• Welcome to the Cricket Web forums, one of the biggest forums in the world dedicated to cricket.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join the Cricket Web community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.

**.....UNOFFICIAL.....** ASHES 2007 thread

aussie

Hall of Fame Member
PY said:
He definitely htouched 90mph in the Ashes because I remember thinking how great it was he was back because it gave us 3 90+ mph bowlers in the side who could bowl at the stumps and know where they were putting it. :p It was an effort ball type delivery though rather than his stock ball which as you state is 86-87 I reckon?.
nah mate i'm 100% sure he didn't reach 90 mph in the ashes, if i remember at top pace, bowling well he was just about 86-87 mph.
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
Yes he did. From Channel4.com

"Gilchrist (30) slogged merrily for a while without ever getting on top of Giles, but the sheer firepower of England's attack got him in the end. Simon Jones came back on to bowl a 90mph outswinger that he nicked to the keeper."

From The Telegraph

"England had four pace bowlers to Australia's three, three of whom - Simon Jones, Flintoff and Harmsion - were consistently over the 90mph mark."
 

aussie

Hall of Fame Member
i got to see that again, before i take that because that was one thing i watched carefully duirng the ashes and i really dont remember him bowling any ball at 90 mph.
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
aussie said:
i got to see that again, before i take that because that was one thing i watched carefully duirng the ashes and i really dont remember him bowling any ball at 90 mph.
Mind you, you also continued to say that Australia were the better side in that series...
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Top_Cat said:
Nope. Two reasons; the balls we used aren't hand-made with huge seams like Dukes are so there's less swing automatically. Two, we don't have the same weather conditions to help the process. It's rare to see someone swing it reverse consistently in Australia. It happens something, though but even then it's only very little. Certainly not as much or as late as in England.
there have actually been notable cases of reverse swing in Australia. of course perth and brisbane generally dont offer much, but melbourne and sydney in particular have by and large offered good enough conditions for reverse swing, at least for bowlers who have mastered it in the manner in which Simon Jones has done. if anything, the weather conditions in Australia should be far more conducive to the weather in England anyways, and Sydney and Melbourne have often produced rough sandpaper like wickets that are conducive towards reverse swing. i dont see flintoff reversing it in Australia, but i will be quite surprised if we dont see simon Jones get appreciable reverse swing in a few of the test matches as well.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
Top_Cat said:
'Main' weapon, not 'only' weapon. He has plenty more to offer including the ability to make the ball lift off a length. In Australia, that means wickets. I don't think he'll swing it much either but if he regularly hits the seam (which I reckon he could), he'll be a handful.

And no, I'm not just talking about Harmi's one bad series in SA. I'm talking about what I've seen of him bowling in other series as well. He has periods where he's bowling well enough but then lots of dead spots. And bear in mind I've been an unabashed Harmi fan ever since just about everyone else was ripping him a new one after his last Aussie tour. If he proves me wrong and bowls well, as a fan of good fast bowling first and Australia second, I'll be loving it. :) .
harmison isnt quite as bad away from home as hes made out to be, and he certainly didnt do at all badly in the super series test. if bowlers that get the ball to lift off a length will be successful in australia as you have suggested, then one would say that harmison should be the one to have a pretty good time.
 

tooextracool

International Coach
BoyBrumby said:
He was up over 90mph on a few occasions in SA during our tour over there in 04/05, but I don't think he broached it at all in The Ashes. High 80s on occasion tho, certainly. His stock ball is definitely slower since the anterior cruciate..
he touched 94 on occasions in SA and even during the ashes managed to get at around 91-92. but yes since the injury he doesnt consistently bowl at over 90 mph.
 

aussie

Hall of Fame Member
Just though i'd bring this up again & looking at how possibly Australian and England will go in test within the next year, this is what i guess the teams could strongly look like in the 1st test on November 23rd:

AUSTRALIA:

JL Langer
ML Hayden
RT Ponting
MEK Hussey
SR Watson
MJ Clarke
AC Gilchrist
SK Warne
B Lee
GD McGrath
SW Tait

ENGLAND:

ME Trescothick
AJ Strauss
MP Vaughan
IR Bell
KP Pietersen
A Flintoff
GO Jones
AF Giles
LE Plunkett
SJ Harmison
SP Jones
 

aussie

Hall of Fame Member
superkingdave said:
if Liam Plunkett is in the side for the Ashes, we could well lose very heavily
why?, i dunno he showed a lot of potential in PAK & if he keeps improving by the end of this year he could well & edge Hoggard out IMO. He is a hit the deck bowler like Freddie & Harmison so those pitches down under could suit him, plus he is very capable with the bat..
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
superkingdave said:
if Liam Plunkett is in the side for the Ashes, we could well lose very heavily
The fact that Tait is listed for Australia evens that out though. Add in the fact that Plunkett can bat a bit and the scales are tipped in England's favour...

Hoggard and either Bracken or MacGill will be picked. Of that I have no doubts.
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
aussie said:
really cant see how..
Well - Harmison played in all 4 Tests Edgbaston, Old Trafford, Trent Bridge and The Oval.
By and large we dominated throughout despite his presence.
Simple enough?
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
marc71178 said:
7-12 still haunts him.

His first motherboard...
I said "if Harmison gets good figures in a Test I'll eat my computer" did I?
Where was that, then?
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
aussie said:
why?, i dunno he showed a lot of potential in PAK & if he keeps improving by the end of this year he could well & edge Hoggard out IMO. He is a hit the deck bowler like Freddie & Harmison so those pitches down under could suit him, plus he is very capable with the bat..
There's no such thing as a "hit-the-deck" bowler.
Plunkett is a Harmison-like bowler who has little to recommend him other than his remarkable ability to spray the ball regularly and still extract some number of poor strokes.
To compare either to Flintoff is a gross insult to the big man.
 

James

Cricket Web Owner
Based on McGrath's wife seeking cancer treatment and him looking below his best most of the Aussie summer from the matches I've seen is there a possability he won't make the Ashes?

Gillespie must be getting close to selection again and in Australian conditions, perhaps he's a good pick?

Also with your team you have:

B Lee
GD McGrath
SW Tait
S Watson
S Warne

Couldn't you make room for MacGill there and rely on Lee, Watson and say Gillespie?
 

Richard

Cricket Web Staff Member
I really, really hope McGrath's wife's condition does not stop him playing in The Ashes, and equally I hope Gillespie gets back into the team and stays there.
But equally, I still can't see Lee, Tait or MacGill causing us too many problems. And certainly not Watson.
Can see him scoring plenty of runs, though.
 

Top