***Official*** Australia in England (The Ashes)

[luckyeddie]

The headline to this one absolutely clinches it

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,16366982-23212,00.html

I totally and utterly agree - it's absolutely certain now.

Fox say that Tait is in, therefore Kasprowicz plays.

Ah, don't you love it when the Aussies throw the raw prawns on the barbie? Great smokescreen.

 

[howardj]

I totally and utterly agree - it's absolutely certain now.

Fox say that Tait is in, therefore Kasprowicz plays.

Ah, don't you love it when the Aussies throw the raw prawns on the barbie? Great smokescreen.

No, I think you're over-reading it. No value in smokescreening if Kaspa is playing.

I don't think Kaspa - an honest toiler - is actually ambush material.

 

[luckyeddie]

No, I think you're over-reading it. No value in smokescreening if Kaspa is playing.

I don't think Kaspa - an honest toiler - is actually ambush material.

No value in smokescreening at all period. I don't suppose England care who they face, Kasprowicz or Tait. It will be interesting, though.

 

[King_Ponting]

No value in smokescreening at all period. I don't suppose England care who they face, Kasprowicz or Tait. It will be interesting, though.

Australia will now have the two fastest bowlers in the match... i think...... waiting on taits speed readings tho...

 

[luckyeddie]

Australia will now have the two fastest bowlers in the match... i think...... waiting on taits speed readings tho...

I think that goes without saying. I look forward to a good, clean contest with lots of iodine and bandages at the ready. I reckon that Trent Bridge will be the fastest, bounciest track of the summer so far.

I'm covering day 3 - I don't think there'll be much for the other hacks to do after that.

 

[King_Ponting]

Strauss and trescothic will, no doubt, get hit by tait. That is, if they're in when he gets to bowl...

Who knows even cp's team performance of 36 wides in 38.3 overs might be exceeded this match..... by the one bowler..... Harmison

 

[Slow Love™]

The headline to this one absolutely clinches it

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,16366982-23212,00.html

Just my opinion - but this relentless hype regarding Tait all sounds really desperate (and panicky) to me.

Tait may well be picked, but I don't buy the certainty of some of these articles one iota. For a start, have people noticed that two of them are written by Adam Cooper (the Foxsports article and the Courier Mail article) and the article by Chloe Saltau at the Age actually uses a whole swathe of Cooper's article (without giving him credit, BTW). All this material is coming from the one source - that's the way modern news works these days (and why it's so vulnerable to BS).

We however have absolutely nothing from the selectors themselves. Like I said a couple of pages back in this thread, this guy's hype machine rivals Lee's. Who gives a crap if he hit Langer in the nuts?

I hope Tait fares well if he plays, but I'd much rather Kasper takes the field. I'd prefer to see Tait trialled in a few ODI's before he's thrown into a crucial test series where scores are level and it's anybody's game.

 

[PY]

Hear hear SL, I can't believe the hype here all based on one article which is not much more than conjecture.

Is this guy really the bomb because this billing is almost as if he's the saviour of the Aussie bowling attack? Even though the situation isn't even there for him to save.

 

[greg]

Hear hear SL, I can't believe the hype here all based on one article which is not much more than conjecture.

Is this guy really the bomb because this billing is almost as if he's the saviour of the Aussie bowling attack? Even though the situation isn't even there for him to save.

I agree. The time for big risk taking and panic measures are if the Aussies are 1 down with 1 to play. The Aussies are still (just) in the box seat in this series, and I think they will now be quite happy to get away with a draw overall. Kaspa has shown good enough form to suggest he can do a good job as third seamer, especially if McGrath is now fully fit. He's not replacing a slightly underperforming Gillespie. He's replacing a catastrophically underperforming Gillespie.

 

[tooextracool]

Anyway, how can you get a bowled down the leg side? Surely if it was going down the leg side it would have missed the stumps? The cricinfo bulletin said it was "yorked".

being bowled down the leg side = being bowled around your legs, much like how hayden was dismissed by flintoff.
im not quite sure about the dismissal though, cricinfo may well be right.

 

[marc71178]

No value in smokescreening at all period. I don't suppose England care who they face, Kasprowicz or Tait. It will be interesting, though.

I know as an English fan which one I'd much rather be facing!

 

[marc71178]

Australia will now have the two fastest bowlers in the match.

And that will mean nothing if neither display accuracy and control.

 

[tooextracool]

Hayden's problem hasn't been the swinging ball as such, its been the reverse swinging ball. He has got starts and handled the swinging ball very well by playing straight. However, once he's been set he has been bamboozled by the reverse swinging ball.

umm the ball hasnt swung conventionally all series bar the odd ball(like his 1st innings dismissal at Lords).

 

[luckyeddie]

I know as an English fan which one I'd much rather be facing!

If I'm facing Kasprowicz, I'd still like to be behind perspex - he's still probably faster than any bowler I've ever faced apart from Harold Rhodes.

My eyes are shot - the other week, I couldn't even see our Rikki's deliveries at Brizzle (truth be told, I couldn't even see Killer Harbhajan's).

If I'm facing Tate, I'd probably be ok - but if I were fielding at second slip, I'd like a helmet, please.

 

[tooextracool]

People make out as though he bleeds runs, whereas he only goes for 3.66 an over.

which in the longer form of the game is still very expensive. even b.lee goes at 3.64 runs an over, while s.jones goes at 3.55, both of whom are known to be the 2 of the most expensive bowlers going around.

 

[tooextracool]

Tait, 22, impressed chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns with his pace and aggression, which was highlighted by a spell to opener Justin Langer in the nets.

Tait bowled the left-hander and fetched him a painful blow in the groin in what was a hostile spell.

doesnt langer get hit everytime he goes out to bat?

 

[tooextracool]

yep looks like taits in.

couldnt be happier, at least i wont have to hear botham whining about why tait isnt in the aussie side on sky.

 

[howardj]

which in the longer form of the game is still very expensive. even b.lee goes at 3.64 runs an over, while s.jones goes at 3.55, both of whom are known to be the 2 of the most expensive bowlers going around.

It's not that expensive when you consider that England have been rollicking along at 4 an over in this series, and that Australia regularly score at 4.5 an over. It's certainly not, of itself, grounds for not selecting him, and is more than counter-balanced by his peerless strike rate of recent summers.

I just think that, as I eluded to above, people are really over-doing this 'Jekyll and Hyde' thing with Tait. That sort of branding is just the easy, lazy option which sounds very interesting, but has little basis in fact- particularly in his most recent, and as yet his only full, season of FC cricket.

2004-05: 62 wickets @ 20. Economy rate of 3.35

3.35 isn't exactly bleeding runs.

Look at the whole package, not just one aspect of things, not that the aspect you've highlighted (his economy rate) is that damaging to his cause anyway.

 

[tooextracool]

It's not that expensive when you consider that England have been rollicking along at 4 an over in this series, and that Australia regularly score at 4.5 an over. It's certainly not, of itself, grounds for not selecting him, and is more than counter-balanced by his peerless strike rate of recent summers.

I just think that, as I eluded to above, people are really over-doing this 'Jekyll and Hyde' thing with Tait. That sort of branding is just the easy, lazy option which sounds very interesting, but has little basis in fact- particularly in his most recent, and as yet his only full, season of FC cricket.

2004-05: 62 wickets @ 20. Economy rate of 3.35

3.35 isn't exactly bleeding runs.

Look at the whole package, not just one aspect of things, not that the aspect you've highlighted (his economy rate) is that damaging to his cause anyway.

oh im not arguing that tait shouldnt be playing because of his ER. im just pointing out that a career ER of 3.66 isnt very good in whatever form of the game.
the ERs i showed you for jones and b.lee were actually career ERs so it was based on not just performances against australia and england, but against the rest of the world, which again shows that they are generally either rubbish or very good, although lee is fast starting to change that. its also quite likely to be the same for tait, who on an off day would probably struggle to get chris martin out even if he was batting without a bat, and yet on his day he might be an absolute nightmare for even the very best.

 

[howardj]

its also quite likely to be the same for tait, who on an off day would probably struggle to get chris martin out even if he was batting without a bat, and yet on his day he might be an absolute nightmare for even the very best.

I don't think the chasm is quite that big. And certainly 65 wickets @ 21 with an economy rate of 3.35 in his only full season of FC cricket, indicates that his off days are few and far between. Much more rare than many people on here are arguing. It just seems that it's fashionable to be dramatic in one's descriptions, but it shouldn't be at the expense of accuracy.