Australia v England, 5th Test, Sydney, 3-7 January, 2014

skully wrote:

G.Wood wrote: Watching smug bints like Jimmy and Cook mope around the field for 5 short tests is hella funny.

  

have to agree there. it may just turn out to be a short lived oxcitment cos can't see us beating the saffies TBH. so going to enjoy while I can

Aye CT, the SAffies will be tough. But if we bowl like we did in this series, the World's best top 7 will have to work very hard against.

Our batting looks frail on paper against the might of Steyn, Philander and Morkel. We need solid back up at 3 (maybe behind the iffy Warner (who I think Steyn will sort right out) and move Twatson to 6, if we are to have any hope of making enough runs to compete.

Still, I intend to bask in this glory for just a wee while.  

skully wrote:

G.Wood wrote: Watching smug bints like Jimmy and Cook mope around the field for 5 short tests is hella funny.

  

Jimmy, I'll give you. But I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to Cook as smug before. He's as benign and inoffensive as a sleepy kitten.

And he captains much the same way.

1989 we had low expectations but from memory England was severely weakened by pace bowlers through injury and defections to the rebel tours so they became cannon fodder by the end.

Interestingly enough we were the favourites with the bookies before this series. Perhaps it was because of home ground advantage but also due to the notion that scoreline flattered England during the southern winter.

Will be interesting to see if this victory ushers in a glorious era because in '89 we were on the cusp of greatness but young pacemen (in the wings) aside, we have a lot of players on the wrong side of thirty now so how this squad develops will be interesting to watch.

Dello wrote:

skully wrote:

G.Wood wrote: Watching smug bints like Jimmy and Cook mope around the field for 5 short tests is hella funny.

  

Jimmy, I'll give you. But I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to Cook as smug before. He's as benign and inoffensive as a sleepy kitten.

And he captains much the same way.

Perhaps he meant Broad? Anywho, Woody is just having a wee poke, as is his usual concise and witty way.   

Hass wrote:

Red wrote:

Would have thought day three, Jane McGrath day and possibly the final day of the test they might have got a full house. They had comfortably over 60k on day three in Melbourne.

You do realise today was sold out. That means if someone wanted to buy a ticket from the box office they could not. The only way you could get a ticket was from one of the English scalpers who were hanging around like vultures near the ground.

So it still makes the crowd disappointing because they bought tickets but failed to turn up.

These truncated matches are a little annoying though because it makes for longer breaks between international cricket contests.

Red wrote:

Hass wrote:

Red wrote:

Would have thought day three, Jane McGrath day and possibly the final day of the test they might have got a full house. They had comfortably over 60k on day three in Melbourne.

You do realise today was sold out. That means if someone wanted to buy a ticket from the box office they could not. The only way you could get a ticket was from one of the English scalpers who were hanging around like vultures near the ground.

So it still makes the crowd disappointing because they bought tickets but failed to turn up.

These truncated matches are a little annoying though because it makes for longer breaks between international cricket contests.

I'm always amazed a gaps in the crowd at sold out days. I guess a $150 is chicken feed to some.   

And I agree 100% about truncated matches. JGK and I were discussing it via text today. Just WTF was the hurry with the batting? It all paid off in the end, but I wasn't convinced at the bat throwing exploits with so much time left.

Now there's nothing to watch tomorrow.   

And now I have no reason not to go back to work tomorrow.

Might take it off anyway and go back on Tuesday.

JGK wrote:And now I have no reason not to go back to work tomorrow.

Might take it off anyway and go back on Tuesday.

On holidays so would have liked some cricket. BTW how silly does Beefy look now? He did have the scoreline right though.

skully wrote:

Paul Keating wrote:40 off 113
0 off 14
60 off 144
14 off 39
43 off 76
31 off 53
38 off 103
12 off 81
0 off 9
43 off 63

281 @ 28.10

Read some posts and you would think the man is deserving of a public stoning.

The obvious problem is that the 281 was the 2nd highest aggregate for England, behind KP's 291. I hope Carbs gets another chance.

Well, he did show a bit of fight at times but never went on, and the issue is that there's no upside potential in persisting with a player of that age. If our expectations are now so low that we just want an opener to average low 30s for the next couple of years he would fit the bill, as would Compton. If we're looking for the next great England opening pair we have to move on.

Cook smug? Hmmmmmmmm. Now I've heard everything.

Although 2006/7 felt great, this is much more amazing. In 2006/7, the Australian team had several truly Great players. Although the whitewash was nice, I think everyone expected the team to bounce back and win that series.

This 2013/14 team is still very much finding its way. To achieve this whitewash, and not just a whitewash but really five successive thrashings, off the back of a gutting winless series mere months ago ... just astounding. Inexplicable.

Are we going to bother doing player marks out of ten?

Of the English, did anyone other than Broad and Stokes earn their lunch in this series?

OP Tipping wrote:Although 2006/7 felt great, this is much more amazing. In 2006/7, the Australian team had several truly Great players. Although the whitewash was nice, I think everyone expected the team to bounce back and win that series.

This 2013/14 team is still very much finding its way. To achieve this whitewash, and not just a whitewash but really five successive thrashings, off the back of a gutting winless series mere months ago ... just astounding. Inexplicable.

2006/7 had the dual sense of redemption for 2005 and the final masterpiece of the careers of Warne and McGrath in particular.

This series has been surprising, no doubt, but I think it will take a number of years to put it into it's proper perspective. After all, we are quite likely to be hammered 3-0 by Saf in a couple of months.

I wonder if the fact that it was back to back to the previous series meant we didn't have that heightened sense of anticipation beforehand.

I just assumed CA would have instructed Clarke to bat as long as possible. Apart from losing a bet it would've been hella funny if the follow-on had come into play.

Sad for the pink crew though.

JGK wrote:

OP Tipping wrote:Although 2006/7 felt great, this is much more amazing. In 2006/7, the Australian team had several truly Great players. Although the whitewash was nice, I think everyone expected the team to bounce back and win that series.

This 2013/14 team is still very much finding its way. To achieve this whitewash, and not just a whitewash but really five successive thrashings, off the back of a gutting winless series mere months ago ... just astounding. Inexplicable.

2006/7 had the dual sense of redemption for 2005 and the final masterpiece of the careers of Warne and McGrath in particular.

This series has been surprising, no doubt, but I think it will take a number of years to put it into it's proper perspective.  After all, we are quite likely to be hammered 3-0 by Saf in a couple of months.  

I wonder if the fact that it was back to back to the previous series meant we didn't have that heightened sense of anticipation beforehand.

Doubt we'll lose all tests in SA. They are still to beat us there since readmission. We have a good chance of success.

The thing about this series is that the scoreline is probably remarkable given what happened in the winter etc., yet we seem to have been moving inexorably towards it since Adelaide. Nobody would have expected this pre-series but few would have expected England to win a test once things started getting into full swing. They got worse and by Sydney appeared to have lost the appetite for the fight. Maybe the most astonishing thing is that we retained the same eleven throughout while they ended in disarray with some walking away from the tour and selection appearing to be a matter of the proverbial moving decks around the Titanic kind of feeling.

I agree. But it will require Watto at six and a lot of luck with three. The bowling more or less takes care of itself.

Anyone else think Haddin should feel a bit aggrieved about the MoS award?

Bradman wrote:I agree.  But it will require Watto at six and a lot of luck with three.  The bowling more or less takes care of itself.

Anyone else think Haddin should feel a bit aggrieved about the MoS award?

No. Johnson was clearly the MOTS.

Red wrote:

JGK wrote:

OP Tipping wrote:Although 2006/7 felt great, this is much more amazing. In 2006/7, the Australian team had several truly Great players. Although the whitewash was nice, I think everyone expected the team to bounce back and win that series.

This 2013/14 team is still very much finding its way. To achieve this whitewash, and not just a whitewash but really five successive thrashings, off the back of a gutting winless series mere months ago ... just astounding. Inexplicable.

2006/7 had the dual sense of redemption for 2005 and the final masterpiece of the careers of Warne and McGrath in particular.

This series has been surprising, no doubt, but I think it will take a number of years to put it into it's proper perspective.  After all, we are quite likely to be hammered 3-0 by Saf in a couple of months.  

I wonder if the fact that it was back to back to the previous series meant we didn't have that heightened sense of anticipation beforehand.

Doubt we'll lose all tests in SA. They are still to beat us there since readmission.

.

Really?

taipan wrote:

Red wrote:

JGK wrote:

OP Tipping wrote:Although 2006/7 felt great, this is much more amazing. In 2006/7, the Australian team had several truly Great players. Although the whitewash was nice, I think everyone expected the team to bounce back and win that series.

This 2013/14 team is still very much finding its way. To achieve this whitewash, and not just a whitewash but really five successive thrashings, off the back of a gutting winless series mere months ago ... just astounding. Inexplicable.

2006/7 had the dual sense of redemption for 2005 and the final masterpiece of the careers of Warne and McGrath in particular.

This series has been surprising, no doubt, but I think it will take a number of years to put it into it's proper perspective.  After all, we are quite likely to be hammered 3-0 by Saf in a couple of months.  

I wonder if the fact that it was back to back to the previous series meant we didn't have that heightened sense of anticipation beforehand.

Doubt we'll lose all tests in SA. They are still to beat us there since readmission.

.

Really?

Name the series in which you have beaten us in SA since readmission!

Red wrote:

taipan wrote:

Red wrote:

JGK wrote:

OP Tipping wrote:Although 2006/7 felt great, this is much more amazing. In 2006/7, the Australian team had several truly Great players. Although the whitewash was nice, I think everyone expected the team to bounce back and win that series.

This 2013/14 team is still very much finding its way. To achieve this whitewash, and not just a whitewash but really five successive thrashings, off the back of a gutting winless series mere months ago ... just astounding. Inexplicable.

2006/7 had the dual sense of redemption for 2005 and the final masterpiece of the careers of Warne and McGrath in particular.

This series has been surprising, no doubt, but I think it will take a number of years to put it into it's proper perspective.  After all, we are quite likely to be hammered 3-0 by Saf in a couple of months.  

I wonder if the fact that it was back to back to the previous series meant we didn't have that heightened sense of anticipation beforehand.

Doubt we'll lose all tests in SA. They are still to beat us there since readmission.

.

Really?

Name the series in which you have beaten us in SA since readmission!

The first 30 times you repeated it were acceptable.

Cook-

"One thing we can say we've done well is stuck together. At times like this factions can corner off in the dressing room and there can be a lot of backstabbing but I can safely say that hasn't happened."

Erm, you mean apart from your main spinner f*cking off mid-tour then having a thinly veiled jibe at his team mates?

Nah! That was a dig against Warner or Watto or Clarke or the lady who does the Oz laundry or.........

Hmmm, a chummy dressing room full of players who think the sun shines out of the arses of all their team-mates, or a cussed, competitive atmosphere where the players are as hard on each other as they are on the oppo.

Not really a tough call when you look at the result.