The Ashes - 2010/11

[rich p]

Whooooooo hooooooooooooo!!!!!

C'mon you poms!

They do seem resilient this England side and, despite the last match, have a bit of grit.
Winning the toss was crucial but hey ho.

I almost (only almost though) feel sad to see a true great of the game like Ponting stumbling towards retirement.

 

[Aperitif]

Whooooooo hooooooooooooo!!!!!

C'mon you poms!

They do seem resilient this England side and, despite the last match, have a bit of grit.
Winning the toss was crucial but hey ho.

I almost (only almost though) feel sad to see a true great of the game like Ponting* stumbling towards retirement.

*Sounds like he might be thinking of opening a chain of holiday camps, Rich.

I have been busy reading the reportage - seems good, particularly as Collingwood and Pietersen both had chances to catch...and missed them.

Happy 'Boxed In' Day Australia - but tonight is a different day - "there's not many people know that!"

 

[yello]

You could not have dreamt it better!

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Before I text this to my mate what reckons himself Australian# can you update it with the final figures?




# English parents, emigrated whilst she was pregnant, stayed in Port Melbourne long enough for him to be born, came back again.

Not before my head stops hurting! And I can't think what goes with 12 in cricket - 12th man is the only thing I can think of. But as someone who was emptying bottles faster than the Melbourne Cricket Ground last night, I just woke up at 1pm today and realised it was still true.

 

[postman]

What has my Turkey and Australia have in common .



They both got stuffed yesterday .

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

No rush, in your own time. You currently have just under 8 hours to get back into condition for day two.

Ooh, you're a hard task master!

The major problem I have (well apart from the sore head) is that I can't contrive anything vaguely appropriate for the number 3 apart from Trott patiently waiting in the pavilion but that sort of sits in the wrong place because it refers to the England innings...maybe something will spring to mind when the highlights (no satellite telly for me) come on.

On the first day at Melbourne my true love sent to me

12 balls for Watson

11 Aussies cussing

10 runs for Ponting with...

9 working fingers

8 for 77!

7 for 77!?

6 for 77!!!

5 no balls....

4 each for the swingers

3 stumps still standing

2 batting sessions

And they still couldn't knock up a ton...

EDIT: it just occurred to me that as all the wickets were caught behinds I could amend number three...

 

[Aperitif]

Nice ditty! Don't worry - you're bound tto get the trotts later...try a different beer tonight.

 

[Aperitif]

Hard work for Australia - they need to play with conviction I feel.
And Rich P is getting annoyed.

 

[dellzeqq]

the lead is now over 300. Perhaps we should while away some time pondering the declaration. 500? 550?

 

[Aperitif]

Let's trott out a few comparisons before making any prior judgment...painful, sorry.
I would appreciate the chance to be in the stadium, enjoying the Australian fans 'drowning out' the Barmy army. Well, that's what d ɥɔıɹ said in the preamble to this match...

 

[dellzeqq]

England 444/5 at close of play with Trott not out on 141 and Prior on 75 - which gives them a lead of 346.

The pitch is lifeless. If Prior can get to 75 then there is no reason why Australia shouldn't bat out two days. England are doubtless plotting how to win the match, but they're going to require Australia's co-operation.

 

[Aperitif]

It would be interesting to know how the teams address their 'problems' - via mentors, team psychologist(s) etc...and whether it makes a difference.
I can imagine Ian Botham and Viv Richards out for a pint with their respective team shrinks

 

[Aperitif]

And Vic Marks has done a good job today, also..

 

[Aperitif]

And when we gave done that, we can speculate as to who will captain the Australians in the last match.

That'll be 'Pontification' then.

 

[Dayvo]

The pitch is lifeless. If Prior can get to 75 then there is no reason why Australia shouldn't bat out two days.

I agree, and feel that an Australian batting revival is (possibly) waiting in the wings!

Also, what with cricket being a funny old game, it wouldn't surprise me at all if we went to Sydney all-square only for England to have a bad day (or five) and lose the Ashes!

But we've still got three days left: anything can happen!

Good performance by Trott and Prior, BTW! And Umpire Dar! And as for Ponting...