• Welcome to the ShrimperZone forums.
    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which only gives you limited access.

    Existing Users:.
    Please log-in using your existing username and password. If you have any problems, please see below.

    New Users:
    Join our free community now and gain access to post topics, communicate privately with other members, respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and free. Click here to join.

    Fans from other clubs
    We welcome and appreciate supporters from other clubs who wish to engage in sensible discussion. Please feel free to join as above but understand that this is a moderated site and those who cannot play nicely will be quickly removed.

    Assistance Required
    For help with the registration process or accessing your account, please send a note using the Contact us link in the footer, please include your account name. We can then provide you with a new password and verification to get you on the site.

The Ashes - 2010-2011 Thread

Last wicket stand by Johnson and Hilfenhaus has made it more difficult than it should've been, should've gotten them out earlier but what can you do. Decent score at the moment and I can see England getting around 320 all out which would give us a lead of 50.
 
That was some of the worst cricket England have played all tour.

God knows what Strauss was thinking opening with Bresnan and Swann after lunch and men back on the boundary offering easy out shots. Anderson belatedly came back and only needed one ball to wrap things up.

It was so bad that at one stage the field was back for Hilfenhaus as well and he just had to get bat on ball for an easy single.

Hussain put Anderson on the spot about that in a post-session interview but he blah blahed his way out of it. Maybe I was reading too much in to it, but it seemed that Anderson didn't think much of the tactic.

Still, England remain favourites, generally trading around the 4/6 mark.

By the way, a cracking Test going on at Newlands at the moment between India and South Africa, well worth following.
 
England are probably in a slightly stronger position, but as already stated they need the other batsmen to click and get the total past 400. I almost felt sorry for Beer when Cook holed out only for the ball to be a no ball. I really wish that teams would dispense with a nightwatchman if a "proper" batsman can't play out 4/5 overs at the end of play he shouldn't be in the team. Besides which if England had been starting their innings with 5 overs left do you think Anderson & Tremlett would have opened? Doubt it.
 
I really wish that teams would dispense with a nightwatchman if a "proper" batsman can't play out 4/5 overs at the end of play he shouldn't be in the team. Besides which if England had been starting their innings with 5 overs left do you think Anderson & Tremlett would have opened? Doubt it.

Agreed. As Atherton said in commentary, as an opening batsman, he was never offered a nightwatchman.

Hussain chimed in that Atherton was a nightwatchman :smile:
 
Personally I dont have a problem with a nightwatchmen provided it is not a situation where quick runs are needed the next morning. I know they are making up the time for the lost overs, but Australia's run rate means the game is 2 days old with less than one and a half innings played. IF England can bat tomorrow it will be difficult for Australia to set England a total and bowl them out, irrespective of Englands run rate. With the ball seemingly doing more in the first hour of each day on this tour and then getting easier to bat, and Australia having just the 3 and a half seamers to rotate, I'm happy for Anderson to try to frustrate then for half an hour or more to frustrate them. IF He and Cook can the score to near 200 before Anderson makes way for Colly then it would ahve served them well. Certainly with Collingwoods form, and the late loss of his wicket in Perth, I wouldnt have wanted to expose him to the last couple of overs if the day, when Johnson was bowling with some good pace.
 
England are probably in a slightly stronger position, but as already stated they need the other batsmen to click and get the total past 400. I almost felt sorry for Beer when Cook holed out only for the ball to be a no ball. I really wish that teams would dispense with a nightwatchman if a "proper" batsman can't play out 4/5 overs at the end of play he shouldn't be in the team. Besides which if England had been starting their innings with 5 overs left do you think Anderson & Tremlett would have opened? Doubt it.

A proper batsman can probably see out the remaining overs, but it's a risk-reward thing. Why risk losing them then when there's so little to be gained. A batsman is at his most vulnerable when he's first at the crease. By sending him in with 5 overs left you give the opposition two cracks at getting him before his feet are moving: in the evening and then again first thing the next morning.

As long as it's used correctly (ie the nightwatchman doesn't turn down singles and then watch as the batsman gets out last ball of the day), I have no problem with the nightwatchman.

Personally I dont have a problem with a nightwatchmen provided it is not a situation where quick runs are needed the next morning. I know they are making up the time for the lost overs, but Australia's run rate means the game is 2 days old with less than one and a half innings played. IF England can bat tomorrow it will be difficult for Australia to set England a total and bowl them out, irrespective of Englands run rate. With the ball seemingly doing more in the first hour of each day on this tour and then getting easier to bat, and Australia having just the 3 and a half seamers to rotate, I'm happy for Anderson to try to frustrate then for half an hour or more to frustrate them. IF He and Cook can the score to near 200 before Anderson makes way for Colly then it would ahve served them well. Certainly with Collingwoods form, and the late loss of his wicket in Perth, I wouldnt have wanted to expose him to the last couple of overs if the day, when Johnson was bowling with some good pace.

If quick runs are needed, just send in someone like Swann who can swing the bat.
 
It was disappointing to see them get up to 280 having been 189-8 but i would've taken 280 at the outset so be daft to grumble too much now .. if Cook can get his head down and bat a large chunk of tomorrow we should have enough runs (450?) on the board to ensure we don't lose the match, assuming it does pan out like that you'd think the Aussies are going to have to risk losing this match, even if it means setting us something like 150 in two sessions to try to save the series
 
It was disappointing to see them get up to 280 having been 189-8 but i would've taken 280 at the outset so be daft to grumble too much now .. if Cook can get his head down and bat a large chunk of tomorrow we should have enough runs (450?) on the board to ensure we don't lose the match, assuming it does pan out like that you'd think the Aussies are going to have to risk losing this match, even if it means setting us something like 150 in two sessions to try to save the series

Apart from the Gabba & the WACA I think we've bowled them out for less than 300 each time they've batted, not bad for a team that could struggle to get 20 wickets in convict conditions. There will be more time added tomorrow with an early start and if England maintain the current run rate and don't lose wickets 450+ should be attainable.

My money would be on Cook falling in the first half hour today. Hope I'm wrong though.

You are probably right, but if he does get through that with his current for he's odds on for another 100 and to maintain his 100+ average. I was interested to see that he became the second youngest player in test history to score 5000 runs. Tendulkar being the youngest.
 
if he does get through that with his current for he's odds on for another 100 and to maintain his 100+ average. I was interested to see that he became the second youngest player in test history to score 5000 runs. Tendulkar being the youngest.

AND he's an Essex boy to boot !!! :loyalsupporter:
 
Congrats to Cooky on passing 5,000 runs at the age of 26. Barring injury or loss of form he should have a good chance of passing Goochie's total runs record for England (8,900) and will hopefully go on to join the 10,000 club (current membership - 8).

EDIT: Already mentioned!
 
Last edited:
Apart from the Gabba & the WACA I think we've bowled them out for less than 300 each time they've batted, not bad for a team that could struggle to get 20 wickets in convict conditions. There will be more time added tomorrow with an early start and if England maintain the current run rate and don't lose wickets 450+ should be attainable.



You are probably right, but if he does get through that with his current for he's odds on for another 100 and to maintain his 100+ average. I was interested to see that he became the second youngest player in test history to score 5000 runs. Tendulkar being the youngest.

Cook's already got enough runs to maintain his 100+ average for this innings. He needs another 62 runs though if he gets out in both innings though.

If he does, he'll become just the 7th player to average over a 100 in a 5* match series (min 600 runs). The members of that club are Bradman (x3), Sobers (x3) , Hammond, Weekes (x2), Harvey (x2) and er Sarwan.

*Greg Chappell, Mudassar Nazar (who I hadn't heard of) and Zaheer Abbas also managed it over 6 match series.
 
Cook's already got enough runs to maintain his 100+ average for this innings. He needs another 62 runs though if he gets out in both innings though.

If he does, he'll become just the 7th player to average over a 100 in a 5* match series (min 600 runs). The members of that club are Bradman (x3), Sobers (x3) , Hammond, Weekes (x2), Harvey (x2) and er Sarwan.

*Greg Chappell, Mudassar Nazar (who I hadn't heard of) and Zaheer Abbas also managed it over 6 match series.

I presume when Lara got his 400 there weren't enough matches then Matt??
 
I presume when Lara got his 400 there weren't enough matches then Matt??

It was a 4 match series, but he only scored 100 runs in his other six innings and so averaged just 83.33.

He came a lot closer when he scored his 375. He fell a Bradmanesque 2 runs short and averaged 99.75 over the 5 tests. He also averaged over 100 in a 3 test series against Sri Lanka.

I'd probably have him in my side.
 
It was a 4 match series, but he only scored 100 runs in his other six innings and so averaged just 83.33.

He came a lot closer when he scored his 375. He fell a Bradmanesque 2 runs short and averaged 99.75 over the 5 tests. He also averaged over 100 in a 3 test series against Sri Lanka.

I'd probably have him in my side.

I know Im going slightly off topic hear, but sticking with the theme of batting feats, well done to Kallis on scoring another century the other day. He has now scored the same number as Ricky Ponting, from less matches. Up to a year ago it was thought by many that Ponting would get close and take over Tendulkars number of tons, but with him having an 'Indian Summer' to his career he is going to leave Ponting far behind. Kallis though is 12 behind him. Also, given their contrast in form over the past year, Kallis's average has gone beyond 56, wheras Ponting is now edging down to 53........ I'm only now starting to get grudging admiration for Kallis, but when you add in his 270 test wickets at an average of around 32, that is an incredible all round achievement, over a sustained period of time!
 
Kallis latest ton was even more impressive as he has picked an a nasty injury which isn't allowing him to bowl and batted well with the tail of the order.
 
I know Im going slightly off topic hear, but sticking with the theme of batting feats, well done to Kallis on scoring another century the other day. He has now scored the same number as Ricky Ponting, from less matches. Up to a year ago it was thought by many that Ponting would get close and take over Tendulkars number of tons, but with him having an 'Indian Summer' to his career he is going to leave Ponting far behind. Kallis though is 12 behind him. Also, given their contrast in form over the past year, Kallis's average has gone beyond 56, wheras Ponting is now edging down to 53........ I'm only now starting to get grudging admiration for Kallis, but when you add in his 270 test wickets at an average of around 32, that is an incredible all round achievement, over a sustained period of time!

Kallis' record against the division 1 test sides isn't too hot though.

He averages 40.58 against Australia, 42.70 against England (including 29.30 in England from 12 tests) and 33.63 against Sri Lanka, although he does average 67.09 against India.

For me he's in the next rung down with batsmen like Dravid and Mohammed Yousef.

The interesting one for me is Sangakkara, particularly since he's given up the gloves. The trouble is that the big teams (Australia in particular) are running scared of Sri Lanka.
 
Kallis' record against the division 1 test sides isn't too hot though.

He averages 40.58 against Australia, 42.70 against England (including 29.30 in England from 12 tests) and 33.63 against Sri Lanka, although he does average 67.09 against India.

For me he's in the next rung down with batsmen like Dravid and Mohammed Yousef.

The interesting one for me is Sangakkara, particularly since he's given up the gloves. The trouble is that the big teams (Australia in particular) are running scared of Sri Lanka.

Good stats on Kallis. I agree he is unlikely to ever be though of in the same bracket as a Tendulkar or Lara, his stats (even those you state above) when aligned to his bowling average is a superb all round effort. That for his batting alone it is debated whether he is the class of Tendulkar and Lara, or Ponting, Dravid, Jayawardene etc, and then he has perfectly respectable bowling figures as well (270 wickets at 32.01) and 166 catches in tests is remarkable. As I say, Im no fan of his style, but those figures are damn good.

I am always puzzled why Gilchrist seems to be the almost automatic choice for any select XI's when Sangakkara has such a good average (and Andy Flower as well). I guess as he has not played many long series against the big teams is is hard to be sure just how to rate him, but his figures are good. Don't know who Sri Lanka have lined up to play, but will be good to see them over hear for the start of the summer. Without the chucker I'm not sure how dangerous their bowling is going to be.
 
Just seen KP's wicket! What a plum! We've given Johnson 3 or 4 wickets exactly like that!!

That's the one thing that's got to me... For large spells Johnson looks like he's there for the taking, and then he's given a confidence boosting wicket and he finished yesterday bowling quite dangerously.

Ever so slight echoes of the third test, what with letting Australia off the hook late in the day and adding another 50 or so runs rather cheaply. If we could've bowled them out for less than 200 then it's a psychological blow more than anything else and it's instantly an uphill struggle. That said, there's no need to be too downhearted given the score, and if Cook can survive the first half hour and add another 50, then we're in a good position.

What's the weather like over the next three days? I thought I read large swathes of this test are likely to be rained off?
 

ShrimperZone Sponsors

FFM MSPFX Foreign Exchange Services
Estuary MFF2
Zone Advertisers Zone Advertisers

ShrimperZone - SUFC Player Sponsorship

Southend United Away Travel


All At Sea Fanzine


Back
Top