Ashes 2013/14

[Dave Cooper please]

Yeah we need to come back at them hard and hit them very hard. Our players should be embarrassed that they've performed at that level, but the level of Aussie disrespect has gone to new levels.

With what though? Our trio of low 80mph bowlers?

Pace isn't the be all and end all of bowling though, If Broad and Anderson can hit the right spots they don't need to bowl at 90mph+ to unsettle batsmen. A good 85mph ball is better than a misdirected 95mph ball, our own batsmen need to get their heads back on and realise that Mitchell is a fast but extremely average bowler. Trott doesn't average 50 in Tests because he can't play short pitched bowling and he needs to remember that.

We have started most recent series badly recently and won most of them, no panic just yet.

We will see mate but we havnt been this badly beaten before, had so many players out of form for such a long time i.e Prior, Trott, Tremlett, Finn and its the 1st time we have been behind in an ashes series for 7 years

Form is temporary and all that. I fully expect us to come back strongly, as we did in India.

[willywombat]

So the Aussies surround our last batsman and the 2 umpires have to intervene and call in Michael Clarke only for the stump mic to pick up his 'get ready for a broken fucking arm'- vile scum !


There is a way to win - these tossers have no class or morals - lets pulverise them from here on and rub their dirty Aussie noses in the dirt - we know what they are!

That's some mightily impressive moral outrage there,  be careful you don't have a stroke. Have the nasty Aussie's upset you

No wombat, there is a way to win with class - your boys lack it but that's understandable - great motivation for us to rub your noses in it and put the Aussies back in their box though

Come on Eastie, that's sanctimonious nonsense. If the boot had been on the other foot you would be revelling in it. What exactly did the Aussies do wrong? ( apart from win the match of course ). Are you telling me sledging and intimidatory bowling aren't well within the rules of the game now? England lost because Australia played better cricket and also because some of your batsmen need to grow a pair. If England respond and turn things around then all well and good but blubbing when things get a bit feisty isn't going to cut it

[PaulWinch again]

It's a bit of a mix here because I agree on not panicking because we do have good players, but at the same time we can't trot out(no pun intended) the line that we've started badly before so it'll all be alright. There are some pretty serious issues with our batting and there has been for some time and they need to be addressed. However we don't need 90mph bowlers to rough them up, they're not very good batsmen and we can easily take them. Also Finn can come in and is as threatening as anyone, we just need to give him confidence. It's about our batsmen standing up and being counted and Swann performing.

[Dave Cooper please]

Yeah, a pie chucker like Nathan Lyon looking far more threatening than Swann was a worry.

[olaftab]

Form is temporary and all that. I fully expect us to come back strongly, as we did in India.

I agree. This is a very ordinary Australian team. England are a little short of cricket after the break whilst they are match fit having recently returned from India. There is a long way to go and no need to panic just now.

[OzVilla]

So the Aussies surround our last batsman and the 2 umpires have to intervene and call in Michael Clarke only for the stump mic to pick up his 'get ready for a broken fucking arm'- vile scum !


There is a way to win - these tossers have no class or morals - lets pulverise them from here on and rub their dirty Aussie noses in the dirt - we know what they are!

That's some mightily impressive moral outrage there,  be careful you don't have a stroke. Have the nasty Aussie's upset you

No wombat, there is a way to win with class - your boys lack it but that's understandable - great motivation for us to rub your noses in it and put the Aussies back in their box though

Come on Eastie, that's sanctimonious nonsense. If the boot had been on the other foot you would be revelling in it. What exactly did the Aussies do wrong? ( apart from win the match of course ). Are you telling me sledging and intimidatory bowling aren't well within the rules of the game now? England lost because Australia played better cricket and also because some of your batsmen need to grow a pair. If England respond and turn things around then all well and good but blubbing when things get a bit feisty isn't going to cut it

Wily you're spot on.  The only issue I have is with Warners comments.  The bloke is clearly a total gobshite and not the brightest.  He shouldn't have said what he said, it was very disrespectful, especially considering how England players could have gone public about his antics in the Walkabout.  Very ordinary imo. 

But everything else is fair game in my book and I'm sure we'd have done (and probably did at Lord's) exactly the same.


;

[OzVilla]

Form is temporary and all that. I fully expect us to come back strongly, as we did in India.

I agree. This is a very ordinary Australian team. England are a little short of cricket after the break whilst they are match fit having recently returned from India. There is a long way to go and no need to panic just now.

Trouble is I don't think they are that ordinary anymore.  Still question marks about their batting granted but I rate their bowling, especially at home. 

We look like a team with players best their sell by date, Trott, Prior even Pietersen.  Hope i'm wrong but such was the scale and manner of the defeat I struggle to see us getting back of the canvas.  Hope i'm wrong.

Oh, and this will not be like India.   The mood here is totally different.

[VillaZogmariner]

In regards to the lack of preparation for the tour - you can thank Cricket Australia for that. It is up to them who is available to play in warm up games, and the thought to give put England on wickets that are not going to help us prepare (probably WACA aside, but even that was on the Sheffield Shield wicket which is as bouncy as rock) is all thanks to them. As is the idea to send us to Alice Springs for a match this coming weekend. If the players thought Brisbane was a bit warm they will melt out there (average temp this time of year is 34c - current forecast for later this week is 37c).

And don't start getting excited about Adelaide either - it's a new drop in wicket there and this seasons Sheffield Shield games (the Aussie equivalent of county cricket) have had totals as follows (over 4 days of course)

984 runs - 24 wickets taken (that's in 3 days and 1 session - got draw written all over it).
1237 runs - 23 wickets taken (draw)
1046 runs - 29 wickets taken (draw)

So there is a very good chance we could see Adelaide finish as a draw and we head to Perth 1-0 still.

SCG has also had a facelift with a new stand put in, and again the curators there are saying they are not sure how that is going to affect the wicket.

[OzVilla]

This is correct but we can't really complain as they've been doing the same for years - certainly it's not too dissimilar to the 2010/11 tour.  In fact we probably get more preparation ahead of the Ashes series than any other series away, South Africa and India to name 2.  1 x 3 day match and 2 x 4 dayers.

The fact is the Aussie team and public have now had a gut full of losing and came at as aggressively and we simply failed to cope. Our big match players largely wilted and we looked completely unprepared once again at the start of a tour.

 

[eastie]

Trott has quit the ashes tour suffering from stress related condition - he will take a few months off at home .
Flower has criticised warner for his disgusting comments about trott .
Hope he gets well soon and returns to cricket at some stage .

Meanwhile Clarke has pleaded guilty of using obscene threatening language and been fined .

@SkySportsNews: BREAKING NEWS: Jonathan Trott out of The Ashes with stress-related problem & is flying home. Full details on #ssnhd

[eastie]

For me I would put root at number 3 and bring Bairstow in at 6 .

[manic-road]

Good luck with the recovery Trotty.

[PaulWinch again]

I feel so sorry for Trott and hope he recovers soon. Warner should be ashamed.

[PaulWinch again]

Bell to 3 for me and then Bairstow or Ballance to 6.

[eastie]

Bell to 3 for me and then Bairstow or Ballance to 6.

I wouldn't really mind root or bell at 3 to be honest - would go for Bairstow at 6 over ballance as has experienced the ashes and although not a great success wasn't a total failure either.