Cricket

[DJ]

Sorry people but being a pommy I could not resist this 1!

BANGLADESH?

What the?

Also today, go the POMs!

We will still lose the Ashes I'm sure but let's enjoy it while we can ;D

[marinermick]

just lengthening our odds for the ashes so we can really clean up on and off the park

[marinermick]

just stringing england's hopes along so the poms believe they actually have a chance

then the poms will be even more dejected when we win the meaniful matches

[marinermick]

those results are kharma for symonds being dropped hung-over at a ashes tour

pleeeeeeease... imagine if we would have dropped dougie walters, marshy, boonie and the like for being drunk or hung-over at a ashes game

they wouldn't have played a single match!

kharma will now be rectified now that symonds will be allowed back in the team

[brett]

Everyone has been up in arms because it was Bangladesh we lost to, but I'd just like to point out, anyone who actually watched the game would have seen that Bangladesh were more good than we were bad. They are no worse than any Sri Lanka, Pakistan, West Indies etc at least in that performance.

They had a 17 year old bowler facing a batting side with some of histories greatest players, and he stepped up with the rest of them. Batsmen reverse sweeping Hogg all day. They were very impressive.

I say Go the Bangers!

[DJ]

Banglasdesh did play well, and the aussie bowlers said the ball was just not coming out their hands correctly on the day!

Still thou, losing against a team who had previously won just 5 ODI's, 4 of them against Zimbabwe, a fellow shit team is pretty poor. I think it's good for world cricket thou to see a shock like that!

England will probably lose to them too now.....lol.....wouldn't be a bad thing!

[Fish]

I thought the bowlers saying it wasnt coming out right was a bit poor.If they knew it wasnt change your f*#*n style.I get carpeted in indoor and when I do I bowl differently(from slow to Reallt slow).Sad to say but they deserved to lose but not to the bangers

[omni]

England don't need to win the Ashes, the f***ing have them anyway!

Still tipping 4-1 for the Aussies. And who cares what happens in a 20-20 and 2 ODIs it's an Ashes tour. I'll remind everyone we lost the ODI series in 2001 5-0 so everything is on track for the POMEs to get thrashed come the real thing not hit & giggle.

[DJ]

That's right Omni the ashes remain in their home all the time, and what a mightly fine home Lords is too!

Ashes will be tight this year thou, tightest it's been for a few years anyway! Fingers crossed it's 2-2 going into the last game to make it even more interesting.

[omni]

Ashes will be tighter than it's ever been, it'll still be 4-1 but England will make us bat twice this time!
I agree Lord's long room is incredible, the ground is a great place to watch cricket, of course the Ashes that actually matters has been at the SCG for a number of years

[DJ]

I'm sure you will disagree but I think it will be good for world cricket if England do win! There surely has to come a time when the Aussies start to faulter and other nations can catch up!

Australia have been the Champions of cricket for many years thou and deserved the ashes every time.

[omni]

No I don't think it will be good, the Ashes belong in Australia. It was good for cricket that Bangladesh beat us and it'd be great if they won the tournament, I believe it's not Australia's responsibility to throw matches in order to further world cricket, it'ws not our fault we're so good it's unbelievable!

[DJ]

Didn't say it would be good if Australia to threw the Ashes, I said it would be good if England won! England and Australia would never throw a game cricket, too much rivalry!

And yes I agree Australia have been the best Cricketing nation over the last 10 years but their core team players are getting on and evenually there's gonna come a time when younger players are gonna have to be brought in, who knows what effect that will have?

[Adz]

Maybe we should get a couple of South Africans to come in and save us like England did

[DJ]

Very true........but we won't complain

[omni]

Think about it, our young players are still incredible, you just have to bring them in slowly, Clarke succeeded, Hussey next and then Haddin in as a batsman.

[DJ]

Mmmmmmmm............Clarke is the only young guy in the test team, Hussey is 30, not exactly a spring chicken can't pin too much hope on him for the future! Haddin is 28 this year, when is Gilly gonna hang up the gloves? Say in 2 years, that means he will be 30, you can't expect him to get to grips with test cricket straight away.

By no means am I saying Australia are in trouble as they are still the best team in the world, and yes they have some players who can come in to do a job, but look what happened to the Windies when they lost Ambrose, Walsh, Marshall, Hooper & Richards etc. they struggled, in the 80's the Windies were awesome!

[marinermick]

The Windies lost it because they had no youth development program.

They had an extraordinary bunch and then lost them when all the young athletic guys went to basketball and football.

Fact of the matter is that cricketers don't peak now until they are 32 becuase the game is so much about technique and mental agility.

28 is still young.

We have some great bolwing stocks coming through headed by Lee and players like Tait and Bracken.

There are heaps of young batsmen coming through so we should be OK.

In saying that, it won't be the golden era any more. There have been too many extraordinary players in our squad the last ten years I think it will be a long time before we see that again.

[DJ]

Agreed on most those points.......

but if cricketers peak at 32 then the other cricketing nations should be very worried about Clarke, he's already class! What's his average gonna be at 32?

[marinermick]

yeah, i'm tipping him to break 15000 runs

but like all gun aussies before him (waughs, ponting, langer, martyn, hayden, katich) he will go a period out of international cricket and come back even better

it is rare (tendulkar) that any great international player doesn't