The Ashes: 1st Test - The 'Gabba, Brisbane

DMC

Time to get the ball rolling and the percolator brewing!

Speculation is, with an hour to go to the toss, that Monty will not play, probably more down to The 'Gabba not being spinner friendly.

Team news as it happens

county

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055019105

spec savers i`d say;)


anyway can`t wait,it will be i late night for me,probably fall asleep on the couch about 5 am




*couch neck for me in the morning*

DMC

whoops! Didnt see that..

Indeed... TV has been moved to bedroom for duration, thank the man who invented wireless video senders!

mike65

The Gabba wicket sounds like its rock hard so who bats first is critical.

Mike.

DMC

England XI 1 Andrew Strauss, 2 Alastair Cook, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Paul Collingwood, 5 Kevin Pietersen, 6 Andrew Flintoff (capt), 7 Geraint Jones (wk), 8 Ashley Giles, 9 Matthew Hoggard, 10 Steve Harmison, 11 James Anderson.

No Monty.

kyp_durron

Monty must play ahead of Giles imo, surprized the aussies went with Clark instead of Tait, Tait's pace on this track would be scary.

Come on England! Never though I'd say that

mike65

No spin! Though I guess the wicket might have some action in it by day 5 as it cracks. Thats as 'bout a first 11 as it gets for the conditions.

Mike.

kyp_durron

I'm a bit worried about England's bowling attack anyway, let alone without 'The Montster', hope Harmy can perform to the level that he can and Anderson can rise to the occasion, not to mention Freddy's injury.

cgf

The Wheely-bin got the nod

DMC

cgf wrote:

The Wheely-bin got the nod

Part of the logic was he's better in the field. With a nickname like the wheely-bin...

kyp_durron

DMC wrote:

Part of the logic was he's better in the field. With a nickname like the wheely-bin...

Lmao never heard that before.

But seriously I think it's a terribly decision, the old cliche you need to take 20 wickets to win a test match, do England not have enought faith in the batting line up?

Lastly I'd like to say fair play to Giles for coming back from injury, but I think it's the wrong decision.

DMC

Toss: won by Ponting.... probably bat...

county

what the hell are sky sports doing,going for a break when the toss is on

county

aussies to bat

DMC

county wrote:

what the hell are sky sports doing,going for a break when the toss is on

Very simple. Mark Nicholas is hosting the toss with Channel 9, and he ain't going to appear on Sky Sports again!

Paul Tergat

"g'bowlin shanyyne!"

Come on England...

i actually can see a whitewash to Oz in this, wonder what the odds are?

Royale with Cheese

On a pitch that's not really expected to turn is it that bad a decision to put Giles in for Monty? Monty can't bat or field to save his life, in a close game that can make all the difference. With England batting last unless they have to follow on, their spinner isn't going to be that important anyway.

county

p_larkin99 wrote:

"g'bowlin shanyyne!"

Come on England...

i actually can see a whitewash to Oz in this, wonder what the odds are?

5-1 with paddy power

cgf

Not too sure about those odds of 5-1

I've already lost a few bob on an outside punt for the world darts championship next January

http://www.cricketeurope4.net/DATABASE/ARTICLES/articles/000033/003388.shtml

DMC

Not quite the odds Lillee got from a Leeds bookie in 1981

England 5-0 ... 200/1
Australia 5-0 ... 6/1

Odds with Ladbrokes..

Handicap betting is that Australia are 2.5 tests better than England... that means Australia to win 3-1 is the shortest odds.

county

warne to take 40 or more wickets is 12-1 with sky bet

Paul Tergat

They seem like fair enough odds i guess, just cant see England getting much from this series....really hope im proven wrong!

DMC

I'd like to know what Orange's ad agency was smoking when they thought of that ad......

Hold on... The Ashes are starting!

DMC

Last time I saw Harmison bowl a first ball like that.... it was at Stormont!!

county

hoggards hitting the right spots atm

DMC

Anderson into the attack... no messing with Flintoff, even if Harmison is his buddy. Goes to show there is no faith in Harmison. He might be a passenger.....

kyp_durron

If there is no faith in him, why play him?

DMC

He's seriously undercooked. He hasn't had a good day since 2005. And they complain about all the cricket they play.

Bowlers of years ago will tell you, a bowler needs overs under their belts. Fletcher doesn't allow that to happen. They did the right thing with Anderson in 2005. Go and play for Lancashire for a full season. Get some mileage. Unfortunately for him, the stress fracture this year hampered him. The same could be said for Harmison. Go back to Durham for a summer. Don't even think of a recall.

Mark my words, Stuart Broad will get his test cap in the next few weeks.

England are in danger of going from heroes to zeroes.

kyp_durron

DMC wrote:

He's seriously undercooked. He hasn't had a good day since 2005. And they complain about all the cricket they play.

Bowlers of years ago will tell you, a bowler needs overs under their belts. Fletcher doesn't allow that to happen. They did the right thing with Anderson in 2005. Go and play for Lancashire for a full season. Get some mileage. Unfortunately for him, the stress fracture this year hampered him. The same could be said for Harmison. Go back to Durham for a summer. Don't even think of a recall.

Mark my words, Stuart Broad will get his test cap in the next few weeks.

England are in danger of going from heroes to zeroes.

I agree completely, I was shocked Stuart Broad wasn't included, he was in great form and everything. And It just seems, as you say, they have no faith in Harmison. So why play him? It makes no sence to me.

Langer scoring at a run a ball, bad news for England.

county

freddie to bowl,about time too

DMC

kyp_durron wrote:

So why play him? It makes no sence to me.

Simple. Fletcher thinks he good, and wraps him in cotton wool. Big mistake.

Drinks: 57/0

Also.... just listening on the side on R4LW, Boycott is away on a rant... just took an hour But he's spot on...