The fact that i did not mention Akram was because he is in a league of his own.. i dont think there are other bowlers who can compare to him because he had both an incredible flair for wicket taking and a miserly run giving rate to go along with that.

Tait seems to me as a type of bowler who can aspire to be like Akhter or Waqar, i.e same type of speed, same toe crushing deliveries.

See my point?

A team needs a bowler like this these days, guile is just not enough to take wickets anymore. A fact which if Harmy does not play england will soon find out.

__________________

Flintoff and Hoggard had roughtly the same econ rate, but being Hoggard had the more wickers, he was obviously te better bowler on the day.

To say Tait would not start because Gillespie had one less wicket, but a worse econ rate is beyond me.

I think taking a poll of the England players, 90% would rather face Gillespie than Tait.

__________________
Ern

I hope we bat for a bit tomorrow, as Flintoff and Jones need the practice. Then it would be good to have another bowl for the rest of the day.

__________________
Mae hen wlad fy nhadau yn annwyl i mi

Agreed, GoJo and Fred should aim to bat until just after lunch and build the lead up to 150/200, then let Monty have a long bowl on a third day pitch. I don't know if it will have broken up much, but if he gets some turn then the confidence to flight the ball will return.

Good form from Bell and Collingwood, and a little bit of hitting from KP. Let's turn the screw tomorrow and build up nicely for next Thursday.

I agree that it's good to see Bell and Colly making some runs in this match. Also I think all of our batsmen have made some runs in at least one of the warm-up matches so they've all got some kind of form to take into the series.

Hoggard's three wickets weren't exactly gems; two of his three wickets were strays in line and length as the ball was fired down the leg side, though his wicket of Ferguson was nicely done.

Monty's wicket was a gift, whether we take it as the batsmen (Borgas in on 73) cracking under pressure or a last gasp push before the declaration I'll leave that for you all to decide.

Still, wickets are wickets I suppose.

__________________
Watch this for a perfect about.
James May

Dont know if it was the nightwatchman idea
I also noticed watching Tait and Gillespie bowling in earlier matches this year that they only seem to be able to sustain top pace with top control for about 4 overs each then either pace, control or both go.
Tait often seems to be unplayable for about 3 overs but unfortunately it usually is only once a day and usually his first spell. Probably why his most devastating performances tend to be in limited overs matches.

Did anybody see Tait's delivery to Strauss? I didd'nt! Too fast! HAHAHAHA!

OK I'm sane again, sorry about that... But it was fast!!!

__________________
It's hard enough to remember my opinions, without remembering my reasons for them!
Nietzsche

Gillespie is finished as a top class bowler in my opinion.

His economy rate may be somewhat misleading, he did the same thing for Yorkshire last summer. Very tidy economy rate but took few wickets because most of his deliveries were bowled about a foot outside offstump.

It ended up a good workout for us.Sets us up very well for Brisbane.

Let the games begin.

Was Mahmood trying to compensate for his erratic bowling (again) by trying to slog himself into the Brisbane team today?! Looks like he had fun anyway.

Good to see we've passed 400 in Australia already, I know it's against a state side but it's very promising indeed and I'm impressed with our bowlers almost all taking wickets. Further, it was good to see GBH fielding and getting some legwork done.

Now on to Brisbane!