Australia will struggle to win the Ashes

So says Spanky.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/dont-be-fooled-this-australian-side-would-struggle-to-win-the-ashes-20100108-lyu1.html

Discuss*









*Apart from Spanky likes boys etc which doesn't require debate.

If they play like they did in Sydney ...yes

Put Katich and Hilfenhaus back in the team ...not get any "unusual" weather conditions ...get North or someone else in form at number 6 ...they'll get the Ashes back easily

Australia are at least 30% better when they play at home. Look at the record of their batsman. Most of them average around 10 runs more at home compared to away.

At this stage I reckon it will be a 2-2 series draw. Lots of cricket to be played bwtween then and now, though.....

embee wrote:...they'll get the Ashes back easily

Hmm, do keep thinking that.

embee wrote:If they play like they did in Sydney ...yes

Put Katich and Hilfenhaus back in the team ...not get any "unusual" weather conditions ...get North or someone else in form at number 6 ...they'll get the Ashes back easily

Good to see the woofing kicking off nice and early.....

Last time you guys still had Mcgrath and Warne, remember.

Shoeshine wrote:

embee wrote:...they'll get the Ashes back easily

Hmm, do keep thinking that.

It's a shoey-in...

Henry wrote:

At this stage I reckon it will be a 2-2 series draw.

I don't see how England will take 20 wickets on the Aussie flat-beds in the blazing sunshine with their current four-man attack.

If they're lucky they might manage it once.

No way will England win two games.

I reckon we can win at Perth and Sydney. They'll probably take the Brisbane test and Melbourne test. Adelaide will be a draw.

Dello wrote:

Henry wrote:

At this stage I reckon it will be a 2-2 series draw.

I don't see how England will take 20 wickets on the Aussie flat-beds in the blazing sunshine with their current four-man attack.

If they're lucky they might manage it once.

No way will England win two games.

I'm not sure I see the Australian attack as any more capable than England's though. Less so actually.

Yeah, man for man, Johnson is probably just ahead of Broad at this stage, but Anderson is ahead of Hilfenhaus imo, and Onions is probabably better than Siddle. Swann is a better spinner than Hauritz.

The batting is probably about equal as well, with Ponting seemingly in decline now.

Ok, man for man-

Strauss=Katich
Cook=Watson
Ponting>Trott
Pietersen>Hussey
Collingwood=Clarke
Bell=North
Prior>Haddin
Johnson>Broad
Swann>Hauritz
Anderson>Hilfenhaus
Onions>Siddle

About right?

It's got 5-0 written all over it.

JKLever wrote:It's got 5-0 written all over it.

Settle down Lever! I know England are improving, but I wouldn't go that far!

I really don't know what to predict - how can you when we've had our arses spanked 4-1 & 5-0 on our last 2 visits

Much like 2005 we've got to aim to be competitive again down under before getting delusions of grandeur. And we haven't been that since 1987.

They've got no one to scare us though. In 06-07 they still had Mcgrath and Warne eager to sign off with one last triumph against the Poms. They don't even have Stuart Clark anymore. I reckon on paper, Johnson is the only genuine threat they provide now that Ponting isn't quite what he used to be.

home ground advantage counts for a lot

Nath wrote:home ground advantage counts for a lot

Didn't count for much when the South Africans rolled you last summer. And we're on top of them now.

I do think this is England's best chance in a very long time, simply because Australia aren't the team they were - aren't anywhere remotely near the team they were. I wouldn't say England are a brilliant side (though they are a rapidly improving one), but neither are Australia.

I mean, we've seen Shane Watson be their best batsman this year.

There's a feeling that England are on the way up, whilst Australia are on the way down. With Ponting, Katich and Hussey nearing the end of their careers, i don't think Aus have quite reached their nadir just yet. They wont fall much further, mind.

Henry wrote:There's a feeling that England are on the way up.

Steady on.

There's more a feeling of the fact that England have a team of fighters who aren't beaten easily and are scrapping our way to some decent results. Let's not forget we've been saved from 3 defeats in the last 8 tests with our last pair standing. We don't have a sub-25 spearhead wicket taker - our leading paceman average 35 per wicket!!

Yes, there's more than a hint of England under Hussain about this team, isn't there? That early noughties team that would point blank refuse to lose matches.

However, I don't think it's unreasonable for him to say that England are on the way up, they probably are. Those bowling averages you refer to are on the way down.

Doesn't mean they're suddenly a brilliant team, as I'm at pains to keep saying!

Oh come on. We're certainly a better side now than the 51 all out fiasco. Whether we're scrapping or not, we're playing better cricket these days. We won the ashes, and we're ahead against South Africa. For 3 years after the 2005 ashes, we couldn't beat any of the top 3 sides. Now we're on the verge of beating 2 of them in consecutive series.

Henry wrote:Now we're on the verge of beating 2 of them in consecutive series.

Um, if we're 400 ahead, 3 wickets down with two days left I'll say we're "on the verge". Not till then.

Well we certainly can't lose against South Africa now. Before the tour began, I reckon most people (Including the England team, just quietly) would have taken a drawn series.

Henry wrote:

Nath wrote:home ground advantage counts for a lot

Didn't count for much when the South Africans rolled you last summer. And we're on top of them now.

we're talking about the Ashes here, not some nuffy series