England v Australia, 1st Test, Cardiff, July 8-12 (II)

Highest Oz partnership for the 2nd wicket in Tests in England (and Wales) since Taylor and Blewett's 194 in Oz' 2nd innings at Edgbaston in June 1997. Both batsmen also made 100s (Taylor 129, Blewett 125).

beamer wrote:So, is this a 600 pitch that our batsmen failed to take advantage of? Or just down to the usual failings of our bowlers to get anything out of it when it doesn't swing?

Good question. It is peculiar how the ball hasn't swung at all today - and it hasn't really spun either. Is now the time to do what the Aussies did four years ago and claim that they've doctored the ball?

Same old Ashes...it's like intervening in Afghanistan, 150-ish years of bloody brutal history and we're still pitting ourselves against these backward, fanatical warlike people. We never learn...

Good day. I was expecting a bit more from England though. Apart from Flintoff's 6 over spell after lunch they all looked pretty rubbish. Broad and Panesar especially.

And Monty's fielding........... has it got worse? He does run around like a retard sometimes.

beamer wrote:So, is this a 600 pitch that our batsmen failed to take advantage of? Or just down to the usual failings of our bowlers to get anything out of it when it doesn't swing?

Gower-Botham-Lloyd blame it on a 'rogue' ball. Apparently, the new one will probably swing better.

Kabbage seems a nice bloke. Modest.

Is this another Adelaide '06 where England put on 551-6d batting first but still went on to lose by 6 wickets? A closer fit might be the one-off Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval in August 1998 when England made 445 (Crawley 156*, Hick 107), Sri Lanka replied with 591 (Jayasuriya 213, da Silva 152), England were bowled out for 181 in their 2nd innings and went on to lose the match by 10 wickets.

The only difference was that in that game Muralitharan had match figures of 16-220 and was far and away the difference between the two sides. Warne also played a large part in England's defeat at Adelaide. Assuming that Australia have a 150-lead by tomorrow evening and unless something remarkabl;e happens (which is not out of the question) it is difficult to see how England can be bowled out cheaply enough on Saturday for Oz to win on Sunday, especially with rain forecast, given the absence of Lee and the unlikelihood of Hauritz bowling a side out by himself but then few forecast an England defeat after their first innings' performances at The Oval '98 & Adelaide'06 so.....

Rogue ball PMSL.

It's always something with England other than the opposition being miles better than them. Aussies bowl first and have the ball hopping around all day - good ball. England bowl second and get nothing out of it - bad ball.

So it's nothing to do with our crap bowlers who haven't come on any whatsoever in two years of Otis Gibson coaching them? It's nothing to with their rubbishness. Because Jimmy Anderson has always been crap. He was crap when he debuted, he's still crap now. No improvement, he's the same old loose, swingy flapper of a bowler he has always been.

Stuart Broad has got faster, less accurate and is at about the same level of effectiveness.

Anyway, England were absolute dog-shit today. The captain had no idea where to turn to because there was nobody to turn to. He could only rely on two bowlers to hit the same spot four or five times in an over so you can imagine what he thought of the others. It's a shame that the Ashes had to come along now with all the scrutiny because it just gives the fair-weather fans a chance to share in how shit England have been for the last two and a half years since the last Ashes.

Allan D wrote:Is this another Adelaide '06 where England put on 551-6d batting first but still went on to lose by 6 wickets? A closer fit might be the one-off Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval in August 1998 when England made 445 (Crawley 156*, Hick 107), Sri Lanka replied with 591 (Jayasuriya 213, da Silva 152), England were bowled out for 181 in their 2nd innings and went on to lose the match by 10 wickets.

The only difference was that in that game Muralitharan had match figures of 16-220 and was far and away the difference between the two sides. Warne also played a large part in England's defeat at Adelaide. Assuming that Australia have a 150-lead by tomorrow evening and unless something remarkabl;e happens (which is not out of the question) it is difficult to see how England can be bowled out cheaply enough on Saturday for Oz to win on Sunday, especially with rain forecast, given the absence of Lee and the unlikelihood of Hauritz bowling a side out by himself but then few forecast an England defeat after their first innings' performances at The Oval '98 & Adelaide'06 so.....

Depends on how the pitch breaks up.

Not really - this is England we're talking about. Adelaide was still a decent pitch at the end, England collapsed to the Warne aura allied with a smidgen of turn and KP's stupidity. In all England defeats there can be found KP's stupidity. What will he do this time to lose us the game?

Think I implied as much, PJ, but thanks for putting the point directly.

Highest 1st innings scores by England in a Losing Cause

Chivalry Augustus wrote:Not really - this is England we're talking about. Adelaide was still a decent pitch at the end, England collapsed to the Warne aura allied with a smidgen of turn and KP's stupidity. In all England defeats there can be found KP's stupidity. What will he do this time to lose us the game?

Much the same was true at The Oval in '98 when KP was still hoping to play for the Saffies although Hick was the KP equivalent . After scoring a magnificent 100 in the first innings he was out to Murali for 0 in the 2nd without offering a shot. Even if Australia do score 600 (which is not beyond the bounds of possibility given that Hussey, Clarke and North have yet to bat) the absence of a class spinner makes it difficult to see how Oz could turn the advantage into a winning position. However...

at The Oval in 2003 England managed to defeat the Saffies by 9 wickets after the Saffies had scored 484 batting first, England replying with 604 (Tresco 219, Butcher 124, Flintoff 95). The Saffies were bowled out for 229 on a wearing pitch despite the fact that England's only slow merchant, the King of Spain, had the magnificent figures of 0-36 off 10 overs and it was Harmison and Bicknell who did the damage so Mitchell Johnson could still have a part to play in this. We shall see. Some pretty gruesome spectating for England supporters tomorrow though, I expect.

England can lose games on the final day without a decent spinner on the opposing side. If they've got to bat out a day for a draw then suddenly Hauritz and the part-timers will be made to look like Warne and Murali by the England batsmen...

I agree. If Australia can get a lead of 150 by tomorrow night England will have to bat out the weekend to secure the draw. Even if England are bowled out for 350 by Sunday lunch there should be enough time left for Australia to win given the current run-rate and provided weather doesn't intervene. In the end it may not be the King of Spain as the King of Rain that England will need to save this match.

Day 3 prediction :

Australia 611/8

England ******.

Hmmmmm, only saw play up till just before lunch and just got back home and seen the score.

Cripes. Where did the turn go?

Yopu can't expect Swanny and Monty to get the same degree of turn as a spinner like Hauritz . . .

tac wrote:Yopu can't expect Swanny and Monty to get the same degree of turn as a spinner like Hauritz . . .

Damn, I though tI'd fixed that typo . . .

Still looks an even test. If England don't get another "rogue" ball for the 2nd new ball, they could still limit Oz to something around 450 . . . .

I suspect the Anderson Cycle took an opportune time to kick in once again?

And Hussey is next man in FFS!

Only only saw the pre-Lunch session as well, JKL, and the pitch looked dead . . . . very dead . . .

Plenty of footmarks for a second day pitch.

tac wrote:Damn, I though tI'd fixed that typo . . .

Still looks an even test. If England don't get another "rogue" ball for the 2nd new ball, they could still limit Oz to something around 450 . . . .

Haven't heard anything about the day other than the score. Looks like the 2nd new ball and early wickets will be vital...

Actually i'd never back England but the 12.5's on offer for an England win actually look a bit ridiculous - even should Aus bat all day tomorrow and end up with a lead of 100 - England would in reality be a lot better bet than 12.5! And that's coming from a pessimist!

Well said Swanny, who who was whingeing about the ball?

"This morning we talked about getting momentum, but 249 for 1 doesn't
speak very highly of the way we bowled, in fact it sums up the way we
bowled," said Swann. "We didn't put the ball in the right place often
enough. We can whinge and moan about the ball going soft, and the
wicket being flat, and Katich not being given out lbw off me when he
was plumb. But that's the game, it's the nature of the beast. We're
disappointed to be in this position, but we've still got a nigh-on-200
run lead."

JKLever wrote:Well said Swanny, who who was whingeing about the ball?

"This morning we talked about getting momentum, but 249 for 1 doesn't
speak very highly of the way we bowled, in fact it sums up the way we
bowled," said Swann. "We didn't put the ball in the right place often
enough. We can whinge and moan about the ball going soft, and the
wicket being flat, and Katich not being given out lbw off me when he
was plumb. But that's the game, it's the nature of the beast. We're
disappointed to be in this position, but we've still got a nigh-on-200
run lead."

farkin lol