The Ashes, 2nd Test, Lords

[little curly alan ball]

Flintoff is retiring at the end of Ashes from test cricket, just been announced on Sky Sports.

This is not a good portent .
I love Freddie , got his shirt up on my living room wall , but I do see his faults as well .However , bowling him nearly 40 overs at Cardiff , Strauss should be up for treason . Also , Hussain and Vaughan are to be blamed as to why he never got 250 Test wickets . For 5 years theyve had him ,
" roughing up the oppo' , " rather than bowl at the stumps .
Still , I was at O.T. in 05 .
He was the Guv'nor , globally , at that time .
Proper Cricketer . Proper Lad .
Will be sorely missed .

 

[linglong]

Sad but not unexpected news about Flintoff i dont think he really ever got to the heights of his talent becuase of the injuries all that weight when he was younger didnt help either watching him struggle the last few years has been as painful to watch as i'm sure its been for him physically.

I was lucky enough to see the great all rounders in my time,Botham,Hadlee,Kapil Dev,Imran Khan and while he isnt as good as those 4 he was pretty damn close to them its a case of not knowing how good he really is/was becuase of those damn injuries

The sad thing is i see the same thing happening to Broad he's being bowled into the ground and the rate he's going he'll be gone in a flash,you'd think they'd learn by now.

 

[linglong]

I agree with that, but do test cricketers agree (particularly West Indians)?

No sadly it seems not the one day fluff is alright as far as it goes but i mean c'mon whatever the rights and wrongs of last sunday it made for great viewing hehe,i do wish the players could see that and not take the short term view of things.

But sadly like football before it its all about money now and while i dont begrudge anyone making a fair living sometimes you should take a step back and have a look at the bigger picture.

 

[AdamTheGreatOneB]

We are going to whipe the floor with you Poms. This time MJ will be firing as no doubt he would have been working extremely hard in the nets over the last few days. Also I have no doubt Hussey will be out there to score runs and we haven't really seen Phil Hughes deliver yet even in the practise matches so he'll no doubt be looking for blood.

P.S Extremely looking forward to seeing what [Poor language removed] shot KP dishes up next.

YAWN

 

[SuitsBlueX2]

Boycott FTW. Does not mind telling it like it is.

 

[BigBurger]

Ladies and Gentlemen , I give you , ( yet another ... ) brass arse Aussie .
Quelle surprise , eh ????

P.S. Hussey hasnt got the ball off the square for 18 months .
Punter and Pup are , as ever the one's to fear .

LOL. Gotta love stirring you poms up...all in good fun though . Even if I do get negged for it. Also if your only going to worry about Punter and Pup then the rest will score tonnes while Punters so good he probably will too. Just wish he was as good of a Captain as he is batsmen. Made some very odd decisions last test particularly in the final session.

 

[evertonianstu]

Im one who tendw to take notice of fate etc when it comes to sport. With the miraculous draw at Cardiff and the fact that this is Flintoff's swansong, I cant help but feel England are destined to win this series by hook or by crook.

 

[Bundy]

Is Mark Nicolas the pom who commentates in Australia in the summer? He's alright. I love Holding's deep accent.

 

[NickD]

i like Beefy the best.

C'mon England lets beat the aussies and shut the whining Ponting up

 

[McBain]

Is Mark Nicolas the pom who commentates in Australia in the summer? He's alright. I love Holding's deep accent.

Yeah, he's pretty good. You can't beat these guys though.

YouTube - The 12th Man - The Wired World of Sprts

 

[pbsuper]

Harmison is out - it's official. And so is Panesar. In comes Onions and Flintoff's fit to play. Australia are unchanged

England Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Matt Prior (wk), Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Graham Onions.

 

[pbsuper]

Toss: Strauss flicks, Ponting calls heads but it's a tails and England will bat.

 

[pbsuper]

Strauss says Harmison was in the squad mainly as cover for Flintoff who, as we now know, is fit to play. Ponting says he'd have batted, too

 

[pbsuper]

Here comes the first ball of the second test..............

Hilfenhaus to Strauss, no run, that shuttled through to Haddin low - very slow indeed. Bounced once before the keeper

 

[McBain]

Come on Poms. Warnies in the box.