Will England Retain The Ashes?.

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by Quagmire

Hussey, Ponting, Hayden, Langer, Gilchrist are all good players of spin, Martyn and Clarke have also shown in the past that they can smash hundreds on big spinning wickets in Sri Lanka against Muralitharan.

But so are the Pakistani's, the Indian's and the Sri Lankans, and yet his record against them is 32 wickets at 32..including some of the best players of spin in the world

Tendulkar
Dravid
Sangakkara
Mohammad Yousuf (x3)
Inzamam-ul-Haq (x4)
Younis Khan (x3)
http://statserver.cricket.org/guru?s...l ds=viewtype

So I don't feel the Aussies can underestimate him too much. I certainly would prefer to see Monty than Ashley...

[Mr Hutt]

Australia will win the ashes because of the following key 5 points IMO
1) Englands injuries... they are taking six.. yes six injured players with them in the ashes, i doubt if three of those will last beyond the first test i.e flintoff, harmison, hoggard
2) Australian conditions and crowds, its another thing to play infront of opposition crowds when the fours you hit are met by defeaning silence pretty unnerving.
3) Shane warne and Glenn mcgrath, if anyone doubts the bowling abilities of these two because of age they are talking nonsense, the best quick and IMO the best spinner in world cricket today.
4) Australians because of their loss last year have now woken up from their sleep and chants of "we are the champions" i.e they are hungry for something finally!
5) The young Australian players are very impressive, hussey, clarke, shane watson

[greg]

Interesting interview with Shane Warne on radio yesterday,he actually thinks England are stronger now because of Panesar and Read which obviously means that the Aussies don't rate Giles and Jones.He said that England will miss Vaughan's captaincy and Simon Jones but overall the team is better.

He never mentioned Cook which makes you think the Aussies might have some sort of plan hatched for him.

Personally i can't wait for November now,stuff this pyjama circus beforehand it's the ashes that matter.

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by Mr Hutt

5) The young Australian players are very impressive, hussey, clarke, shane watson

I would hardly call Hussey young!! He's 31!!

Clarke is impressive in his first few Tests but has come unstuck after that, and Shane Watson is a very good batter, but I wonder whether he is good enough with the ball to justify a spot as an allrounder.

I am more impressed by some of England's young players, (and they are actually young) - Cook, Bell, Panesar...

McGrath and Warne are great players, but age is against them, and I would hardly call McGrath quick!! I ownder whether McGrath can last 5 Tests (even after a break). Warne is as great as ever, but as we saw in the last Ashes 40 wickets, but still on the losing side!!

[Quagmire]

Originally Posted by flanflinger

But so are the Pakistani's, the Indian's and the Sri Lankans, and yet his record against them is 32 wickets at 32..including some of the best players of spin in the world

Tendulkar
Dravid
Sangakkara
Mohammad Yousuf (x3)
Inzamam-ul-Haq (x4)
Younis Khan (x3)
http://statserver.cricket.org/guru?sdb=player;playerid=10782;class=testplayer;fi lter=advanced;team=0;opposition=0;notopposition=0; homeaway=0;continent=0;country=0;notcountry=0;grou ndid=0;season=0;startdefault=2006-03-01;start=2006-03-01;enddefault=2006-08-20;end=2006-08-20;tourneyid=0;finals=0;daynight=0;toss=0;schedule ddays=0;scheduledovers=0;innings=0;followon=0;resu lt=0;seriesresult=0;captain=0;keeper=0;dnp=0;recen t=;runslow=;runshigh=;batposition=0;dismissal=0;vi ewtype=bow_dismissallist;bowposition=0;ballslow=;b allshigh=;bpof=0;overslow=;overshigh=;conclow=;con chigh=;wicketslow=;wicketshigh=;dismissalslow=;dis missalshigh=;caughtlow=;caughthigh=;caughttype=0;s tumpedlow=;stumpedhigh=;csearch=;submit=1;.cgifiel ds=viewtype

So I don't feel the Aussies can underestimate him too much. I certainly would prefer to see Monty than Ashley...

Are you comparing Panesar to Muralitharan?

[flanflinger]

No, I was just saying that I would prefer to see Monty than Ashley in the England team. Although the Aussie batsmen have played well against Murali and are good players of spin, so are the Asian players I mentioned, but I would not at this stage compare him with Murali, they are at very different stages of the career and Murali is unique.

I am also just pointing out that underestimating Monty will be a mistake, he is not a typical English spinner, he is very accurate, turns the ball and uses subtle variations that can take wickets on even unhelpful pitches.

My point is that just because a player is good at playing spin, does not mean he is not also vulnerable to a good spinner.

A player can be very good at playing fast-bowling - but he can still get out to a good one - it only takes one ball and one misjudgment and the batter is back in the pavilion.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by flanflinger

I am also just pointing out that underestimating Monty will be a mistake, he is not a typical English spinner, he is very accurate, turns the ball and uses subtle variations that can take wickets on even unhelpful pitches.

That's right ff I totaly agree, I think Panesar is THEE most exciting spin bowling prospect for England since Underwood, ( a different type of SLA).

I wonder just how far Monty can go, he could just well end up being like his idol (Bedi).

[Quagmire]

Yes, I don't think that Australia are underestimating Monty, they would have seen him bowl and studied up on him.



Monty is a decent bowler and will be interesting to watch bowl during the ashes, I just think that the crowd might be a little too much for him. I’m not looking forward to the things they are going to say to him.

[flanflinger]

Quagmire,

So what your saying is that the Aussie crowds will defeat the guy not the Aussies batters, for me this is the same situation that many talented players have faced when traveling to Oz. The poor, and frankly rude, behaviour of the crowd targeting a player. I am all up for healthy banter, but abuse (and potential racial abuse) should not be tolerated.

As it is I get the feeling that, despite the ACB's attempts, there will a huge number of English guys in the crowd, to make sure that Monty gets the support he deserves.

[Quagmire]

Originally Posted by flanflinger

As it is I get the feeling that, despite the ACB's attempts, there will a huge number of English guys in the crowd, to make sure that Monty gets the support he deserves.

There actually wont be that many poms, because most of the ticket sold over the internet. ie Ebay wont get the fans into the grounds.