My Australia might be stuffed

[acker]

Long time no hear for various reasons but getting to the point, anyway...
Love the aggression Peiterson & Harmison add to the English team; we dont have it !
Only the final line of our defence and aggression, messers Warne & McGrath stand between England re-taking the Ashes or another Aussie series win.
Word of warning Pommie friends & enemies
Do not underestimate the singleminded determination for victory at all costs that Shane Warne & Glenn McGrath will demonstrate in this series.
What-ever the wanted or un-wanted media attention these 2 guys, or in particular "Warnie" attract. One thing for me is certain.
They will fight to the death, and beyond.....

[Mongoose]

Originally Posted by acker

Do not underestimate the singleminded determination for victory at all costs that Shane Warne & Glenn McGrath will demonstrate in this series.

And the rest of the team. None of these Australians know what it's like to lose an Ashes series. And I bet they don't want to be the first team to do so for nearly 20 years. I imagine you and your fellow 'upside downers' over there have got happily used to the fact that the (replica) Ashes belong to Australia. If I was in the team, I don't think I'd want to return to face the Australian press and public without that little trophy on board.

[John]

I think acker is right to be concerned about an ageing side especially about Warne and Mcgrath. There is no doubt these are problems.
But you ignore Englands problems. Nobody knows how Harmison going to bowl. SA are a much more ordinary batting lineup in comparison to Australia and they did well at times in the winter against England.
England fans will say their attack will be better this summer. Well that remains to be seen. I don't find England's attack overly convincing. It swings between being very good to quiet ordinary. Now if it is in the spectrum of very good (for the series) the Aussies have got problems but otherwise should be able to retain the Ashes with an ageing side.

[Seamer]

Originally Posted by acker

Love the aggression Peiterson & Harmison add to the English team; we dont have it

I would hardly say that Hayden, Ponting, Langer, Clarke, GILCHRIST, Gillespie nd Kaspa lack aggression. No batting lineup in the world scores at the rate and consistency these guys do. All four of our bowlers have an enviable strike rate and economy. I would'nt start talking doom and gloom just yet. They have lost a couple unimportant warm up matches but so what -they are warm-ups and the Aussies need a few before they get going as they hav'nt played in almost three months. They will be in form come the first test at Lords, don't worry

[Beny]

I think acker is right to be concerned about an ageing side especially about Warne and Mcgrath

There is plenty of Doubt... Where does age come into this? It's the younger ones who ar'nt proforming at the momment.

[Mongoose]

Originally Posted by Beny

There is plenty of Doubt... Where does age come into this? It's the younger ones who ar'nt proforming at the momment.

If there are doubts about the team with reagrd to age, they aren't really relevant to this series, but more for the future i.e. 2-3 years down the line three bowlers will need replacing, and maybe a couple of batters. But for the Ashes this year you can rely on the old hands such as McGrath and Warne to turn in top quality performances.

[Hondo]

After loosing to Bangaladesh, I think it's going to be really hard for the Aussies to win the Ashes!

[Kirsty Harris]

Originally Posted by Beny

There is plenty of Doubt... Where does age come into this? It's the younger ones who ar'nt proforming at the momment.

So, Beny, how do you view things after todays effort? Still unconcerned?

[Zainub]

Originally Posted by Hondo

After loosing to Bangaladesh, I think it's going to be really hard for the Aussies to win the Ashes!

I wouldn't make such a direct conclusion, but I would certainly say that it would definitely dent their self confidence. I think we might have seen the last of 5-0, 4-0 etc predictions from ex and current Australian players.

[Mongoose]

I've always maintained that Australia have the class as well as the self belief to be in very good shape come the start of the Ashes. I still believe that. However, there is no doubt that this defeat will hurt Australia badly. Their players will have felt terrible in the changing room afterwards. This could go either way. The Aussies could develop a bit of self doubt which undermines their confidence when they come to face England. Or they could do what they usually do after those rare humblings they sometimes have: get together, work hard and make sure they bloody well sort it out, probably annihilating some poor opponent in the process. I'd bank on the second of these rather than the first - after all, do Ponting, Gilchrist, McGrath, Gillepsie etc become bad players suddenly? No, and that's before considering Warne, Hayden and others. This team have ample talent, experience and belief to come back from this. Three defeats in a row (two very unexpected) does raise alarm bells, but I think it's simply a case of the team, colectively, taking a bit of time to find their form.