*Official* Road to the 2010/11 Ashes

[andyc]

No way Bollinger won't play. Johnson and Bollinger are shoe-ins, the third place a toss up between Siddle and Hilfenhaus. Wasn't a fan of Hilf originally but after his England series and then his early Aussie summer stuff before he got injured, have changed my mind.

And at the moment, I'd only take Hilf over Jimmy when in Australia, ftr.

[Andre]

Originally Posted by andyc

No way Bollinger won't play. Johnson and Bollinger are shoe-ins, the third place a toss up between Siddle and Hilfenhaus.

A lot can happen between now and then. Still got the series in England vs Pakistan and seemingly a Test series in India before the Ashes, so a lot can depend on how Harris goes if selected.

Put it this way - nothing is cut and dried for the first Ashes Test apart from Johnson, with 4 other quicks all with limited international experience going for 2 spots.

At the moment, it is Bollinger-Daylight-Siddle-Hilfenhaus-Harris, in that order for the remaining pace spots.

However a lot can change over 4/5 Tests and if Bolly starts to struggle things will get interesting for the last few spots.

[flibbertyjibber]

Originally Posted by Andre

A lot can happen between now and then.

Very true.Same with England,we can all guess who might get picked but there is a lot of cricket to play before the initial squads are announced.I just hope that there is no repeat of 4 years ago when one side was at full strength and one decimated by injury as that would be a shame.Lets have 2 sides at full strength going toe to toe with each other and enjoy the ride.

[wpdavid]

Originally Posted by flibbertyjibber

Andre you have it spot on.Sidebottom is going to be a waste of time in Australia,i wouldn't ever pick him for a test again as he is useless after the first spell.His pace drops and his head goes down so on pitches that won't suit him in conditions that also won't he will be fodder.Anderson has improved but again isn't likely to be a threat apart from once in the series when he gets a 5 for.

Onions,Broad,Bresnan and Swann will be the ones who will take more wickets and maybe Finn if he continues to improve.Bresnan showed in Bangladesh on dead pitches that he could keep pressure on when there was nothing in it for him and his ability to reverse the ball will be useful as will Finn's.

Basically Hilfenhaus and Anderson will cancel each other out,neither was able to regularly bowl the other side out in England so what chance do they have in Australia.Johnson and Broad are both scatterguns,and Bollinger hasn't been tested by a decent side yet so is a total unknown quantity.

If England pick Sidebottom we may as well hand the urn over now.

I'd agree with all of that. Onions being out for three months is a real blow for England - how the heck do you take him to Aus off the back of a few weeks' cricket at the end of the season? The selectors have to think really carefully about who plays against Bang next week, as any number of guys could clean up and keep themselves in the side for the rest of the summer. Bresnan's probably the likeliest bet, which I couldn't have seen myself saying 3 months ago. Finn hasn't done enough this season apart from that first game against a weak Worcs lineup on what was obviously a seriously helpful wicket. Either way, you struggle to see us bowling Aus out unless Broad improves by as much this year as he did during 2009 and Anderson finds a dimension to his game that we haven't seen yet.

[fredfertang]

Saj's time is nigh - he will help us retain the Ashes

[Pup Clarke]

Originally Posted by wpdavid

Finn hasn't done enough this season apart from that first game against a weak Worcs lineup on what was obviously a seriously helpful wicket.

Yes, but 14 wickets is 14 wickets, helpful wicket or not.

[BoyBrumby]

Will stand up for Sid slightly here. He's not express fast, but he was up over 85mph pretty consistently in the T20 WC and went over 90mph on a couple of occasions.

Obviously his fitness (and weight) needs monitoring but I'd have him ahead of Bresnan without a second's pause for thought. If he gets a proper run and stays fit I'd take him.

Bopara our most successful Lions bowler v the Banglas, I note too...

[Pup Clarke]

Originally Posted by BoyBrumby

Obviously his fitness (and weight) needs monitoring but I'd have him ahead of Bresnan without a second's pause for thought. If he gets a proper run and stays fit I'd take him.

No way I'd have him above Bresnan actually, would never have said this 6 months, but he's seriously come on leaps and bounds. Sidebottom hasn't done enough since his purple patch a couple of years back and Bresnan is the man in form.

[wpdavid]

Originally Posted by Pup Clarke

Yes, but 14 wickets is 14 wickets, helpful wicket or not.

Trouble is that Finn hasn't done nearly as well since that game.

[GIMH]

Originally Posted by BoyBrumby

Will stand up for Sid slightly here. He's not express fast, but he was up over 85mph pretty consistently in the T20 WC and went over 90mph on a couple of occasions.

Obviously his fitness (and weight) needs monitoring but I'd have him ahead of Bresnan without a second's pause for thought. If he gets a proper run and stays fit I'd take him.

Bopara our most successful Lions bowler v the Banglas, I note too...

He only had to bowl four overs at most though. That's my concern.S

[tooextracool]

Not sure how anyone can put Sidebottom's name into the kitty with a straight face tbh. Other than taking wickets against a woeful NZ batting lineup, hes yet to accomplish anything of note in his test match career, and thats not likely to change. Furthermore, I would cringe at the sight of Jimmy and Sidebottom opening the bowling in Australia. Onions is the best bowler of the lot IMO, if he's injured then get Bresnan in the side. Yes I am a fan of Bresnan, not the most gifted bowlers but at least he gives it 100%.

I would like to see a little bit more of Finn this summer before I can judge him.

[treamcast34]

My attack:

Anderson
Broad
Swann
Onions

Sidebottom 12th man. I don't rate Bresnan at all.

Hilfenhaus scares me. If not for continual injuries he would be right up there with Steyn and Johnson for the title of world's best quick, and if you disagree, you just haven't seen enough of him. Hilfenhaus, Johnson and Bollinger is a better trio of pacemen than what we have, even more so in Australian conditions. Throw Smith into the mix (although thankfully at 20 he's going to be inconsistent) and they've got some X factor in there. We haven't seen Bollinger vs Strauss as yet - he's their best opening paceman since McGrath and that includes Lee. If Strauss can get on top of him it will go a long way toward retaining the urn.

The other thing that people don't seem to realise is how good a test bowler Watson is becoming. His return from injury in the last Ashes was terrible with the ball, and he didn't fire a shot in the T20 cup, but his ODI and test bowling since the Ashes have been very impressive - genuine wicket taker and near on the form all rounder in the game at present. Anyone who's thinking his T20 performance is indicative will get a rude shock.

Let's be honest here - simulate the 2009 Ashes series 10 times and we probably win twice. We took less wickets, scored less runs, and in Cardiff we dodged one hell of a big bullet. Statistically this series was the first of its kind in the sport, ever. Once in a blue moon stuff. Now we're crowing because we beat them in what is ultimately a hit and giggle format; nice to get the win and break the drought; but it's not cricket.

I worry with these victories that, much the same as when we got over them in 2005, we are starting to think we're the better side when in reality the convicts are still a ways ahead. Swann is in the form of his life but he and Hauritz are in the same ball park for ability, and Smith's potential goes above and beyond the both of them. They've got this kid in Phil Hughes who we think because we got him out early a few times as a 20 year old in his first tour of England, isn't much chop, but he has a test average of 51 and an FC average of 60.

Cardiff sticks in my mind - when the ball wasn't swinging a mile we looked so incredibly blunt it could drive a man to tears. Broad and Anderson especially. How are we going to go on Aussie decks?

We also can't forget how important Flintoff was in the last series. If he doesn't come up for the fifth test do we break the Ponting/Hussey partnership? Without his one-legged heroics at Lord's how much closer would they have gotten to completing that outlandish run chase?

We're going to have to play very well to beat them in their backyard, and we're going to have to do it without the man who inspired us last year. Hopefully Strauss keeps heads from inflating ahead of the trip.

[GotSpin]

GIMH in tears as he reads this

[Kylez]

Originally Posted by Got_Spin

GIMH in tears as he reads this

Haha my thoughts exactly.

[GotSpin]

Can imagine him typing out a furious response as the tears stream onto the keyboard below.