Ashes

[Norrec]

Why am I not surprised with the 5-0 whitewash - although i'm an avid cricket supporter I just knew this would happen. So much hype has been made of the team before they went its no wonder they felt pressured, the last ashes had some of the best cricket I have ever watched but I do fell let down by Englands performance.

I can only hope they salvage something in the Cricket 2007 World Cup.

<fingers crossed>

Norrec

[Mike]

Well said

Mike...

[dazbeattie]

It is like with everything English this day....

I admit the cricket in 2005 was brill, but you just knew that England was going to get hammered when they went down there....

Then there is the rugby..... Like I said to my brother-in-law when England won the World Cup, there is only one way to go and boy are they going that way. Rankings as of 01/01/07.

1 NEW ZEALAND 94.59
2 FRANCE 85.94
3 AUSTRALIA 85.55
4 SOUTH AFRICA 84.71
5 IRELAND 84.68
6 ARGENTINA 79.61
7 ENGLAND 78.68
8 WALES 77.02
9 SCOTLAND 76.81
10 SAMOA 73.86

Come on Samoa, only 5 points to get....

Then there is the football.......

Enough said I think.

Daz

[mcauleyab]

There's no doubt that Australia was the better side during the Ashes, but England didn't deserve the 5-0 whitewash. I just think there was a combination of factors against them - senior players being unavailable, some shocking umpiring, the effect of the Barmy Army being negated by over-zealous administrators, plus the fact that ever since 2005, the Australians have been on a mission to not only regain the Ashes but to reassert their dominance over the rest of the cricketing world. It's a shame because England did play a lot of good cricket. They just didn't do it at critical times and let any advantage they had slip. Still, the World Cup is a very open prospect this time around.

[Hyno]

The turn around was the 3rd test when England was a shoe in for a draw and fell to pieces.

The most alarming statistic was the lower order batsman averages. Australia bats down to 9 and sometimes 10, England 7 or 8 usually.

Average 5th-10th wicket scores per wicket:
Australia 47
England 18

Makes a big difference.

[Norrec]

Just to rub it in the following happens

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ausve...ch/249227.html

Poor England

Norrec

[Nutty_ZA]

I think that now Michael Vaughan is back, England may start to improve again... He seems to be a vital factor in Englands Success...

The 20/20 really can't be taken into consideration.... Vaughans first match back and not reallllllly a serious match at that... think England will do a lot better in the upcoming ODI's, although still can't see them beating Oz...

On a happier note, I'm off to watch the first SA vs Pakistan Test at Centurion this weekend...

Pakistan should prove a much harder test for SA than India methinks.... :!: :!:

[TheGuru]

Originally Posted by Nutty_ZA

On a happier note, I'm off to watch the first SA vs Pakistan Test at Centurion this weekend...

Pakistan should prove a much harder test for SA than India methinks.... :!: :!:

Enjoy, it should be more entertaining than the Ashes :!:

[Hyno]

Originally Posted by TheGuru

Enjoy, it should be more entertaining than the Ashes :!:

I dunno - the Ashes were entertaining for us Aussies!!!

[mcauleyab]

Originally Posted by Nutty_ZA

On a happier note, I'm off to watch the first SA vs Pakistan Test at Centurion this weekend.

Maybe Nutty can answer me this one....with the World Cup now just two months away (13 March being the big day) how come South Africa are playing 6 back to back test matches? Maybe there's a cunning plan there somewhere but wouldn't it make more sense to schedule some one-day matches instead? :?: (Unless of course they're supremely confident - they're just going to rock up and win the thing ;-) )