McGrath could play in 2009 Ashes

[FaaipDeOiad]

Thoughts about his opening spell tonight, Howard?

 

[PhoenixFire]

I haven't really seen him bowl that much, but his figures look the old McGrath, 10 overs for not a lot, with usually a few wickets. He hasn't set the world alight but definietly looks the part. Which is bad for England.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I've seen him bowl against us & Indian now and he's definitely short of a yard of pace at the moment. Operating almost exclusively sub-80mph. It may come back, of course, so I certainly won't be writing the great man's cricketing obit just yet.

I have a feeling we might attempt to "do a Dizzy" on him tho; Bell & Strauss were certainly taking a few liberties last Saturday so we may be targeting him come the 23rd or whenever we get a bat. I do think it's fair to say that if we win the toss we'll be having a bat this time...

 

[Burgey]

I've seen him bowl against us & Indian now and he's definitely short of a yard of pace at the moment. Operating almost exclusively sub-80mph. It may come back, of course, so I certainly won't be writing the great man's cricketing obit just yet.

I have a feeling we might attempt to "do a Dizzy" on him tho; Bell & Strauss were certainly taking a few liberties last Saturday so we may be targeting him come the 23rd or whenever we get a bat. I do think it's fair to say that if we win the toss we'll be having a bat this time...

God, I really do hope they try to do that to McGrath. I really thought Dizzy & Kaspa got smashed because they bowled poorly, not because they weren't bowling 90+ mph. Lee was expensive as well and was the fastest bowler on either side.

It will be intersting to see England's approach to McGrath. He's not the bowler he was, to be sure, but the question is whether he's slipped enough to enable the batsmen to take to him like they did Gillespie & Kaspa. I mean, Sehwag & Tendulkar with the field up didn't take to him early.

 

[BoyBrumby]

God, I really do hope they try to do that to McGrath. I really thought Dizzy & Kaspa got smashed because they bowled poorly, not because they weren't bowling 90+ mph. Lee was expensive as well and was the fastest bowler on either side.

It will be intersting to see England's approach to McGrath. He's not the bowler he was, to be sure, but the question is whether he's slipped enough to enable the batsmen to take to him like they did Gillespie & Kaspa. I mean, Sehwag & Tendulkar with the field up didn't take to him early.

With Dizzy I think it was a bit "chicken & egg"; he wasn't bowling terribly well before the tour but there was almost definitely some premeditation in the way we took the long handle to him in the ODIs & 20/20 before the Tests. I think the perception was that Dizzy had lost a bit of nip &, although he was never as quick as Gillespie, McGrath seems to have temporarily misplaced his. McGrath was always quick enough to keep batters honest, even if it wasn't his greatest asset. Sehwag & Tendulkar may not have taken him on, but Bell & (particularly) Strauss seemed to be.

Of course we don't have the luxary of any one-dayers beforehand this time around, so it will be very interesting to see if there is any hint of our top-order taking McGrath on. Being the class act he is any such attacs may, of course, go completely **** up.

 

[Burgey]

Yeah, it's going to be a great series, hopefully. It's potentially got everything that makes cricket great - personal duels, intricate tactics, close-fought 5 day tussles and heaps of beer.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

I've seen him bowl against us & Indian now and he's definitely short of a yard of pace at the moment. Operating almost exclusively sub-80mph. It may come back, of course, so I certainly won't be writing the great man's cricketing obit just yet.

McGrath's average pace in the last game was over 80mph, or at least it was in his opening spell. Top speed was 82.6 or so, and average was around 80.5. He was down on pace in the first game, but Lee was bowling in the mid to high 80s in that game, so everyone was being clocked down.

 

[howardj]

Is it safe to come back on here yet?

 

[valvolux]

the thing about Glenn is that he still hits that akward line and length 5/6 runs per over - it doesn't matter what pace your bowling at, and it appears he hasn't lost a lot anway - it's still bloody hard to score runs out of the corridoor of uncertainty.

England are going to have to take risks to get any runs off him - I think this coming down the wicket garbage will be the death of them though. If they are smart they will simply see him off - his spells are going to be shorter than usual, and the effort balls fewer. If we have Clark doing a similar job at the other end, they're going to have to take on our spinners - and apart from KP, they don't have the technique or nouse to last long doing this.

 

[Golaxi]

...

still not found any good bowlers then yet?

the longer he plays, the longer i smile

 

[silentstriker]

Is it safe to come back on here yet?

Heh. 6/50, I think in his pomp he would have taken 6/35 TBH.