Ashes Squad Announced ;...

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little curly alan ball

little curly alan ball

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Sorry , it's a tad over-late - I weren't on y'day . Been swerving the knee-jerk thing .

Anyway , squad announced . Couple of surprises . Tremlett back from nowhere - unlucky on Shazad . Monty back from Outta Fukn Space - even unluckier on Rashid , ( who CAN BAT , well . Plus has more wickets than Monty in a higher League , playing in Leeds , ffs !!! ) That aside , no surprises . Morgan is in , and should be . KP is back - quelle surprise , and Davis nudges out Kieswetter as Wick'y #2 .

Our hopes basically rest on , Strauss , KP , Prior to fire at 6 / 7 , Jimmy and Broady to move the ball - post 20 overs , and MOST OF ALL , Swanny .

Countdown to Nov' 25th . Woolloongabba , Brisbane .

" .. And did those feet , in ancient times , walk upon England's Mountains green ??? ..."
 

I think we have a better team than Australia, who are poor in comparison to their great sides of the last 20 years. Will still be a good battle over there though. I think the inclusion of so many tall bowlers has been done to negate the lack of swing in the ball used in Australia.
 
Bruce Wayne said:
I think we have a better team than Australia, who are poor in comparison to their great sides of the last 20 years. Will still be a good battle over there though. I think the inclusion of so many tall bowlers has been done to negate the lack of swing in the ball used in Australia.
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I roughly concur , but would also point to exhibit A ; Morkel working it up our top order last year with short pitch bowling . Rest assured , the Swag Bagger's will have been watching . Plus , the Kookaburra has a less pronunced seam , and goes softer quicker , thus negating reverse swing . If this happens , Anderson , in particular , may struggle .
Fair do's though, re ; Convicts being not what they were last time , but theyre still at home . Bay 13 may have all seats now , but it's still the same salt of the Bush , punters .

It'll be close .
 
Will certainly be close. I think our bowlers will be ok but I'm not so convinced about our batsmen. Of the top 6 Strauss is pretty solid and Trott has been in good form lately, but there are question marks over the rest. Cook has a rubbish average against Australia and isn't in good form. KP we all know about. Collingwood isn't in great form, and Bell will still have doubts lingering until he can put a good score up against them. We'll be fine lower down as Prior, Swann and Broad have all shown they can get runs down the order, but the top 6 does look flaky.

Cook is the biggest concern as we don't have anyone in reserve who can step in for him should he have a shocker.
 
Bruce Wayne said:
Will certainly be close. I think our bowlers will be ok but I'm not so convinced about our batsmen. Of the top 6 Strauss is pretty solid and Trott has been in good form lately, but there are question marks over the rest. Cook has a rubbish average against Australia and isn't in good form. KP we all know about. Collingwood isn't in great form, and Bell will still have doubts lingering until he can put a good score up against them. We'll be fine lower down as Prior, Swann and Broad have all shown they can get runs down the order, but the top 6 does look flaky.

Cook is the biggest concern as we don't have anyone in reserve who can step in for him should he have a shocker.
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Trott will be the 3rd opener . I think our top order susceptibility to the short ball may tell . Don't forget , they are brought up on it . Tate will be net bowling , if not actually in the middle , so we won't be able to surprise them . I can see 5 bowlers from Adelaide onwards .

Cok is out 4th stump , a huge percentage of the time . The ball moves for 15 overs or so . Unfortunately for Cookie , he opens , thus will have to either solve it , or will struggle . Mind you , 4 years ago , Strauss had only 2 scoring shots after Warney had de-constructed his technique . He went away , came back better , and last year scored more runs than any opener in World Cricket . Sehwag included .

It'll be tight , but we only have to draw .

Plus , Swann and Broad bowl well to leftys . They have four in the top order .
 

Im amazed people can know so much about cricket! I think ive probably watched some of every test match since the early 90's and still havent got a bloody clue about any tactical stuff! Probably cause i never played the game! I blame Thatcher for that one too!
 
Agree with a lot spoken above, do feel that Shazad is unlucky and has the right attitude for the job over there, very Flintoff-like in his approach and action. Big worry is that Anderson is the leading bowler, no other seamers have toured Aussie before, and last time he took a pasting as he couldn't swing it.
A lot of the team look out of touch, but are still winning games all season (ok the pakis did help us out by pocketing a bit of coin!), and I think that shows we will be able to grit and grind out victories. Only need to draw the series to retain the earn!
As for Aussie, worried if Tait is able to play test matches, although the phrase "Looks like Tarzan, acts like Jane" has been applied to him in the past (By Ricky himself of all people!), I think he's markedly improved, and will be very dangerous on harder wickets.
 
Bruce Wayne said:
Interesting piece here by Duncan Fletcher suggesting that Cook should be dropped, Trott moved to opener, middle order of Bell, KP, Colly with Morgan at 6.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/sep/24/eoin-morgan-ashes-duncan-fletcher
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I know he's looking a bit out of sorts, but really rate Cook, and his record for someone still in his early twenties is amazing as an opener. Might find it easier with the ball coming on a bit quicker, he looks like he's thrusting for the ball. Like LCAB says, he isn't getting bowled a lot, its the pushing for it that is getting him knicking out.
 
Bruce Wayne said:
Interesting piece here by Duncan Fletcher suggesting that Cook should be dropped, Trott moved to opener, middle order of Bell, KP, Colly with Morgan at 6.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2010/sep/24/eoin-morgan-ashes-duncan-fletcher
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The other thing is , he's vice-captain . Unity is everything on an Ashes Tour . It will be intense .

Trott is stand by opener , but the tactic of batter , hitter , batter , hitter , may work less well on wickets that are no longer geared towards Warney . They will be looking to negate Swann . If he turns up , our chances of winning improve exponentially . If not , we lose .

Lose more than 2 wickets a session and we will struggle .

Btw , they may quote our bowling shortfalls - potentially , but forgot to mention both Colly's and KP's averages last time , in a side that got whalloped 5-0 .
As opposed to 2005 where their batsmen in a tight series , were under performing . Punta aside .
An' , we've got Morgan as the wild-card if we really have to chase it .
I heard someone say a relevant point the other day . England , what with KP's dodgy back , lack fill in bowlers from the top order . Colly does well in O.D.I's , but this is the Ashes , after all , and the more options , the better .
 

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