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

[FaaipDeOiad]

Nerves obviously. They seem to have gotten them under control and will be highly competitive from here on in. They shouldn't be underestimated under any circumstances and this test should just be treated as an anomaly imo.

The first innings batting effort should be, I'm not so sure about the bowling. They took 10 wickets in 200+ overs and conceded over 800 runs, and that's a worry.

 

[tooextracool]

The first innings batting effort should be, I'm not so sure about the bowling. They took 10 wickets in 200+ overs and conceded over 800 runs, and that's a worry.

If theres anything the England bowlers could take out of this game, its that Brett Lee has been just as woeful as they've been with the ball. Its not a lot, but it does show that this pitch is custom made for Mcgrath and Clark, and even those 2 havent been half as successful when the England batsmen actually applied themselves the 2nd time around.

 

[Laurrz]

OMG
what a great day of cricket
Totally dominated by three players... Collingwood, KP and Warne
and thank god for the latter or else this match would definately be a draw

what happen to our seamers? Clark did ok..but didn't found the seam he did the other day
Lee was about 10 km/h short than what he is
McGrath was about 5km/h slower than he was the other day ... but i think his ankle or something had to have an injection

Overall i think the pitch today acted slower... Warne didn't really get as much turn to the righties as normal [on a 4th day pitch] and his turn was pretty slow...so he had to work extra hard and terrific stuff to churn out 4 big wickets

with our seamers looking unthreatening its really Warne v Englands batters atm ... if England bad like this in Adelaide particularly if its the first innings we are in for a hugeeee show!! but still lots of concern for their bowlers... can't regain the Ashes if their bowlers can't get 20 wickets

so 5 wickets tomorrow.... should be easy but the friggin RAIN might come in... on ninemsn.com.au it says LATE THUNDER.... hopefully that is like past 6:30pm *Crosses fingers
hope there is no rain but lots of clouds...

Warne vs KP is fascinating...however KP was all over him at one stage... but Warne gained some ground towards the end of the day and maybe Gilly shoulda stumped him

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

If theres anything the England bowlers could take out of this game, its that Brett Lee has been just as woeful as they've been with the ball. Its not a lot, but it does show that this pitch is custom made for Mcgrath and Clark, and even those 2 havent been half as successful when the England batsmen actually applied themselves the 2nd time around.

Yeah, I agree. I don't think Lee has been "just as woeful" as Harmison, or even Anderson and Giles aside from one or two spells, but he's certainly been very unthreatening in the second innings. And as I said on the first day, it's a perfectly decent pitch for accurate seamers who pitch it up and enjoy bounce, which is why Flintoff, McGrath and Clark have been consistently threatening on it, but not very good for bowlers like Hoggard, Anderson and Lee. Add in the fact that the cracks really started to open up from the third morning on and it was always going to be hard to face Clark and McGrath.

Still, there's a problem when an attack simply can't handle bowling in conditions that arise fairly regularly in Australia. If the WACA staff manage to achieve their goal of getting it back to its old pace the wicket there might well turn out to be quite similar, and aside from reverse there's never going to be much swing around in Adelaide, which is the driest climate of the major cities in Australia. It'll be tough for England to take 20 wickets at either ground without improvement.

 

[tooextracool]

Anyway, top knocks from Cook, Collingwood and Pietersen. I really like watching Cook bat, he's got a great temprament and tries really hard, and while Collingwood doesn't normally impress me that much he did play well. KP's battle with Warne is great to watch and he played a good innings, if a bit over aggressive and lucky at times given the match situation.

Cook pretty much confirmed what everyone thought about him. Has a very good temperament but still a very questionable technique against leg spin. His dismissal was rather not surprisingly given that its a repeat from the summer where he jumped at the ball and played it with hard hands rather than letting the ball hit the bat. He batted quite well before that though.
The reason why i rate Collingwood so highly is exactly because of this. He doesnt have much talent really, but he just he puts in a lot of hard work and is always trying to improve, which is more than what can be said about the likes of Strauss, Pietersen and Flintoff who seem to have no intentions of trying to improve their game. I was just saying to myself before Collingwood threw his wicket away that he was one of the few players in this England side who actually makes the bowlers earn his wicket rather than throwing it with a poor stroke. I think he played 2 poor strokes all inning, and its just a pity that he was dismissed by one of them.

From an Australian perspective, Lee was very disappointing today. I thought he bowled quite well in the first innings and was a little unlucky, but today he was unimaginative and unthreatening, and was back to his old bad habits. Clark was absolutely magnificent before lunch, and at least consistent afterwards and has generally been very impressive. McGrath was okay and bowled a few potential wicket balls, but didn't bowl that many overs due to the injury and will probably be a bigger threat tomorrow with the new ball. Warne was, of course, just fantastic. Wasn't the best day of bowling I've ever seen from him or anything, but he just kept trying and deserved every wicket he got. Hopefully he goes on to make it a sizable bag tomorrow.

Warne hardly bowled well.This is easily his worst performance against England in at least 4 years, and its absolutely pathetic that hes still ended up with 4 out of the 5 wickets that have fallen

 

[tooextracool]

Had to have a chuckle at the Collingwood dismissal.

Hussain goes on & on repeating over & over how mentally strong he is etc.

Big time bottler.

Reminded me that other well reknowned "mentally tough" batsman, Mark Ramprakash when he did the thing to Warne in the '01 Ashes and got stumped when the pressure was on.

Collingwood is mentally tough though. Out of all the players in this English side, id rather have him bat for my life than anyone else. At least hes not guaranteed to throw his wicket until he gets to the 90s.

 

[tooextracool]

Flintoff you idiot.

Vintage 1999 form there.

England 5/271. It usually wouldn't be a bad total if they didn't need 648.

I really hope that Freddie resigns captaincy for the next test, not just for the team but for himself as well. You could pretty much mistake him for being Trescothick at the moment, certainly nowhere near the character from the last Ashes series.

 

[tooextracool]

KP has been so impressive though, besides a few misjudgements, really really impressive.

Until Collingwood got out, KP played an inning that i thought he was incapable of ever playing. It was almost risk free and he even cut out the slog sweep which he used last summer in the game with the fielders set on the boundary. Since then however hes gone back to old habits.

 

[Laurrz]

Warne really toiled hard.... so glad we got him or else we would be in strife

rai nrain go away come again another day

 

[pasag]

Ponting in some doubt for second Test

Watson would slide right in then (assuming he's ok), although it is way too soon and Ponting could wake up feeling fine.

 

[tooextracool]

Yeah, I agree. I don't think Lee has been "just as woeful" as Harmison, or even Anderson and Giles aside from one or two spells, but he's certainly been very unthreatening in the second innings. And as I said on the first day, it's a perfectly decent pitch for accurate seamers who pitch it up and enjoy bounce, which is why Flintoff, McGrath and Clark have been consistently threatening on it, but not very good for bowlers like Hoggard, Anderson and Lee. Add in the fact that the cracks really started to open up from the third morning on and it was always going to be hard to face Clark and McGrath.

Giles hasnt been too bad to be honest, certainly not worse than Lee. im a bit surprised that he barely bowled from over the wicket this game, considering that hes somewhat of an over-the-wicket specialist and is far more likely to frustrate players bowling that line. Perhaps he was trying to prove a point to Panesar? Im still hoping that we see Panesar in next game instead though. Other than that yeah Lee has been better than most of the English bowlers, but i think in the 2nd innings at least England bowled a bit better and still got nothing out of the wicket and can therefore take some heart from the fact that Brett Lee didnt get anything either.

 

[Matt79]

Ponting in some doubt for second Test

Watson would slide right in then (assuming he's ok), although it is way too soon and Ponting could wake up feeling fine.

As stated in that report, the form of Clark hasn't done MacGill any favours. I don't think we can really drop Clark now - and he may still be the one to bowl us to victory tomorrow. If there's a question mark over McGrath's heal, Clark should play in Adelaide IMO.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Giles hasnt been too bad to be honest, certainly not worse than Lee. im a bit surprised that he barely bowled from over the wicket this game, considering that hes somewhat of an over-the-wicket specialist and is far more likely to frustrate players bowling that line. Perhaps he was trying to prove a point to Panesar? Im still hoping that we see Panesar in next game instead though. Other than that yeah Lee has been better than most of the English bowlers, but i think in the 2nd innings at least England bowled a bit better and still got nothing out of the wicket and can therefore take some heart from the fact that Brett Lee didnt get anything either.

Giles was quite good on day one, I think. He generally impressed and bowled with good flight and control. Never looked like taking many wickets, but at least he bowled with some intelligence. On day two I thought he was quite poor, and yesterday as well. A better performance from him than I expected, but still nothing special.

Regarding him bowling around the wicket, Ian Chappell seemed pretty convinced that it was the success Panesar had last English summer combined with the public perception of him as a "defensive" spinner that led him to bowl a more attacking line. Chappelli has a lot of crackpot theories, but in this case I think he's right. When Nasser Hussein and to a lesser extent Vaughan were leading England, Giles was encouraged to bowl a negative line and merely support the seamers unless the pitch was really turning.

Panesar has made an impact on the fans and the selectors as a more attackin spin option and had a key role in a few victories recently, so Giles is attempting to hit back by showing that he can be an aggressive spinner as well. As simplistic as it sounds, I still think Giles' main problem is the lack of actual sidespin he gets, even on fairly helpful pitches. The fact that Pietersen was turning it twice as much as him on the first day really shows plenty, and even average specialist left-armers like Boje give it more of a rip than Giles. He's a handy defensive bowler, but when it comes to bowling an attacking line he's just too easy to hit and doesn't threaten all that much. Even when he beat Michael Clarke in the flight a couple of times on the second day and he didn't get to the pitch, he still comfortably went over the field for a boundary because there wasn't enough turn there to beat the edge.

 

[Matt79]

I've said previously, I think England should play both Giles and Paneser in Adelaide, and drop one of the seamers. My pick would be Harmy.

 

[shortpitched713]

stop with the fers jus say 9 wickets

Good to see Clark getting his 1fer, really looked impressive out there today.

 

[Craig]

Flintoff's shot was far worse than those from Strauss or Collingwood. Strauss was playing a shot that is a legitimate rungetter for him at home, and Collingwood had made 96 and just lost concentration and was suckered by a good delivery.

Flintoff got a fairly short one and just heaved across the line at it, having just started his innings, as captain and trying to save the test. Absolutely unforgivable. If he's a test number six the way he's playing recently, then so is Brett Lee.

Anyway, top knocks from Cook, Collingwood and Pietersen. I really like watching Cook bat, he's got a great temprament and tries really hard, and while Collingwood doesn't normally impress me that much he did play well. KP's battle with Warne is great to watch and he played a good innings, if a bit over aggressive and lucky at times given the match situation.

England should take heart from the Perth test against South Africa last year. Though it was much flatter wicket, South Africa were a couple down early on day 5 and managed to save the game very comfortably. There's only three sessions to go, and if they get to lunch without losing more than one wicket and the storms come early, they could theoretically save the game. The safe money is still on Australia of course, but it's alive.

From an Australian perspective, Lee was very disappointing today. I thought he bowled quite well in the first innings and was a little unlucky, but today he was unimaginative and unthreatening, and was back to his old bad habits. Clark was absolutely magnificent before lunch, and at least consistent afterwards and has generally been very impressive. McGrath was okay and bowled a few potential wicket balls, but didn't bowl that many overs due to the injury and will probably be a bigger threat tomorrow with the new ball. Warne was, of course, just fantastic. Wasn't the best day of bowling I've ever seen from him or anything, but he just kept trying and deserved every wicket he got. Hopefully he goes on to make it a sizable bag tomorrow.

I don't think I was watching at the time, I was in the pool taking a swim, what actually happened to McGrath?

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

I don't think I was watching at the time, I was in the pool taking a swim, what actually happened to McGrath?

Bruised heel, apparently.

 

[Craig]

Yeah, I agree. I don't think Lee has been "just as woeful" as Harmison, or even Anderson and Giles aside from one or two spells, but he's certainly been very unthreatening in the second innings. And as I said on the first day, it's a perfectly decent pitch for accurate seamers who pitch it up and enjoy bounce, which is why Flintoff, McGrath and Clark have been consistently threatening on it, but not very good for bowlers like Hoggard, Anderson and Lee. Add in the fact that the cracks really started to open up from the third morning on and it was always going to be hard to face Clark and McGrath.

Still, there's a problem when an attack simply can't handle bowling in conditions that arise fairly regularly in Australia. If the WACA staff manage to achieve their goal of getting it back to its old pace the wicket there might well turn out to be quite similar, and aside from reverse there's never going to be much swing around in Adelaide, which is the driest climate of the major cities in Australia. It'll be tough for England to take 20 wickets at either ground without improvement.

TBH I have a feeling Perth could suit Hoggard do the ground if the conditions are right. Stuart MacGill is in with a shout of playing, but who do you leave out if Watson is fit and be the 3rd seamer? Stuart Clark is one option, but it would be a harsh call on him, but then he would get the gig for Perth, and it would be a horses for courses policy. Whatever they do it would be a big call.

 

[Son Of Coco]

I think Collingwood was a little bit unlucky, looked to me like it took off from a crack. Still, don't see why you'd want to hit one into orbit in a situation like this.

If unlucky and stupid mean the same thing then I agree, Collingwood was unlucky

 

[mohammad16]

I've said previously, I think England should play both Giles and Paneser in Adelaide, and drop one of the seamers. My pick would be Harmy.

i dont think palying giles and panesar both is such a bad idea but dropping harmy is a bit negative

i think no matter what happens tom, england will take some confidence out of this match, and it will do harmison a world of good, when he gets it right hes very awkward for the batsmen, i woudlnt drop him after 1 test, i think they should give harmy one more test before they go ahead and drop the guy

i think dropping james aderson is a good bet, hes more a swing bowler then seam bowler or bounce getter, and hoggard fits that bill perfectly, theres no point hacing two bowlers who mostly approach the game the same way

that would mean that england would haveo to deop giles and choose panesar
ALOT depends on how giles bats tomorow, if he bats well, they would be hesitant to disrespect a senior player like that, and im very confident they will continue to paly giles next match, even though panesar should be playinmg