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Why England lost The Ashes

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
South Africa, Sri Lanka and India don't have claims to the #2 spot, not in my book anyway
 

Mr Mxyzptlk

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There is no clear-cut number two. England beat Pakistan at home but lost to them away.

Number Two: (Sri Lanka, India, South Africa, England, Pakistan)
When last did Pakistan beat Australia? England is still number 2.
 

godofcricket

State 12th Man
England winning last time was a big surprise for me.......i knew the last ashes was going to be an interesting one becuase of how england prepared and how Australia unexpected them to fight back and the passion in which the english team played even after losing the first match.

This time i knew Australia was going to beat the hell out of england, thats becuase england lacked Simon jones, Vaughan, trescothick and harmison not his usual self, flintoff out of sorts and more importantly we didnt see any killer instinct. The sad thing is england only ever look for one series and thats the ashes, how they will go along during the world cup is worrying. Anyway i would love to see Vaughan back in the side, harmison back in form and from what i think flintoff needs a rest big time.
 

silentstriker

The Wheel is Forever
However, Pietersen cemented his place in the batting lineup for the next decade, and at least they can take that away from this series.

I just think he needs to come at #3 or #4.
 
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Bob Bamber

U19 12th Man
Lets get one thing straight. England didn't lose the Ashes. Australia won them. Not one of the Australia team had a bad series. And they fielded brilliantly.

Anyway England played well at times , Collingwood and Pietersen at Adelaide , Bell and Cook at Perth. Granted the bowlers didn't turn up and the second test second innings was the worst ive ever seen.

So why didn't England win:

1) They picked the wrong captain - It never made any sense. And I honestly don't think if England would have taken the series I'd be backing Flintoff either. He had too much on his plate as it was. And he mis managed guys like Mahmood. And I think his batting didn't help either. His negative field setting attitude should have been spotted during the Sri Lanka series.

2) Geraint Jones/Chris Read - They should have never had picked Jones in the first place. Not that Read did much better in the final two matches. I think this is the last time we will see either one of them in England colours for a long while.

3) Monty Panesar - Where was he? I had fears before that evening that Giles would play but laughed them off. Who could make such a decision., Giles wasn't even fit. Hadn't bowled a ball all year. Another error from the selection team.

4) Too negative - Adelaide sums it all up. 2 full sessions. 60 odd runs. At a crucial point in the series they didn't turn up.
 

Turbinator

Cricketer Of The Year
I don't know but you guys are overrating England atm. Yes they had a good past one year and a good 2005 Ashes in which they beat the best team in the world. But this team was different, it wasn't the same number 2 team in the world we know of. It was in fact a very weak team, IMHO. So on current form, current as in the past month or two, England are a pretty weak team and really stood no chance against Australia.
 

razorman

Cricket Spectator
Pakistan imo.
It's pretty close between Pakistan and England. What I would say is that Pakistan's recent form is much better than England. Since the 2005 Ashes (when England was generally regarded as no.2) England have won only 1 out of 5 series. Pakistan have won 4 out of their last 5 in the same time period. While both won a home series against each other, England could only manage draws against India and Sri Lanka, both of whom were defeated by Pakistan. Pakistan's win away to Sri Lanka is particularly impressive when you consider only Australia have a current win there, most of the other teams have been beaten on Sri Lankan soil. England do have a recent home win over Australia in their favour, although this has been tempered somewhat by the current whitewash (also worth noting that Pakistan have not played Australia on home soil since 1998). All in all it is close, but I would say that Pakistan has a slight edge recently, and a good result in the upcoming series against South Africa (which would be very difficult) would cement no.2 spot for them.
 

open365

International Vice-Captain
Lets get one thing straight. England didn't lose the Ashes. Australia won them. Not one of the Australia team had a bad series. And they fielded brilliantly.
QUOTE]

I agree, australia were ten times better than us, we didn't put up any fight, but they were still awesome.
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Not in the end it wasn't - Aussies wrapped it up with, what, six wickets in hand and a dozen overs to go? Close for four days doesn't equal close result...
About 2 or 3 overs left, not a dozen.

There's no way that match cannot have been called a close one.
 

Matt79

Global Moderator
Disagree, it WAS close, until the English batting capitulated to Warne. Once they were all out, or given the English tail, once they were six down, it was never going to be close, in terms of England possibly winning the match, or even drawing. Yes, they could have conceivably squeeked out a draw, but Hussey and Clarke played very controlled innings, and could have put the foot down if required - but they were able to cruise to victory taking their time in the end given the lack of pressure Flintoff and co were able to bring to bear. Given the situation at lunch on the fifth day, its misleading to say that Australia were fortunate to win the game...
 

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