ASHES: Are rusty Aussies in danger at Lords

[Seamer]

I have a gut feeling an Aussie loss at Lords is on the cards. After such a long lay off, their enthusiasm will be high no doubt but lets face it - they are aging. The main danger i see is injury to the fast bowlers, particularly Gillespie. The bowlers often complain about the rotation policy and how it is best to keep bowling to stay fit and avoid injury so if they are worried about missing the odd game, how will several months without playing affect them?
As far as the batsmen goes, after such a long lay off it is natural to feel uncertain about your form when you hav'nt played a game for so long. All prevous form and confidence is long forgotten and the process of getting runs under the belt to secure your place in the team begins anew. Not such a bad thing for Hayden and Clarke who were playing poorly but not such a good thing for the rest of the in-form batsmen.
What do you think? Will the Aussies hit their straps from the word go, or are they in danger of being under-done after such a long lay off.

[Occasional Fan]

Seamer, I have to say that this is exactly what I am hoping for! And I think it is pretty much an essential part of England's campaign, to be honest. If we can have the Aussies one down after one, there really is a chance. I can't remember the last time we saw the Aussies on the back foot, but if we can manage it they just might still be in such deep shock from that experience that they won't even notice when we take the urn back.

[Rachael]

Lack of preparation for touring teams is an increasing problem everywhere.. and I fear it is undermining the sport: England's worst under-achievers of recent series (e.g. Tresco in the WI, Harmison and Anderson in SA) can al point, with some justification, to an inadequate warm-up schedule (though Tresco seems more concerned by the quality of net facilities: he apparently needs a very true bounce to find his timing and build his confidence).

My own feeling is that this Aussie warm up programme is a disgrace. Aside from anything else it pits an inadequate, failing county against the Aussies rather than a top county or (ideally) an 'A' side / hugely impressive invitational XI.. and over 3 days rather than 4 or 5. If Leicestershire have the cheek to actually "rest" any players I will be even less impressed - the Aussies manage to put out first class sides that actually stretch Test sides... and if Leicester follow the trend in this country it wil field a second XI that couldn't beat the BBC commentators.

The only redeeming feature of the schedule is the ODI series being first... but that's hardly fit practice for Tests... and to be honest will be less interesting than a 5 day mach against an academy side would be.

[Trescothick]

Why worry?? Australia as far as i have read here are invincible with their batting going all the way to the tail and having the best bowlers in the world in their line-up, I don't think its possible for them to slip up. There is no chance that they will lose to an England side whos bowling side lacks and batting line-up which crumbles within a minute...

So come on, whitewash to the Australia and lets laugh at any opinion thats states England have a good chance because quite frankly that defys logic!!










My sarcastic post is all in good fun Aussies

[Mongoose]

While I agree England's chances are slim, I don't think you can say the batting crumbles easily. In the past that has happened, yes. But more recently we have always had one or two players perform and get us out of a hole, notably Thorpe in the West Indies and last summer.

Against Australia we need three performances from the batters rather than one or two per innings. And we need Harmison to be on his Caribbean form. I don't think either of those scenarios will happen, but both are possible. So it's a slim chance, but a chance nevertheless.

[Wiljoy]

Originally Posted by Mongoose

Against Australia we need three performances from the batters rather than one or two per innings. And we need Harmison to be on his Caribbean form. I don't think either of those scenarios will happen, but both are possible. So it's a slim chance, but a chance nevertheless.

Mongoose,surely, because Thorpe batted reasonably good against WI you aren't thinking this means he will automatically do well against Australia I think the Aussie bowlers would take that as an insult to their prowess!!

[Mongoose]

Originally Posted by Wiljoy

Mongoose,surely, because Thorpe batted reasonably good against WI you aren't thinking this means he will automatically do well against Australia I think the Aussie bowlers would take that as an insult to their prowess!!

That isn't the point I was making. I was replying to Trescothick's comment that England's batting crumbles easily. I was simply pointing out that England have some fighters in the team, and we don't tend to collapse the way we used to. It still happens from time to time, but these are now the exception. Thorpe has stood out as the guy who has performed under the most pressure.

Of course, you can't compare the bowling attacks of WI and Australia. England won't score 400 too many times, if at all, in the Ashes, because McGrath, Warne et al are way ahead of Tino Best and pals. Same with the batting. Australia are miles ahead of everyone, even India. That's why I've rated England's chances of slim, even though they've beaten SA in SA, WI 3-0 in WI and whitwashed WI and NZ at home. Australia are still too good.

[Andy Mellon]

Originally Posted by Wiljoy

Mongoose,surely, because Thorpe batted reasonably good against WI you aren't thinking this means he will automatically do well against Australia I think the Aussie bowlers would take that as an insult to their prowess!!

HI Wiljoy! Quick question for you, you seem very pro-Australia, yet you say you are a Yorkshire fan too! In my time, I can't remember meeting many Yorkshire supporters who would support the Aussies against England. I'm just wondering what your background is?

Personally, I have a lot of time for the Aussies. They play good cricket and its good to watch. I personally think that Gilchrist is one of my favourite cricketers of all time. Not only is he great to watch, he's a good honest sportsman and is a shining example to young cricketers. Similarly, Glenn McGrath is a fantastic example. I'd give my right arm to have a coaching session with any of the Aussies because think of what they could teach you in half an hour!! However, I can't imagine that if I moved to Australia, I'd start supporting Australia over England!!!

On another note, it was good to see Harmison passing on some of his knowledge to some Bangladeshi youngsters on the highlights last night. Its good to see that our modern cricketers don't think themselves as untouchable like some professional footballers seem to.

[Beny]

This argument has happened before, about another series which the Aussies won.

It's true that they lack match practice but lets remember that these guys are putting in the hard yards at training, apparently more than they have ever before (thats saying something). Also lets not forget that almost half the team is playing or has played county cricket recently.

[Mongoose]

Originally Posted by Beny

This argument has happened before, about another series which the Aussies won.

It's true that they lack match practice but lets remember that these guys are putting in the hard yards at training, apparently more than they have ever before (thats saying something). Also lets not forget that almost half the team is playing or has played county cricket recently.

And any 'rustiness' they do have won't go beyond the first match. If Australia don't lose that first match, I can't see England winning the series. I don't think there will be much rust to knock off anyway. The ODIs are played before the tests, so the teams will play a fair bit of cricket before the tests.