Congratulations To Australia on Winning The Ashes Back.

[butchering lee]

Originally Posted by Seamer

thing that displeased me:

The invective heaped on Giles.

A gentleman of the game and one of the 2005 heroes,he was never given a fighting chance due to the great push for Panasar.

a nice post seamer:

i absolutely agree about the invective - and the second sentence though, he really shouldn't have ever had to fight for his place, he simply shouldn't have been played so soon!

[Trescothick]

The best team won but its dissapointing seeing it go like that... Even the Aussies can't be that satisfied, sure there were times the Aussies struggled but they quickly overcame them... Not much of a contest....

There are excuses but there always are!!

[Collyisamackem]

Originally Posted by Murali

The English were not pathetic.

We certainly were pathetic by our standards over the past four years - 3-0 should be regarded as a disgrace and I regard it as exactly that and worse if we lose more games (!), not always pathetic but pathetic when it mattered. I'm taking nothing away from the Australians but our players, captain and selectors do deserve criticism and they will know that all too well.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

They never let up - and you can now see why Ponting was chosen by Richie benaud as the aussies best captain. Under a bit of pressure he's come in its almost been impossible to get out ! Same for Hussy to a point. I dont reckon the bowlers deserve the same credit (still deserve some though) but the batsmen as a group have been top draw.

[Quagmire]

I think the last test was a perfect test match, the first innings for both sides were both dominated by the bowlers and the 2nd innings for both sides were dominated by the batsman. Credit to England they did fight as much as they could yesterday but if is a hard task to bat out a day five wickets with Warne and only five wickets in hand.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Seamer

Two thing that displeased me:
(2) The invective heaped on Giles. A gentleman of the game and one of the 2005 heroes,he was never given a fighting chance due to the great push for Panasar. Maybe Panasar was a better option (doubtful on the Gabba and Adelaide wickets - we will never know though) but to see him destroyed like that after such fine service for his country should leave some of his countryman feeling ashamed.

Fletcher and Flintoff are responsible for what happened to Giles. When a player is sidelined, for whatever reason (injury, suspension, etc), they should be expected to win their place back with better form than the encumbant. In my opinion, Panesar was England's #1 spinner and should have been selected until either he lost form or Giles showed better form. I think Fletcher and Flintoff were scared that Panesar would be phased by the occasion but the Perth Test match shows that nothing phases Panesar. He enjoys a good contest as much as anybody. Even when Gilchrist hammered him for 24 runs off one over he wanted to bowl the next over.

[Irish Left Armer]

It's very disappointing for the series that it's over already. Obviously the Aussies are all delighted but I think we were all hoping for the series to be alive going into Melbourne at least. Not that I particularly mind Australia winning, I don't care really but 3-0 already is well, deflating.

Kind of strange really because before the series started I expected England to be routed and they have been. But England have been a lot better than I expected them to be and Australia not as good as I expected them to be. I know people will probably disagree but I think this Australian side can be got at, Ponting and Hussey are sensational but the other batsmen all have weaknesses and the bowling isn't looking that strong, despite England crumbling a few times.

I guess there just isn't another side out there who have enough good players to beat Aus, especially in Australia.

I really think now that England could have done a lot better, in general they have competed very well but just every so often the batting would collapse. With a bit better batting and some better leadership on the field at key times, I think this series could still be very much alive. England's collapse at Adelaide was a disaster that should have been avoided and I thought Flintoff should have done more to restrict Australia on the 3rd day at the Waca, if Australia hadn't scored 400+ that day I reckon England would have had a good chance of batting maybe 5 sessions for the draw.

Australia had Gilchrist at 7 followed by a couple of capable lower order batsmen, England had Flintoff at 6 and a very poor tail after that. I think that was probably the biggest difference in the end, along with Ponting and Hussey being almost impossible to dismiss. Mind you if England had had someone capable of staying in with KP sometimes they might have done better.

All in all Australia were superior and played at a consistently high level. Much credit to them and well deserved.

[Seamer]

Originally Posted by Irish Left Armer

Kind of strange really because before the series started I expected England to be routed and they have been. But England have been a lot better than I expected them to be and Australia not as good as I expected them to be. I know people will probably disagree but I think this Australian side can be got at, Ponting and Hussey are sensational but the other batsmen all have weaknesses and the bowling isn't looking that strong, despite England crumbling a few times..

England's first innings at Adelaide is one instance. They had Aus on the ropes - i wonder how the test (and the series) would have gone had Flintoff batted on till past lunch on day three and set Austalia a 700 run deficit. England's second innings at the WACA - had Cook not fallen three overs before stumps and left a tired Aussie attack 7 wickets to chase on day 5, it could have been very interesting. They looked like they migth sneak a famous victory for a while there.
From memory, Atherton and Hussien's teams never even looked close to winning any of the crucial tests when touring down under.

I disagree about the Aussies not playing as well as they could though. They were awesome - the best cricket they have played since India in 2004 IMO. Age does not seem to weary these guys it seems.

[Monty 4 PM]

Congrats to the deserved victors.

I dont believe there is a huge gap between these teams in ability. Flintoff, Strauss, Pietersen, Bell, Hoggard and Harmison are all core players that won the Ashes in 2005 against 8 or the current Aussie team. Panesar (IF SELECTED!) is a lock in for the next 10 years. And god-willing Simon Jones will return.

For England the factors have been

1) Ashes hangover
2) Mis management
3) Terrible selection (Jones, Giles, Liam (Theo Walcott) Plunkett, Andersen)
4) Injuries
5) No continuity in terms of Captain, bowling attack, or wicketkeeper

But the biggest factor has been...

6) FEAR.....fear of losing that has bred a negative attitude. Fletcher and Flintoff should take full responsibilty for this.

For Australia the factors have been

1) Ricky Ponting - Determination, form and decent captaincy. A class act
2) Mike Hussey - Simon Katich??? are u kidding?
3) Stuart Clark - The new McGrath without the mouth
4) Team ethic
5) Continuity

But the biggest factor has been....

6) FOCUS....totally positive, 100% focus on taking the urn back. This has bred determination and a huge will to win.

I hate to say this...but good on the Aussie boys.

[Tendlya]

Yes. Though the score says 3-0 to Aus, England did have their moments in each of the test matches.Aus were able to step up the game in crucial moments.It was all psychological. When AUS scored 250 , england was able to score 220.When Aus gave Eng gave a target in excess of 500,Eng scored 350.Maybe only few in the english team believed that they could match AUS run by run