Are we going to retain the ashes?

[greg]

Well some of us were confident a few months ago but now with the controversial choice of keeper and possibly picking the wrong captain do the England fans still think we have a chance of retaining the ashes this winter?

[Notts Exile]

This Aussie side won't have to play that well to beat England. Tresco was out of touch in the summer and won't trouble McGrath and Lee too much. Freddie's going to need more than a few weeks batting to get back into the groove. Collingwood will be steady if he plays, Bell likewise. Strauss doesn't score heavily enough to be able to do it on his own. Will KP be beaten by his own ego? The bowling looks terrible. Hoggard will have a lot of hard work as Anderson and Harmison will probably bowl so much rubbish they'll be underbowled. Freddie will over bowl himself. Monty won't bowl much if he plays. The Wheelie Bin will probably play and average over 50 with the ball and under 15 with the bat. Jones will take a few beauties behind the stumps but will drop some crucial chances which will cost us. Hs batting will be irrelevant, and rubbish.

[Moss]

I voted no.

There are too many negatives to us at the moment.

Flintoff as captain is the biggest mistake. He will under perform with bat and probably ball, and has already made some dubious decisions.
Trescothick is out of sorts.
Giles hasn't played for a while.
Something is seriously wrong with Harmison.
Mahmood doesn't look comfortable yet as a consitent top-class bowler.
The only plusses we have are batting from Strauss and Bell. Hopefully Pietersen if he keeps his head.
Hoggard is the only bowler I would be remotely confident of. Anderson, when in good touch, can be threatening, but his lack of play this season may well go against him.
Panesar is a good bowler, but will be underbowled to save Giles's face. And he - shock, horror! - can't bat so his role as a bowler will be under fire because every bloody member of the team is meant to be a batting/fielding superstar if they bowl or keep wicket.

Fletcher is making too many decisions based on the glory days of last year and his old favourites. He needs to look to the future of the team, and the future includes players such as Panesar and Cook.

Oh, and Australia are looking very good at the moment, even in the face of our rubbishness. They are hungry, have a great track record this season in Tests, and simply accept that when they perform badly, they ruthlessly excise the deadwood and bring in a like for like replacement. We don't have the luxury of being able to call up a Phil Jaques only if he's needed.

PS: We'll also badly miss Simon Jones. He was our revelation last summer, and the main reason we took 20 wickets in (most) matches.

[Alison]

I really don't know, I'm veering from pessimism to optimism and back again on a regular basis at the moment

[Moss]

Always veer towards pessimism, that way you can never be disappointed.

Unless you dislike living your life in a permanent state of negativity.

If England perform at all well under the circumstances, I will be pleased.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Alison

I really don't know, I'm veering from pessimism to optimism and back again on a regular basis at the moment

I think the dropping of Read is a setback - however we took the Ahses in 2005 with Jones in the side, England will benefit from these warm up matches - a five day Test is different from a one day thrash.

A warning on dropped catches when Jaques was missed early on, he went on to make 100, dropped catched did not help England against Sri Lanka at Lords.

England have the players to beat Australia, is the moral high enough?.

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by Moss

Flintoff as captain is the biggest mistake. He will under perform with bat and probably ball, and has already made some dubious decisions.

I don't see a great deal of sense in playing Flintoff as a batting all-rounder in order to accomodate a further seamer (making up for quality with quantity)... but if England DO play Panesar AND Giles for most of the series the decision (however unappealing) will look marginally more justifiable.

I rather hope Flintoff does well (by his standards) with the ball (hopefully reverting to the controlling-focus in which he used to excel rather than trying and failing to emulate Simon Jones).... but retain some hope that this series will finally see him completely exposed with the bat - I've never considered him technically accomplished enough to be considered a top six bat and would be delighted to see Aussie bowling good enough to put this theory to the Test.

Despite being keen to see Read play as the specialist gloveman I suspect Jones will thrive and outscore his captain... and fear this will allow Fletcher to get away with his ignominious retreat from specialists: I hope not, and will cheer mightily if it all goes pear shaped (as I really do think this sort of selection basis is bad for International cricket) but they got away with it in 2005.

ps. IF the Aussies play Watson at six I'll be equally disappointed: the Aussies have been THE side to champion this past decade because (the cursed Gilchrist aside) they HAVE believed in batsmen doing the batting and bowlers doing the bowling - something that takes bold selectors in this day and age.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by Notts Exile

This Aussie side won't have to play that well to beat England. Tresco was out of touch in the summer and won't trouble McGrath and Lee too much. Freddie's going to need more than a few weeks batting to get back into the groove. Collingwood will be steady if he plays, Bell likewise. Strauss doesn't score heavily enough to be able to do it on his own. Will KP be beaten by his own ego? The bowling looks terrible. Hoggard will have a lot of hard work as Anderson and Harmison will probably bowl so much rubbish they'll be underbowled. Freddie will over bowl himself. Monty won't bowl much if he plays. The Wheelie Bin will probably play and average over 50 with the ball and under 15 with the bat. Jones will take a few beauties behind the stumps but will drop some crucial chances which will cost us. Hs batting will be irrelevant, and rubbish.

I think that pretty much sums it up Plus i'd add that Flintoff is a poor captain, another reason to add to the list.

[Paoli]

Originally Posted by Ernest

England have the players to beat Australia, is the moral high enough?.

The form, Ern, the form. You've been playing pretty ordinary cricket for god knows how long now. Plus you're players aren't in form like they were at last years Ashes, where you guys had come off winning five series on the trot with 1 defeat.

To be honest- I think England have no chance. I (and Cricket Australia for that matter) hope that I'm proved wrong.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Paoli

The form, Ern, the form. You've been playing pretty ordinary cricket for god knows how long now. Plus you're players aren't in form like they were at last years Ashes,

I agree to a point, I was surprised Australia played mcGrath lee and Clarke in this match against NSW.

It allowed player like Flintoff and Pietersen to get some sort of form against the core of the Australia pace attack.

Harmison and Lee - both expensive.

A strong NSW let England back into the game - a plus for Australia is jaques, I wonder if thet dropped catch in the opening PJ game while jaques went on to take advantage of, will not come and haunt England.

He is the man in form for Australia.