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Ashes to Ashes - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 23-08-2009
2/90? Bollocks to that - just a blip. We've suffered worse.
Ashes to Ashes - El Gordo - 23-08-2009
El Gordo Wrote:I expect the Aussies to torment us with a couple of stout innings before holding their hands up around the 350 mark.
Oh well, I'll settle for 348.
Well done England -- we're proud of you. Commiserations to Australia - difficult buggers to beat as ever, and led by a very fine captain. But this time, we managed to end up one step ahead. If it was all replayed starting tomorrow it would likely go the other way.
Ashes to Ashes - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 23-08-2009
El Gordo Wrote:Oh well, I'll settle for 348.
Well done England -- we're proud of you. Commiserations to Australia - difficult buggers to beat as ever, and led by a very fine captain. But this time, we managed to end up one step ahead. If it was all replayed starting tomorrow it would likely go the other way.
Yeah good call. I'm just disappointed we couldn't at least drag it into the 5th day. Bugger.
You say Ponting is a fine captain, but it has been a very, very long time since any Aussie captain lost the Ashes twice. I fear the border will be closed to him upon return.
I have to go to work now and share the gloom. It will doubtless be a very quiet train trip in.
Ashes to Ashes - Sweder - 24-08-2009
Good call on Hussey MLCMan - he fought tooth and nail till the bitter end.
And, sadly it was a rather bitter end. Ponting stood tall (not easy for him), held his hands up and congratulated his enemy with only the slightest jibe about the state of the pitch (which he conceded was the same for both teams. I'd go further and say it was a pretty good test wicket; England scored 700 runs on it and Aussie only 200 fewer). But then, to paraphrase Sinatra, he had to spoil it all by saying something stupid like ... if you look at the stats it's hard to work out how this result came about.
Eh? I've looked at the stats every which-way; upside down, sober, slightly squiffy through the bottom of a champagne glass, in the reflection of the mirror, mirror on the wall, fed in and spit out by a thousand frantic, jabbering computers and they always come back the same: 2 - 1
BBC radio 5 Live played some excerpts from Aussie radio news stations this morning. Crikey you'd think the world had ended; calls for Ponting to fall on his sword are ridiculous. The man is still one of the finest batsmen in world cricket and a pretty good captain. As he might say, just look at the stats.
Andrew Strauss: an apology.
I may have given the impression in an earlier tirade that current England Captain Andrew Strauss might not have been fit to lace the boots of Micheal Vaughan. Now, I stand by my assertion that Vaughan is the better tactician, but given that Strauss has lead from the front like the stoutest, most hardened battle commander, weilding his bat like the sword of Damaclese and laying waste all outlanders before him, all without Pietersen and with only the shadow of Flintoff (glorious execution of Ponting aside) I am forced to concede that Mr Strauss has shown himself to be a leader of fortitude and substance. Unlike those cavorting merrymakers of four years past he and a good part of his team may well go on to better things.
I'm almost happier (than with victory itself) that the powers that be have eschewed the open-top bus triumphalism of 2005. That lead to an overwhelming avalanche of hubris and the 5-0 shellacking Down Under in 06/07. Instead a measured if exuberant lap of honour followed by some modest imbibing behind closed doors is the right response to a good win against the best test side in the world. Not a sniff of an MBE as yet, and neither should there be in my view.
Now, as the bright blue skies of Monday greet bleary eyes and foggy heads, the bells of selection doom start to toll.
And Collingwood, Bell, Bopara, Harmison? They toll for thee.
Ashes to Ashes - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 24-08-2009
This line is tapped, so I must be brief...
Australia played well, England played better.
There is nothing wrong with Australia's batting (albeit perhaps a little prone to collapse, but then most sides are); nor their bowling attack, and Ponting's captaincy is fine. But England, who in my opinion have always had loads of talent, have now found the right recipe to utilise that talent. Well done.
Again; I make no apology for the use of semi-colons.
You can exit the building via the roof, or in the custody of agents. I leave the choice to you.
[click]
Ashes to Ashes - Seafront Plodder - 24-08-2009
Can someone enlighten me as to the significance of Ponting's moth-eaten old cap?
Ashes to Ashes - Mid Life Crisis Marathon Man - 24-08-2009
Seafront Plodder Wrote:Can someone enlighten me as to the significance of Ponting's moth-eaten old cap?
The Aussies have a "tradition" (dating back only a few decades) of wearing only their first test cap, no matter how tatty it gets. The supreme example of this quaint tradition was Steve Waugh, whose cap became so dilapidated that Cricket Australia begged him to have it re-made, which eventually he did. But something died in him that day, and he was never quite the same again.
Of course, in days long gone, older and cleverer players such as Don Bradman used a different cap each match, then sold their caps for vast sums of money. Nowadays however, they just release another "tour dairy" to raise funds. Or join the IPL. Or become commentators on Sky.
Not the same, is it?