On the other hand... how stoked must the bloke from America who got Matty Hayden out be?!!!

Can England 'do' the Ossies?

It sounds like they are "doing" the ossies

EEEK..........don't speak too soon

*steps off ground, crosses fingers and spits*

Don't jinx it man!

ENGLAND WIN BY 6 WICKETS !!

England beat Australia at Cricket?

Shouldn't this be in the brag thread?

Or is their a thread for overachievements in minor competitions?

No ok enough sour grapes well done England it's about time you had a decent chance to win something, whatever it is, in cricket. You'll still get trounced in the next Ashes though!

Let battle commence!

THIS WAS A LONG TIME COMING

a black day, indeed


would never had happened with mr waugh in charge.

Looks like being an England V West Indies final on Saturday.

Yup..............'tis so.

Will Lara be fit, after his mishap with a hard red object?

T'will be interesting to see - a cricket ball hitting you in the neck at 90mph+ has got to hurt

Once, when practicing in the nets, I clonked one into someone elses throat - by accident I hasten to add.

Down like a sack of spuds

Made a full recovery, but very frightening to see ............. ok funny as well

England 217 all out, W'Indies 57 for 3 ........Gripping stuff

Come on England!

W'Indies now 135 for 7 after 30 overs..........

A cracking game and a well deserved win for the W'Indies after their great fight back !


Would have been nice to have won though

Yeah fair play to the windies, it hurt like hell as it was there for the taking and that hurts even more as we thought we had won it when chanderpaul was out But I cant begrudge them the victory especially after the undefeated tailenders speech at the end when he spoke about wanting to win it for the people of the carribean after the trauma and disaster of the hurricanes. I couldnt help thinking God was on their side.

Best excuse for losing I've ever heard

A good end to the Windies' unfortunate season - well done to them.

as this is being written , the aussies are slaughtering the poor kiwis..we are looking forward to the ashes in 2005..hopefully a 'New England' will present the aussies with a challenge..its been along time since that happened..but i think that we will retain the ashes

Yeah, I reckon england will retain the ashes too: but not because they WIN them, but because of that silly rule that says they can't leave england. Weak!

Go Aussies!

Good start fom the England team today........219 for 1 so far.

And I thought I was the only one watching this series. I can't believe it's the fourth test before anyone has mentioned it.

That'll be the fact you can't watch or listen to it without it being a Murdoch production.
I really hate the fact that unless you have Sky (or can bear to listen to Talk Sport) you don't get to see the cricket in the Winter (or the Summer the way its heading)
I don't know what I'll do if I can't garden to Test Match Special!

bit of a stumble at the end, but if someone had asked me if I'd like to see England at 263 - 4 at the end of day one before the test I would have said yes please. Let's hope they can get over 400 as a first innings total.

Suoth Africa on 118-6 just after tea on the 5th day. They need another 200+ to win (unlikely!) in 2 hours. England need 4 wickets. What's the betting they go off for bad light ?

163 for 7 ...................Bright sunshine

242-9 with 12 overs to play BUT, from the BBC web-site:



So 20 mins left ? Looks like a great fight by SA and they still have Graeme Smith in. He came in down the order becausre he had been advised not to bat because of concussion yesterday.

Listening live - sun back out again, no cloud around.


It's a real knicker-gripper

A win for England ! . Phew - a close finish with a lot going on. It's been a strange series this one...

First Series victory in South Africa since 1965

First Series victory in South Africa since 1965
What a great year that was
Been a very enjoyable series and compulsive viewing and I have watched alot of tests (just not been on here much to discuss)
Hope Freddie has a successful op which makes him fully fit for the summer.

Hope so too, but I've a reckoning that it won't matter either way. There is no way we will beat Australia, and I will explain why if anyone challenges my observation.

I heard someone call England the second best test side in the world today.

The most reformed, definately.

Well done lads, keep the spirit focused, Those Ashes are ours!

Good luck!

Go on Mo, why not?

While England are out training, half the aussie team are poncing about making tv commercials for KFC.

Ponting's made so many (commercials) he's made 10 runs in 2 matches.

Because England alway bottle it against the Ozzies even when they actually appear to have a chance (viz Rugby League). And the Australian cricket team still outclass the England team in batting, bowling and fielding. And sledging.

And the bookies have England 7/2 for the series with Oz 9/4 ON.

Mo, what was your answer, then ?

Here we go then.

Australia are capable of enormous scores, anyone in the top 7 is capable of getting a couple of hundreds in the series, and they'll be big ones too. These guys just get going when they sail past 3 figures, none of this 101-120 for these sods, they'll get 160-190 if not more. Double hundreds are not a rarity. Can't say the same about England, anyone in the top 7 is likely to fail more often than not. Compare Jones against Gilchrist at 7 and you get an idea about the depth of the batting. This leads directly on to the next problem, that of recovery. If Australia get us on the back foot we will be skittled out. they however are quite capable of recovering from not many for 5. Against Pakistan this winter they were in that position and ended up winning by over 450 runs. that is just fucking obscene.

Australian Key men.

McGrath - Fucking robot. Every single frigging ball lands just short of a length on off stump. You just don't get the opportunity to switch off with this bloke. Quicker than he looks, dangerous even on flat tracks. Awesome, probably the best bowler of my lifetime.

Clark - Not many English people know about him yet. My bet is they will be sick of the sight of him come September. Will score heaps of runs, and probably grab a few vital wickets too.

Gilchrist - At number 7 you want to get into the tail, but you've got to get rid of this fucker first. Can, and has, turned a test match in 5 overs. One of the finest bats of his generation, incapable of the watchful innings. Battle against Flintoff will be vital, sparks will fly.

Langer - My bet for top run scorer in the series.

England.

Trescothick - Lack of footwork will be found wanting against the best attack in the world.

Strauss - Has replaced Vaughan as the wicket the opposition want the most. If England are to challenge he will have to score heavily and often. Expect to receive lots of bouncers, strange field settings and *gasp* sledging.

Flintoff - This will either be the making of him or illustrate that the he is a bully of weak teams. I expect him to perform better with the ball than the bat - see McGrath.

None of the bowlers look strong enough to collectively get 20 Australian wickets regularly. There will be sporadic good performances, but the consistency of McGrath and Gillespie just ain't there.

Some good performances from the boys in SA though. Thorpe proved once again that he's the most important batter in the English game, Strauss showed his prowess and demonstrated that he will one day take over the Thorpe role, Flintoff just needs to think a little more and Hoggard seems to have come of age as an international cricketer. I like Mickey Vaughan and Giles is good value as well. My only worry is Harmison - he needs to get back to something like form for the Ashes series. I can't see England beating the Australians but they could give them a run for their money for a change.

well having watched Aussie cricket against Pakistan, I can only sadly agree with you Mo, and if Shane Warne's playing, watch out, he's on good form at the moment, and he's not been eating the all pies!

South Africa Innings
291 for 5 (50.0 overs)


Hmmmm,

England 35 for 3 in the 7th over......


Double

England 183 all out.
South Africa lead the series 2 - 1

Treble

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear

just read the papers how the australians have arrived in england.....this could be a close series..but i think the aussies will be too mentally strong and have too many gun players . i hope it is a close series....how many series in a row do we have to win before we can take the ashes home to australia .where they belong