evenly matched sides, with England just shading it in the batting department. 

Should be some series. 

[paul_e]

I hope this banishes any complacency from our players as well, this Australia side will fight and push us very close.

Yes.

England aren't as good as they think they are and Australia aren't anywhere near as bad as has been reported.

Looks like two pretty evenly matched sides, with England just shading it in the batting department. 

Should be some series. 

I completely disagree.  We were poor and we beat a side who were only in the game because of 2 massive last wicket stands.  That won't happen every innings We've got 200+ more runs in the side than they have, we should win much comfortably going forward, I really can't see them improving from this.

[paul_e]

As for man of the match, if a bowler takes 11 wickets I wouldn't want to be the person telling him he man of the match.

Jimmy all the way, had 3 brilliant spells in the match where he was head and shoulders above every other bowler in the match.  Deserves the award purely for the Clarke delivery in the first innings, you'd struggle to see a better seamer delivery anywhere in the world, ever, the more they show it the more perfect it looks.

[Brend'Watkins]

I would give it to Bell because He made the game go to the final day. Without that ton we were buried.

There are lots of plays throughout the match which would have impacted on the result. The Agar stumping that wasn't given. Had it been the game could well have been over early yesterday. The one person who really would like to thank Bell for his contribution more than anybody will be the CEO of Trent Bridge.

[PaulWinch again]

I hope this banishes any complacency from our players as well, this Australia side will fight and push us very close.

Yes.

England aren't as good as they think they are and Australia aren't anywhere near as bad as has been reported.

Looks like two pretty evenly matched sides, with England just shading it in the batting department. 

Should be some series. 

I completely disagree.  We were poor and we beat a side who were only in the game because of 2 massive last wicket stands.  That won't happen every innings We've got 200+ more runs in the side than they have, we should win much comfortably going forward, I really can't see them improving from this.

Our batting line up hasn't lived up to expectation quite a lot lately, they need to start getting big runs.

[PaulWinch again]

If Finn is dropped I'd prefer Onions to Bresnan.

[PaulWinch again]

Tremlett is also an option.

[paul_e]

I think Bresnan is massively undervalued by a lot of people, the key thing is he brings a bit of dependability that Finn hasn't shown this match.  Onions is a tough one, he was excellent a few years ago but I'm not sure if he's currently where he needs to be to play for England.

[PaulWinch again]

Oh and please can we produce proper pitches for future games please. That pitch which produced for spin and it didn't work at all.

[peter w]

And just pause for a second to remember Agar.  The Aussie winker.

[olaftab]

Jimmy has stuck four perfect deliveries just outside off stump already today. We might only need one more. Don't panic!

Engaging smug mode.

Yes that's ok not that you were doubting anyone 

We seem to have picked the perfect fielding positions to ensure we don't take any wickets or prevent any runs.

However here is me getting it completely wrong!

Here is a prediction. If the match goes into the post lunch session than Aussies will win. However it won't and I see 4 wickets tomorrow morning falling in the first session.

[john e]

I hope this banishes any complacency from our players as well, this Australia side will fight and push us very close.

Yes.

England aren't as good as they think they are and Australia aren't anywhere near as bad as has been reported.

Looks like two pretty evenly matched sides, with England just shading it in the batting department. 

Should be some series. 

I completely disagree.  We were poor and we beat a side who were only in the game because of 2 massive last wicket stands.  That won't happen every innings We've got 200+ more runs in the side than they have, we should win much comfortably going forward, I really can't see them improving from this.

Our batting line up hasn't lived up to expectation quite a lot lately, they need to start getting big runs.

I'm with paul e on this, I do think we have to much quality in every area, this was there big chance

5-0 whitewash for me now weather permitting

[taylorsworkrate]

I think to be honest, we did everything we could to lose this game. Batting poorly in the first innings, then losing our heads at the end of their first innings, and to a lesser extent, their second.

I've always thought that the Aussies have a decent enough seam attack, (although not as good as ours in form) but they have no spinner of note and an incredibly fragile batting line up. In all fairness if Agar was given out stumped correctly in the first, then we go on to win the game by at least a very comfortable margin of 150-200 runs.

I think that with Bell getting back into form, our batting lineup will surely fire much more than theirs throughout the rest of the series. I'd go with Bresnan over Finn unless the Lords pitch looks like having serious pace and bounce in it. I am a huge fan of Finn, but he has had a poor match and seems low on form/belief at the moment. The two overs he bowled today gave the Aussies a lot of momentum and confidence.

They have fight about them, they are an Australian side. However, if they come up against us in a not so generous mood then they won't get close.