***Official*** 1st Test at The Gabba

[social]

Positives for Eng

Bowling - Freddie

Batting - all bar Strauss got runs

Negatives

Bowling bar Freddie

Batting - not enough runs

4 matches to go but this could be ugly for Eng

[Laurrz]

Brilliant stuff by the Aussies.... very proud of Stuart Clark..what a workhorse!... terrific hard working bowler..and deserves the Adelaide spot ... wonder if the other Stuart [MacGill] will be picked... gonna be tough for the selectors

[Josh]

Clark... well... how do I describe that?? He passed the final test. I suppose he's earned his place now.

Absolutely no need for Watson or MacGill.

[Nnanden]

I have been saying a bit that the first few days don`t give an accurate representation of how the Ashes will go, I was very surprised at the people saying England are going to lose. They`ve shown they can apply themselves batting, though I do expect them to be out before lunch tomorrow tbh.

Gun person IMO.

Great work by Clark.

[pasag]

Nostradamus ffs.

[age_master]

Great stuff from Australia, Brett Lee struggles to find rythm but i think pick up bowling more and more through the next game or 2

[Son Of Coco]

And now for the real weather forecast!

I live on the beach on the Gold Coast and the weather is coming in from the ocean today and heading towards Brisbane

I predict early overcast conditions, possibly with a spot of rain if the clouds build up sufficiently.

However, should the wind continue in its current direction, this will blow over quite quickly and for the majority of the day it will be hot and humid as there is little cloud build-up out to sea - not much chance of big delays IMO

Anyway, I'm off for a morning dip in the ocean

Enjoy winter, suckas!

Where abouts on the coast are you?

I live on the beach at Kingscliff...so I share your pain

[Matt79]

What would the match XI look like - for me:
Langer
Hayden
Ponting
Collingwood
Pieterson
Flintoff
Jones
Warne
Lee
Clark
McGrath

8 Aussies and 3 Poms. Pieterson/Hussey is a tough call, given Pieterson had two digs for one failure one success, and Hussey only got one go. Lee gets in ahead of Hoggard on the basis of his 45* more than any great difference in their bowling performances...

[Johnners]

What would the match XI look like - for me:
Langer
Hayden
Ponting
Collingwood
Pieterson
Flintoff
Jones
Warne
Lee
Clark
McGrath

8 Aussies and 3 Poms. Pieterson/Hussey is a tough call, given Pieterson had two digs for one failure one success, and Hussey only got one go. Lee gets in ahead of Hoggard on the basis of his 45* more than any great difference in their bowling performances...

7 Aussies & 4 Poms. TBH i'd have Hussey ahead of Pietersen, he always looked in control, whereas Pietersen played far to many rash shots for mine.

[Craig]

Where abouts on the coast are you?

I live on the beach at Kingscliff...so I share your pain

Well lucky you, I had to be at work and lose a few kilo's from sweating alone

[oz_fan]

What would the match XI look like - for me:
Langer
Hayden
Ponting
Collingwood
Pieterson
Flintoff
Jones
Warne
Lee
Clark
McGrath

8 Aussies and 3 Poms. Pieterson/Hussey is a tough call, given Pieterson had two digs for one failure one success, and Hussey only got one go. Lee gets in ahead of Hoggard on the basis of his 45* more than any great difference in their bowling performances...

I'd have Cook in ahead of Hayden. I thought he batted well in the second innings and showed some fight. Hussey/KP is close but I'd probably go with Hussey as he played more of a controlled innings. The rest I agree with.

[social]

Where abouts on the coast are you?

I live on the beach at Kingscliff...so I share your pain

Main Beach

Kingslciff is sensational - used to go surfing at Cudgen a lot

Here on holidays and have spent most of the day in front of the box of late

Heading back to the desert on Wednesday so will be catching the cricket in the wee hours from now on.

[wpdavid]

Some footwork might have helped Geraint

Jones must have the highest percentage of clean bowled dismissals of any top 7 batter in test cricket today. The only surprise was he passed 30 before letting one through, but I don't expect that to happen too often for the rest of the series.

Quite a final margin of victory - 277 plus 9 wickets. Even allowing for absences, that's as demoralising as anything we saw from 1989 to 2002/3. Not for the first time, England were badly let down by some of their senior players. You won't see two more stupid dismissals than Strauss managed, but he wasn't alone in giving his wicket away. Meanwhile, back in Harmyland, the self-delusion continues. Apparently he hopes that his previous 46 tests count for something and he won't be dropped after one bad performance. *One* bad performance? Has he been sleepwalking for the last two years? Maybe that would explain a thing or two.

Shame that arthritis is kicking in with one or two of the Aus boys, but presumably they'll be fit for Friday. Congrats to what is clearly still an exceptional bunch of players.
I wonder how long they'll keep going after this series? 5 - 0 to avenge 2005 wouldn't be a bad way to finish. Still, if the Adelaide & Perth tracks are as benign as they're meant to be, then maybe England will escape a whitewash, but only if they bat first. Presumably Panesar will come in for Anderson. Mahmood should come in for Harmy, but probably won't, and the nonsense will continue. What happened here was OK because the poor dear was nervous. Continued failure in tests 2 & 3 will be OK because the wickets don't suit him, etc, etc, etc ...

[Craig]

Main Beach

Kingslciff is sensational - used to go surfing at Cudgen a lot

Here on holidays and have spent most of the day in front of the box of late

Heading back to the desert on Wednesday so will be catching the cricket in the wee hours from now on.

Good place to live.

I live in the Runaway Bay/Coombabah area myself.

[Craig]

Positives for Eng

Bowling - Freddie

Batting - all bar Strauss got runs

Negatives

Bowling bar Freddie

Batting - not enough runs

4 matches to go but this could be ugly for Eng

Poor shot selection as well for England.