Will England Retain The Ashes?.

[Ernest]

Well you must all have seen Englands dreadfull one day peformance against the Sri Lankans, who could have missed it England are now ranked 8th.

But the Ashes are different - it's Test cricket - proper cricket, and I think England in this form of cricket will be a different matter, a fit team will probably IMO make them just favourites.

Win or lose I will be glad to see some proper cricket, first with Pakistan - then the big one in Australia.

[Vrock]

The, pretty much certified, loss of Michael Vaughan and Simon Jones to the England side will inhibit the overall performance. This will greatly reduce England's chances of competing with an Aussie side that will be fresh from their break, high in confidence after winning all of their test series since the last Ashes and having players that are personally performing as well as they ever have in their careers.

Even if Jones and Vaughan played, even Giles as well, we will be seeing guys playing test cricket with very little preparation. They won't have had any domestic build-up and will probably not perform to expectations.

I believe, with some luck mixed in there, England could retain the Ashes - possibly having drawn the series. It will take some extremely good performances and the whole side will have to contribute.

However, if Australia were to regain the Ashes I would rather see them have a gruelling series against a well performing England side with some excellent performances from all of the team than see England offer very little in the series and Australia take the easy pickings - it takes two sides to make a series great.

[Ernest]

Well this is the difference between proper cricket and ODIs, forunes can change from day to day.

I really do think a lot depends on the England/Pakistan series England need an ego boost after recent Micky Mouse maulings.

I wonder what effect not much cricket will have on Australia, I would think it will be hard for players like McGrath and Gilly to get into their strides, at least for the first game or so.
Much depends on Flintoff and Harmison - if they fire it really is game on, shame over Simon Jones but conditions are not the same in Austraia in any case.

[Quagmire]

There is one difference England could have a full strength side and it still is being played in Australia.

These a couple of main things that Australia have to there advantage.

• Batting wickets - australia has a better batting line up
• Sydney is spinners paradise - Australia should play Warne and MacGill
• Australian crowd support - does make a difference
• Jones and Vaughan out - Jones is a lose for England
• Reverse swing wont be much of a factor
• Australia have a rest and plenty of time to prepare and train
• McGrath could play the whole series unlike last time around
• England have been embarresed by everyone they have played except India since the 2005 ashes
• Englands hopes will be on Flintoffs shoulders and if he is captain he will be under too much pressure which we have seen has caused him to make poor decisions and if its Ponting vs Flintoff as captains Ponting should out play him.
• Hayden and Ponting are amazing form

At the moment i dont see any real advantages for England

[Beny]

Everything pretty much hinges on what happens to English cricket over the next few months. It would be easy to go banana's over their recent form (not that I'm entierly sure what that form is), however we all know that England have some depth- perhaps not to the same extent as Australia but you only need 11 good players on game day. Thus it would be silly to rub them out too soon.

That said, as Rowen points out, England are not going to be able to re-produce the same swinging conditions that troubled Australia during the last ashes and in any case I dont think they have much to offer without Jones playing anyway.

I think that the Aussie batsmen (who've seemed to reach a new high with Hussey's inclusion) will be too strong for the poms. The question for Australia will be weather an ageing bowling attack is still up to scratch, weather this will be McGrath's last test series or indeed weather he'll play at all.

[Vrock]

Originally Posted by Rowan

• Hayden and Ponting are amazing form

At the moment i dont see any real advantages for England

First things first, Mike Hussey is in amazing form at the moment, he has sky-rocketed up the rankings after some amazing innings. Also not forgetting Jason Gillespie's good form with the willow.

Your second point really sums up how things stand, England have nothing going for them, clearly underdogs in the series - well based upon past experiences it can only work in their favour.

[Ernest]

Good post but I don't agree with a couple of points.

You say Jones not being fit is a loser for England, then you go on and say reverse swing won't be a factor, then Anderson should do just as well as Jones would have done.

You say Australia will have crowd support, I agree that's important, but we will see just how many tickets England supporters have managed to get, tickets have been available though packaged Ashes tours - so we will have to wait on that one.

Originally Posted by Rowan

Australia have a rest and plenty of time to prepare and train
McGrath could play the whole series unlike last time around

Maybe Australia have had just to much time, practice is never the same as cricket in the middle, and also McGrath I thought Australia might have thought of replacing him, because after being out so long he could well be rusty at his age, he probably could have done with some match practice.

I think you may be underestimating Flintoff as captain - I agree Ponting is better but Flintoff's form improved after being made captain, and did manage that win in India, so I would not underestimate him as captain.

Originally Posted by Rowan

Hayden and Ponting are amazing form

I think this point is the most interesting - don't forget that Australia have been beating the same teams that England beat well before the ashes 2005, so playing against England could well be different, if they can get this one day beatings out of their system.

Originally Posted by Rowan

At the moment i dont see any real advantages for England

Fair comment neither do I at this moment - but when I reflect and realise England could have a full team, then the Ashes takes on a new complection.
I am not perdicting an England victory at this stage, England will get wrote of with a lot of people because of their rubbish performence in one day matches, well I don't think it should make any difference - England have been a rubbish one day side for years, but play better in Tests.

I think if England have a near full side against Pakistan and don't play well, then it will be hard to find a case for England retaining the Ashes.

[batoutofhell]

more than 3 months are there for ashes
even before ashes very soon(i guess coming july 13 to be precise?)england will be playing against pakistan
as we all know pakistan team right now is much much stronger team thanit was last year same time, both in batting and bowling(some may argue they are inexperienced in the form asif and other youngsters,but they are proven performers under bob's coaching in last year or so)
they got some very talented batsmen and bowlers,so i would think winning this series itself an mission impossible task for england with many main guys out due to injury
it would be good for england if the james anderson is fit and selected for test
he bowled superbly in india with in & out swingers
right now i dont see any of the england bowler who is bowling upto his potential(or for that matter even in partial form,this includes inconsistent harmison)
they definitely need to bowl in consistent line and length,even against srilanka during the 3 test series most of the bowlers were bowled lots of short pitch delieveries to lower order players,which eventually fetched them no great return inetrms of wicket(but given the time for the batsmen to duck it away)
i interested to see how monty bowls against the pakistan,like india pakistan are also good players of spin bowling ,so here he needs to bowl in the same way he did against india and srilanka which is just bowling consistently in the middle and leg with slight turn
infact he was the one spinner after long time troubled indian batsmen from freely scoring(though he could not get many wickets he was very economical and put lot of pressure during india series)
the way they are playing at the moment i am not very sure of whether england will be able to put some good fight against aussies in ashes
rightnow odds are against them even for pak series

[Quagmire]

Originally Posted by Ernest

don't forget that Australia have been beating the same teams that England beat well before the ashes 2005, so playing against England could well be different.

its the same with England they have been losing to the teams that Australia beat before the Ashes

[greg]

I have voted for yes.They can do it but not if they carry on playing as they are.

I know Vaughan and Jones are huge losses but Cook has come in and looks the part and we have Anderson who can replace Jones when he gets fit.You never know all these injuries that England are getting might be beneficial in the long term as the players are getting rested now before a busy winter of cricket.