The Ashes 2006/07: The Adelaide Test Thread - Day Five

[Paoli]

What a match! I cannot believe we won, but England brought it upon themselves. When they were on the ropes, they didn't try to lift themselves up, rather just keep on going at a snails pace. Should've tried to make more runs.

Three needless wickets cost the England- Didn't even look like caring when Bell went out, Pietersen's ridiculous sweep shot against Warne, and Flintoff accepting Lee's bait!

But what a run chase, and what bowling by Warne. He continually winds back the clock! Since 1999, he has taken over 470 wickets. Not bad when you consider he missed a year through a ban! Hussey and Clarke were the two best blokes in that situation.

[Irish Left Armer]

This is a very sad result for the series. At 1-0 with 3 Tests to go it would have been beautifully poised. Now the series is over, no one can seriously believe England can retain the Ashes from here.

To the game itself, massive congratulations to Australia but England were brutal today. Difficult to blame Fletcher for todays calamity, it was the top 6 that let England down, would Read, Panesar etc have made a difference? I seriously doubt it.

I thought Flintoff's captaincy and the way England approached defending their total was baffling today. Allowing singles to mid off and spreading the field out too much in general when the Aussies only needed 4.5 an over was bizarre. They didn't even really make them chase the runs with big shots, just milked singles a lot of the time.

Giles should be dropped, his control is not there at the moment and that's as valuable a part of his armoury as anything else. England must chase the series with everything they've got now and that means Monty.

But I agree with NE, one big hole in England's side is Flintoff at 6, he's just not a good enough batsman to be a Test number 6. England will always be prone to collapsing with him there imo. Perhaps if he was at 7 Fletcher wouldn't need to crave lower order runs so much and the specialists would be given more of a chance.

Very disappointed at the moment. England will be lucky not to be whitewashed now.

[Oliver]

I will summon up the words to discuss beer with Rach at a later hour.

Just now it is sufficient (here comes a long one ) to say: "what a pathetic load of sheep poo."

It is difficult to know quite who to blame for this drubbing.

For me it is genuinely amusing that a player specifically brought in because he is more mouthy and a better batsman than another chap made precisely eleven in two knocks on a very flat pitch. And dropped a not very crucial catch this morning.

I mean how many more runs did we need today. One hundred? Ninety-Seven? How many did Ponting make in the first innings?
How many had he made when he was dropped?

It is a source of wry humour that one player was specifically brought into the side because he is a better batsman than another player and a better fielder than another player, though his bowling has apparently not quite the same effect. IT is amusing to me (dryly) that he managed twenty-seven on this belter first time out - I haven't really looked at the second innings scorecard - he dropped Ponting on 35 (I think we can now say "crucially") and he managed a stunning two wickets in the match.

Now, I can hear you saying, that had the other lesser fielder (and definitive bunny) been playing in his stead, perhaps Flintoff would not have declared quite so early in the first innings. In all probability the lesser all-rounder would not have caught this important catch. However, the chances are, that had he been playing he would not have been in such an important position. Perhaps another fielder, less hampered by the insecurity of recent injury, would have plucked this important catch out of the sky. Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps...

Perhaps Duncan Fletcher having defended so resolutely with negative team selection for the first two Tests which his side have now lost, will deign to attack in the remaining matches.

Do we still have a sniff of victory?

Yeah mate. Better pack the side with batting like Geraint Jones and Michael Vaughan, better put Flintoff down a peg or two, and give the captaincy back to a man who really knows what to do with it. Better drop Bell, for getting himself run out looking for a draw. Better keep playing Harmison who will surely come good before the end of the series. Better keep Giles because he's Michael Vaughan's best mate, and he can bat a bit.

Better give Fletcher a knighthood, for bringing home the Ashes.

Better stick your head in the sand, for thinking we might need to change things round a bit.

[Notts Exile]

Originally Posted by Oliver

Better keep playing Harmison who will surely come good before the end of the series.

And he will, probably at Sydney when it doesn't matter.

[Ernest]

If anyone could not access this thread between 04:00 am and 09:00am was because the site was down.

[greg]

Originally Posted by Ernest

If anyone could not access this thread between 04:00 am and 09:00am was because the site was down.

Was that to ease the pain of what was happening and stop us ranting too much?

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Irish Left Armer

.

But I agree with NE, one big hole in England's side is Flintoff at 6, he's just not a good enough batsman to be a Test number 6. England will always be prone to collapsing with him there imo.

Hows that - he has has about 3 games since injury, if the top order had done it's job, then flintoff would not have been in so soon.
Flinoff bashing will not hide the fact that Strauss even though he was not out, is not in form, Pietersen need not have played a shot, neither did Jones - Flintoff played a bad shot also.

If England had made a stupid declarstion on this pitch - which always meant they would bat on day 5, the it would still have been 1-0
England - and I posted this at the time, should have grounded the Aussie noses into the ground with batting on for as many runs as they could get.

OH And England won the Ahses with Flintoff at 6, and the West Indies home and away,New Zealand and South Africa- suddenly he is not good enough.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by greg

Was that to ease the pain of what was happening and stop us ranting too much?

LOL that would have been better than the match, I have not been to bed yet, I doubt I will have sweet dreams.

[Oliver]

Originally Posted by Ernest

If anyone could not access this thread between 04:00 am and 09:00am was because the site was down.

No I should think it was because Mike - who has now returned to the land of his birth - was having a barbie on the beach with his mates and drunkenly dislodged some crucial server wiring while searching around the disc drive for that tube of vegemite.

It must've taken him in the environs of three hours to stop laughing, at which time he managed to replace the errant socket.

[greg]

I think being captain and expecting him do the job at 6 is too much even for Freddie.Not that there is any other option to bat at 6 at present if we want to play 5 bowlers.Maybe Strauss should have been captain in the first place to ease Freddie's burden.