Ashes - First Test

Harry2001

Kevin Pietersen has been named ahead of Graham Thorpe in England's 12-man squad for the first Ashes Test at Lord's next week

Couldn't make my mind up myself, old reliable Thorpe or new kid on the block Pietersen?

Squad:

1. Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire) (captain)

2. Ian Bell (Warwickshire)

3. Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire)

4. Ashley Giles (Warwickshire)

5. Stephen Harmison (Durham)

6. Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire)

7. Geraint Jones (Kent)

8. Simon Jones (Glamorgan)

9. Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire)

10. Andrew Strauss (Middlesex)

11. Chris Tremlett (Hampshire)

12. Marcus Trescothick (Somerset)

DMC

Easy decision for me... old dog for the hard road.

Thorpe, whilst his swansong, would've brought his game to England middle order. Blooding a player like Pietersen at the start of an Ashes series is risky.

mike65

Agreed, Thorpe been there done that, Pietersen has a future but like that Dublin fella (!) it might have been better if it started in the winter.

The weather having been so dry and hot will mean ultra fast outfield, the forecast for next week in London is continuing dry with temps in early 20s, so whoever wins toss better put in to bat methinks.

Mike.

DMC

The thing about Pietersen for me is, that we really have only seen in the last six months his flash bang wallop game... suited for a one day game. But unlike Ian Bell, who proved his early season form in the CC with huge scores against Bangladesh, KP hasn't set the county championship alight this summer.

He'll be batting with the likes of Jones and Flintoff, no mean sloggers themselves. I just dont think Pietersen has any other gears, and the England team only needs a couple of huge hitters, and like for like, Thorpe is the better longer-format player.

Like Bell, Ed Joyce is more of a prospect in the Test arena. (though, I hope for Ed's sake, he is not called up for the Pakistan/India tours this winter)

But 1st cap at Lord's against the Aussies is just wrong. Very wrong.

RuggieBear

mike65 wrote:

Agreed, Thorpe been there done that, Pietersen has a future but like that Dublin fella (!) it might have been better if it started in the winter.

The weather having been so dry and hot will mean ultra fast outfield, the forecast for next week in London is continuing dry with temps in early 20s, so whoever wins toss better put in to bat methinks.

Mike.

i agree too...strange time to give a player his first cap.

Oh and by "Dublin fella" do you mean Ed Joyce from Bray, Co. Wicklow.

county

yound blood does no harm,shows no fear,thats what we need against the aussies

RuggieBear

seemingly Thorpe told the English management that his back was acting up and he was unsure that his back would hold up for the entire series. shame really to be troubled by such a chronic condtion

Harry2001

Surprise surprise Australia win the toss and decide to bat

25-0 after 6 overs

Harmison starting well, smashed Langer on the elbow

RuggieBear

haydan falls

RuggieBear

it's like bodyline all over again

Langer gets a right whack on the elbow and one on the helmet
... and just now Ponting got one in the grill which seems to have bounced into his cheek, drawing blood and possibly breaking his cheekbone

Harry2001

RuggieBear wrote:

it's like bodyline all over again

LOL This is great stuff from Harmison, they will need the stretchers soon

county

66 for 3 great start for england

Harry2001

66-4

great bowling by England

Washout

unreal. they will be lucky to reach 200 in the 1st innings.

RuggieBear

or bad batting....

arbeitsscheuer

Phenomenal England. Watched first 5 overs, went to study for a bit (I'd promised I wouldn't let myself get sucked in), just flicked it back on now itn time to see Jones' delivery tempt Martyn into swinging for it. Great bowling, ya have to say.

We had to bully the Aussies, and from what you guys were saying about bodyline-esque stuff from England, we appear to have done just that.

COME ON ENGLAND

county

97-5 what a start

v-deniso

That was the most amazing mornings cricket I have seen in ages....A savage performance by the England bowlers

arbeitsscheuer

LUNCH:

Australia 97 for 5

BATSMEN:

J L Langer c S J Harmison b A Flintoff 40
M L Hayden b M J Hoggard 12
R T Ponting c A J Strauss b S J Harmison 9
D R Martyn c G O Jones b S P Jones 2
M J Clarke lbw b S P Jones 11
S M Katich not out 7
A C Gilchrist not out 8

Extras 6nb 1w 1b = 8
Fall of Wicket = 35-1, 55-2,66-3, 66-4, 87-5

Harry2001

Superb stuff!! lets get a few runs now


Australia first innings 190 All Out (40.2 overs)
JL Langer c Harmison b Flintoff 40
ML Hayden b Hoggard 12
RT Ponting c Strauss b Harmison 9
DR Martyn c G O Jones b S P Jones 2
MJ Clarke lbw b S P Jones 11
SM Katich c G O Jones b Harmison 27
AC Gilchrist c G O Jones b Flintoff 26
SK Warne b Harmison 28
B Lee c G O Jones b Harmison 3
JN Gillespie lbw b Harmison 1
GD McGrath not out 10
Extras
5b 4lb 1w 11nb 21
TOTAL: all out , 40.2 overs 190

RuggieBear

McGrath starts with a vengeance.....2 quick wickets

Washout

is the pitch misbehaving badly?

RuggieBear

well vaughn was bowled by a bastard ball....stayed low and went under his bat....seemingly the groundsman claimed the wicket was ready too early and it might be a bit too dry.

Washout

4 down!!! CMON the Aussies.

RuggieBear

19 for 4 :rolleyes:

Washout

RuggieBear wrote:

well vaughn was bowled by a bastard ball....stayed low and went under his bat....seemingly the groundsman claimed the wicket was ready too early and it might be a bit too dry.

so its after getting too much sun and the cracks are wider than they should be for a 1st day.

Also if its dry then Warney might be a factor in the game alot earlier than he should be.

It might all b over in 2 1/2 days.

RuggieBear

21 for 5 :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

RuggieBear

Washout wrote:

so its after getting too much sun and the cracks are wider than they should be for a 1st day.

Also if its dry then Warney might be a factor in the game alot earlier than he should be.

It might all b over in 2 1/2 days.

the way McGrath is bowling there will be absolutely no need for Warne
5 wickets already....what were his odds on being the series' leading wicket taker???

Washout

yeah listening to it on five live. Henry bloefeld and merv hughes just scared the **** out of me when that flintoff got bowled.

Mcgrath seems to be giving a masterclass on bowling accuretly.

RuggieBear

4, 2, 3, 6, 0

That's what the out english batsman have scored!!!! :eek:

DMC

Giles out hit wicket! Bwhahahah! :D:D

Close of day 1
Australia 190
England 92/7 (37.0 ov)
England trail by 98 runs with 3 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

BTW... Pietersen is doing ok....

Harry2001

Ah! the highs and lows of test cricket

England's top order crumble again :mad: , we will have to get used to that over the summer

This test could be all done and dusted by Saturday

mike65

Were conditons humid/overcast at all?

I was in the van all day mainly out west with almost zero LW receiption but when I heard through the crackles that the Ausies were all out by lunch I was doing my Norwegian commentors speech (you know the one, "your boys took a hell of a beating!"). then by the time I get home the crims are on top!!! Grrrrrrrrrr.

Mike.

andyman

Is there any channel that is showing the Ashes series at all??

RuggieBear

Channel 4

have a gander here. I put up a few links

county

am totally gutted,happy as a pig in **** at lunch time by tea time i could of cried :mad:

Harry2001

At least something to cheer, 50 for Pietersen

Harry2001

great effort from the tail to get up to 155, maybe England should reverse their 1-11

county

good come back we still have a chance

Washout

IM just hoping the aussies can bat the day, so at least there is something to watch on the tv tommorow.

I was so tempted to pull a sickie today to watch the action.

arbeitsscheuer

Well, it's been a rollercoaster test match, and it's only Day 2!!!
England did well to save a pretty embarassing 1st Innings - well, Pietersen and the tail-enders saved it. Normally their scores would've been indicative of a good total, but the top order's collapse was shocking.

But now you have to say it's Australia's match to lose.
130-3 at the time of writing, with Gilchrist still to come in and the England attack looking pretty toothless.

Still, I'll keep my hopes up - at least until Tresco goes for a duck in the 2nd Innings :rolleyes:

DMC

Gilchrist is back in the hutch.. Australia lead by 312 with Warne and Katich at the crease... 330 is getable, if England bat sensibley.

mike65

The weather looks pretty dodgy, they look like seeing rain from lunchtime-ish.

Whats with the 6 pm close of play regardless over remaining overs? Its mad.

Mike.

DMC

mike65 wrote:

The weather looks pretty dodgy, they look like seeing rain from lunchtime-ish.

Whats with the 6 pm close of play regardless over remaining overs? Its mad.

Mike.

Ask Channel 4.....

RuggieBear

DMC wrote:

Ask Channel 4.....

Is that the reason.....that's a bloody disgrace if it is!

mike65

from telegraph

After 20 years of coming to heel whenever Australia snap their fingers, it would have been more appropriate for England to emerge from a dog kennel than a pavilion, so no wonder that the most competitive-looking series in two decades has given rise to abnormal behaviour. Not least from the people who decided that the official cut-off point for yesterday's play revolved not around the number of overs remaining, darkness, pestilence, or flood, but Channel 4's 6pm screening of The Simpsons.

Officially, Test cricket is run by the International Cricket Council. In practice, however, it is run by television, which is why the players left the field last night with 10 of the 90-over allocation remaining. Those 10 will never be made up, and if one of these sides ends up a few overs short of claiming victory, it could be the first Test in history to be decided by an American cartoon show.

Me speechless.

Mike.

Harry2001

mike65 wrote:

Me speechless.

Mike.

Yeah it's a joke alright, I like the Channel 4 coverage but this would not have happened on Sky Sports

RuggieBear

mike65 wrote:

from telegraph

Me speechless.

Mike.

That's absolutely outrageous!

The mind ****ing boggles!

Can u imagine if extra time was curtailed in a football match coz they wanted to show eastenders or if players were told to skip a few holes in the final round of the Open so as not to interfere with the news....

mike65

Unfortunatly cricket is a game which can be chopped up like this without it causing too much bother in the overall, but yep its damned annoying if the
lights good and overs/wickets are in hand. Would'nt happen on the bbc either.

Still it could be worse, on ITV it would be on a delay so edits could be made!

Mike.

arbeitsscheuer

RuggieBear wrote:

Can u imagine if extra time was curtailed in a football match coz they wanted to show eastenders or if players were told to skip a few holes in the final round of the Open so as not to interfere with the news....

Something similar happens in the United States Major League Soccer (MLS).
Every time the ball goes dead, the tv channel covering it cuts to commercial, and then the players, fans, and match officials have to wait for the tv channel to cut back to the match so they can continue. Mental.

But altho that example is a case of TV having an influence on a sport to a certain degree, this Channel 4-induced 6pm finish is mind-boggling.

DMC

What happened was this...

Its Channel 4 who dictate that tests start at 10:30 (instead of the usual 11:00, even Sky Sports use 11:00 for their live Bangadesh test coverage)

There was great kefuffle a couple of years ago when Channel 4 bombed out of coverage for Hollyoaks.

But Channel 4 does have a point.... in that its not their fault that the bowlers can't bowl 90 overs in 6 hours of play, and they have a schedule to keep to.

One slight* benefit of going to Sky Sports for the next 4 summers is that this wont happen again.

In Australia, even Kerry Packer must start his main evening news at 6pm on Channel 9, test or no test.

* if you could call it that...