Who's gonna win?

[Bonnie Prince C]

Originally Posted by zaremba

With respect, Teja, it's bit premature to write them off just yet. Remember, only one of them (Jimmy) has ever played a Test in Australia. Given their natural abilities, the others (Finn, Tremlett, Broad) might be quite well suited to the conditions.

Anyway, we shall see........................

I can really see Finn playing a critical role for England, with his height he could be seriously dangerous.

[Faisal1985]

Originally Posted by zaremba

With respect, Teja, it's bit premature to write them off just yet. Remember, only one of them (Jimmy) has ever played a Test in Australia. Given their natural abilities, the others (Finn, Tremlett, Broad) might be quite well suited to the conditions.

Anyway, we shall see........................

That's the reason this Ashes is going to be different. No denying that Aussies are very good at home but Broad and Finn could be threats because of the pace and bounce they might get from Aussie wickets.

I personally think about it this way. Asif and Amir were pretty darn good in Australia and James, Broad and Finn make an equally, if not better combination of bowling, so it is possible that Australian batsmen might struggle.

[GIMH]

The key question to ask is, who is the better team?

I believe it's England.

Are we better by enough to counter Australian conditions? Given how untested the bowlers are in Australia, it's hard for me to say. But I am confident in them. The batsmen are more of a concern than the attack for me, but I just have a feeling that Pietersen will have his best ever series.

[sledger]

It's on, like Donkey Kong.

[zaremba]

There seems to be a problem with the poll. Mods, please fix. Thanks

[GingerFurball]

Originally Posted by Burgey

Haha.. Why are you supporting England? You're a disgrace to the Scottish race mate.

Pretty sure I've explained this before - if I was a Test standard cricketer then England would be the team I'd be representing. I don't see any contradiction in supporting England despite being Scottish - at cricket anyway.

Originally Posted by Bonnie Prince C

Both appear to be ginger too!

Nah, I've used this as an internet handle since I was about 16 and one of my mates called me a "ginger furball" when he was giving me some abuse. I thought it would make a good internet name and it's stuck ever since.

[marc71178]

Originally Posted by zaremba

There seems to be a problem with the poll. Mods, please fix. Thanks

Salman Butt offers his services.

[GotSpin]

Originally Posted by GeraintIsMyHero

The key question to ask is, who is the better team?

I believe it's England.

Are we better by enough to counter Australian conditions? Given how untested the bowlers are in Australia, it's hard for me to say. But I am confident in them. The batsmen are more of a concern than the attack for me, but I just have a feeling that Pietersen will have his best ever series.

Really GIMH? Thanks for clearing that up. Never knew.

We're done for now that he's made his unbiased summary

[Burgey]

Originally Posted by GingerFurball

Pretty sure I've explained this before - if I was a Test standard cricketer then England would be the team I'd be representing. I don't see any contradiction in supporting England despite being Scottish - at cricket anyway.



Nah, I've used this as an internet handle since I was about 16 and one of my mates called me a "ginger furball" when he was giving me some abuse. I thought it would make a good internet name and it's stuck ever since.

Sorry I wasn't avidly jotting down every point you've made in every post, ****.

Well actually, I could have played cricket for England, as my father was born there. I mean I'd never have been good enough to play for Australia, but given England's predilection for giving a test cap to anyone from overseas who knows which end of a bat to hold, I should have done it.

Would've run Atherton out, Hussain too - a lot.

[Teja.]

Looking back, that was a pretty crappy post.

Still believe England will get hammered though.

[GIMH]

Originally Posted by Got_Spin

Really GIMH? Thanks for clearing that up. Never knew.

We're done for now that he's made his unbiased summary

What's biased about agreeing with the world rankings

Funny how they meant more than who held the urn a couple of months ago...

[Spark]

IMO we're just a sharp selection or two away from being considerably better than England. Right now, though, not so sure.

[centurymaker]

Originally Posted by Prince EWS

Australia are getting very under-rated very quickly. People are forgetting how good they are in home conditions. I'm pretty much neutral as to who I'm supporting these days but I'm definitely tipping Australia. It won't be a blowout of 2006/07 proportions but it will be pretty comfortable IMO.

You're forgetting how they performed last summer against the weak sides........
1st test - comfortably won
2nd - Drew- Windies had the upper hand
3rd- won a close match
4th- won
5th- was gifted
6th- won

so 3 close games out of 6 against the low ranked sides. Doesn't sound too promising

[BoyBrumby]

I doubt there'll be more than a test in it either way. My natural pessimism means I'm leaning towards yer crims, but I do cling to it like a security blanket (a pessimist is never disappointed, etc) so it probably colours my opinion.

Interestingly this is the first Ashes series since forever we seem to have a more settled XI than Oz. Barring injury or a miraculous run in the warm ups from Tremmers I'd say our team for the Gabba is inked in.

[Spark]

Originally Posted by centurymaker

2nd - Drew- Windies had the upper hand
3rd- won a close match

People often mistakenly say these were close games, in both cases I say the final scoreline flatters the Windies. In Adelaide, virtually everyone who got out threw their wicket away going for the win. Once Clarke/Haddin realised there was no point going for it any more, it was a rather obvious draw. I'd say had we gotten another session to bat we'd have won that in a canter.

In Perth - the scoreline definitely flatters the Windies, as it was extremely obvious long once Nash and Deonarine had left what the result would be. They just scored a few more runs than we'd have liked in getting there.