NatWest Challenge, The Brit Oval: England v Australia Tuesday 11th July.

[Mongoose]

Originally Posted by Seamer

I tried it. It seemed to annoy the English members more than me being cocky. Damned if you do, damned if you don't Beny.

Here in England, we actually EXPECT you Aussies to be cocky. It's part of the English stereotypical view of Australians. We love to put nations in boxes. Aussies are brash/arrogant; Germans are efficient/arrogant; the French are temperamental/arrogant; Americans are rich/arrogant. We feel comfortable if you conform to the stereotype!

Anyway, back to the game ... I think England's top order has done very badly, but I don't think this has much bearing on the tests. It's a different game, a different situation.

[Milo]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

Problem is seamer, Beny is saying what we're all saying - aus will no doubt win the ashes - only saying it in a crappy way ! .

I totally agree RBLC. I tried to point this out to him...and he went and used his powers as a moderator to edit my post. I try to highlight the antagonistic nature of his message and he goes and censors my words. Surely this cannot be right!!!!

[Seamer]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

Point is sometimes England have performed, acknowledgement for that would be nice. We do when the aussies play well (like to today mcgrath was awesome) You cant just keep saying your out of practice - england said that against SA and after a while it just didnt wash..

Originally Posted by Seamer

England can not be accused of not being able to mount a recovery. 228 looked a long way off at 6-93. .

Would the England teams of 1989-2003 be able to achieve this? Nope. I give credit where credit is due myself. And criticise where criticism is due. I have certainly bagged Ponting, Clarke and Gillespie this summer. And have attacked Kattitch and Martyn in the past too and for the record i am just waiting for those guys to slip up .
I respect this England team. The best they have produced in a generation. But once this Aussie team gets going, they are a sight to behold. I think we are just about to start seeing it too.

[Seamer]

Originally Posted by Mongoose

Anyway, back to the game ... I think England's top order has done very badly, but I don't think this has much bearing on the tests. It's a different game, a different situation.

Normally i would agree Mongoose. But the likes of Tresco, Clarke, Hayden, Strauss, Gillespie, Collingwood, will be very short if confidence (and time in the middle) come Ashes time. The performances of individuals will have a flow on effect for the tests i feel. From an overall team point of view, i agree however.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

I agree with all that seamer !

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by Milo

I tried to point this out to him...and he went and used his powers as a moderator to edit my post. I try to highlight the antagonistic nature of his message and he goes and censors my words. Surely this cannot be right!!!!

It is not.

Beny is offline now, but this point will be addressed and discussed whenever he is back on, and I will report back to you on progress. In order to avoid this conversation being lost in various posts on today's ODI, let's take this up over PMs.

[Lemming]

Originally Posted by Maranello

Lemming, you cannot do that. If someone has bowled out their full quota, the sub cannot bowl any more. Similarly, if someone is out, the sub cannot bat again. If someone has bowled 5 overs, the sub can only bowl the remaining 5 of their quota. Makes sense really.

Good call. I sort of remember these rules now. In that case, I believe we should scrap the substitution rules, it's absolutely stupid!!!!

[Seamer]

Originally Posted by flanflinger

Seamer,
As I have stated the ODI's are not England's best suit. Our batsmen in Tests will pick the bad ball to hit, here they got themselves out by trying to attack good bowling..

I am not so sure FF. It is hard to turn off your natural instincts in the space of nine days. Often, you hear from the top players that switching from ODI mode to test mode is very difficult. This problem applies to both teams though. The Aussie top order has not looked much better than the English, i'll admit that.

Originally Posted by flanflinger

More worrying for Aus is they had England at 90odd for 6, and then letting England escape to 228-7.

Yes but that recovery was done against Clarke and Symonds. In the tests, it will have to be done against McGrath and Warne.

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

And theres the rub. Argubly your best bowler hasnt played yet.

[Notts Exile]

Originally Posted by Richie Benauds Love Child

And theres the rub. Argubly your best bowler hasnt played yet.

And to add to that, we probably won't pick Pietersen either!