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70 runs in the first hour :D

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96/1 - not a bad start ....

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103/2

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Pretty bad start now :(

Make that a shocking start. EVERYONE knows Warne is dangerous and yet they do nothing to counter him.

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109 for 3, not good.

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England 319 - 7 at the close

Another great bowling performance by Warne, where would they be without him ?

The batting performance as a whole was quite mediocre on this pitch, and could have been a whole lot worse if it not for Strauss and Flintoff.

Heres hoping England can add another 50 or so tomorrow.

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Given the way that the series as whole has gone so far, it was never likely to be easy. Poor shots from the skipper & KP, but Warnie is just a complete genius, if Australia do get a win then he will have carried them almost single handed.

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Apologies if my previous post sounded like a bit of a moan, but this is the best chance for England in quite a few years to regain "The Ashes".
I just hope England can do it for the interest of the game and especially for the fans.

It has been a fantastic series whatever the outcome.

I was listening to TMS at lunchtime and they interviewed the guy in charge at the Oval for a few minutes,....... during the conversation, he let it be known that the ticket application was in excess of 300,000, and tbh, I am not sure if it was the whole match or just the fifth day, (Maybe someone else on here heard the conversation and could verify it.)

Looking forward to tomorrow.

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Silly Mid HOFF

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Well that was not the start we wanted. :(

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nope - Jones gone, so right into the tail end now - lets hope we can at least reach 350 (although 400 is still a better target)..

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Well 373 isn't bad, although if the top order had done their jobs better we could have been up around the 450 mark, let's hope we can pick up some quick wickets now...

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Excellent cricket.

Those Australian commentators on Channel 4 whinge too much and are extremely biased. Richie Benault will be missed, his style is very nice.


;)

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now we need our bowlers to do a number on them...

172 all out - forced to follow on should clinch it ;)

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I'm delighted to report, with the Aussies 104-0 and looking good, that there's a thunderstorm here, about six or seven miles west of the Oval...

Rain dance anyone?

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Yep its just started chucking it down here just outside London, on its way to the Oval.

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Absolute vertical river here now - let's hope they accidentally take the covers off for a moment. The way he's playing it'll take a flood of Biblical proportions to dislodge Langer.

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Oh dear lord be it in thy power, let it p** down for 1 hour.

Will that help?

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Thank you very much. My street is now flooded. Inch and a half, judging by the bucket I left outside.

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Oh dear, very sorry, but I don't know one to make the sun shine.

On a serious note, I think the weather has given us a get out of jail free card. By the way the aussies started I reckon they could have passed our total, even if by only a little. Then, if we made the same mess as we did in the last game then we would be struggling on the final day.

2 batsmen let us down in the first innings.

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I think it would be an absolute tragedy (or maybe "travesty") if we won the Ashes by default because of the weather instead of having them decided on the pitch :(

England should have to *fight* every inch to win them.

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The Aussies would have lost at Old Trafford but for the weather.;)

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We already have fought to win the ashes in the two games that we have won. The Aussies got away with a draw at Old Trafford because of a day of rain, so i don't see why we can't ;)

Edit - Beat me too it :)

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Think we have proved we are the better team, regardless of the weather intervention.

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To be honest, things are much closer than we all ( except Graham ) ;) imagine.

Last Sundays Telegraph had some excellent stats in it. One of which revealed that the average score per wicket throughout the first 4 tests was almost identical, England shading it by a couple of numbers in the second and third decimal place. This was mainly due to the efforts of Warne & Lee with the bat.

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Yeah, beat me to that one as well.

Also, was there not one match that the aussies were definately playing for a draw in their second innings and they managed to last out the final day.

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And England are probably going to win the Ashes *because* of the weather.

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OK, this is it hopefully a good day for serious cricket, wonderful game so far. ;)

I would like to see the England team win but yesterday was hard work 242 - 2 clearly the Australians are trying, we need wickets. But as long as we see good quality cricket I'll be happy whatever the result. so no rain please, rain go away :)

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329/5, just wonder what sort of lead they will set us, my be about 150, we could play defencivly for the draw.

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I hope to hell they don't, that would make a lot of people very unhappy.

If you're going to win something, for gods' sake try to *WIN* it!

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This going off for bad light is ridiculous , it's good enough to play the spinners. :(

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I loved it when Englands second innings started, lots of England supporters put their brollys up to try to kid the umpires that it was raining, so the Aussie fans all took their shirts of, pretending it was bright sunshine.:D

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Sure, but you cant play spinners *all* the time?

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why not ? I think u can.... it bloody monotonous though

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Exactly. ;)

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Whatever the outcome tomorrow, I am seriously considering going to the next ashes series

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It was a marvellous day's play, very exciting, the England team played with more spirit. :)

As bad light the Aussies themselves made use of this to get out of a tight corner, so all is fair in love and cricket! :erm:

Tomorrow should see rivetting cricket, should be terrific. Hopefully, we will see a decisive result in England's favour. ;)

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Then when the Aussies came back out after the first break for bad light the whole team were wearing sunglasses.:)

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It makes you wonder if that was the correct decision when Hayden and Martyn accepted the offer of bad light :shrug:
I have known teams to refuse the offer knowing that they have to win the match when time is not on their side.

A draw now is looking inevitable, there surely can't be another twist in this series, can there ?

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Well this morning if anyone had said we were going to skittle the Aussies out like we did, I think you'd have got expressions of disbelief, so who knows, it could well happen again.

On the other hand, they could skittle *us* out for a low score and go on to win and draw the series...!

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Nudge i'll wake you m8, we will win this no problem, 40 in front bat till lunch with a realistic target for the Aussies they will not get near, we did not invent the weather. :shrug: :D

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Remember the 2nd innings at Trent Bridge, I think Mr Warne and his fellow bowlers may still have a say in this.

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I hope we'll see a responsible captains innings today and we should forget 'sporting declarations' - we bat as long as we can and only consider putting them in after tea with a lead of 350+. We are on the cusp - we don't need heroics to win the Ashes, we just need sensible batting!

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Sounds good to me...

It would be a real shame to lose this test (and therefore draw the series, which means the aussies keep the ashes :Yikes: ) after the work that Freddy Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard put in yesterday to stop Australia having a runaway lead after the first innings .. - that final spell between them was 6 wickets for 44 runs :Yikes:

The Aussies cannot complain about us taking bad light - they took it on friday, and they need to win this one to draw the serias and retain the ashes.
They were also offered it during the latter stages of their first innings, this time they did not take it, and Flintoff and Hoffard made them pay for that decision.

I hope todays play is more interesting, but I really don't want us to throw it away.

(and here's a good article written by an Aussie on this series : http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/engva...ry/218857.html )

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Yes bat all day and bat them out of the game

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I'm looking forward to a good days cricket both teams are capable of winning it should be excellent cricket. Now, I'm off to watch it.

:)

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I'm not usually much of a cricket fan but this series has been captivating. Trying to watch it now whilst working, which may not be a sensible idea!

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Aaargh - 67 for 3 - Vaughn and Bell in two balls :(

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106-3 , Pieterson repays warne for the drop by smacking him for six, and breaking his bat in the process, then ANOTHER SIX with the new bat. :D

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Oh no - Tres gone as well. Up to Freddie now!

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I hate it when they make it hard for themselves :(

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Going to be tough now Freddies gone. :(

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You just know this is going to go down to the wire, 6 out now :disturbd:

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100 for KP :) Now 220 ahead, three wickets in hand and only about 45 overs left. Surely!

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Well done KP :clap: great first test centuary.

Time for tea now, surely they will do it! :)

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258-7 : Pieterson 131 - 39 overs left ....

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Looking good now. Hold onto it now England !

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More than a run a ball required now by Aus, even if they get the last three :D
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Not to brag, but :

:D

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Smart alec :nworthy:

All the same - would have been a lot more nervous had it not been for KP..

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Now Pieterson 142

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Declaration anyone ? :D

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Do they have to let Australia bat ?

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Pietersen out for 158

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No

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In the spirit of the game, yes.

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Yes, and then bowl them out in fifteen overs. :D

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:shrug: bad :Sun:
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what a crock

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Nice and bright here .....

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Well England have, finally, won the Ashes, but gods, what a palaver! :spin:

In a way it's a shame Pietersen wasn't out earlier, I'd have loved to have seen the Aussies flinging the bat around trying to get a victory, that would have made this an incredible ending instead of a bit of a farce.

Still, congratulations to both teams for a hell of a series, although I still think that the Aussies played better, but well done England too :)

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Party time :cleader:

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Well done both teams - what a series they have given us :tu:

Whatever the outcome I think Cricket & the spectators were the overall winners )

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Even the great Shane Warne admitted England were the better side overall, which i think they were aswell! :)

A great series and a fantastic result for English Cricket! :D

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Graham u make me laugh when u try to go out of your way to antogonise everyone ;)

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LMAO
and there speaks someone who knows nothing about cricket. I think they call you fairweather supporters :dunce:

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so we won some charcoal.

All it means is that for the next 30 to 40 years the team will go backwards and we will be back to square one.

England may have been the better team this series, but Australia will outclass us and play us of the pitch next chance they get.

Still congrats to the team, you played well.

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Even thou I think that Cricket is the most boring sport on the planet (I mean 2 days to get a draw)

Good old england

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It may have seemed a bit of a farcical ending to proceedings today, but the umpires knew what they were doing imo.
With the conclusion of the result not going Australia's way in this match, I am sure the umpires offered the bad light to the batsmen as a token gesture, as there was only going to be one result.

Law 16.1.6 PDF Document

It is not quite the same as written, but that is my interpretation of what happened, maybe other will interpret it differently ?
I am reading between the lines of course.

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Great line on the BBC News re Warne dropping Pietersen,

'It would be harsh to say that Australia's best player had just dropped the Ashes........ but he had'

Great win, great spirit in the Team, and great sportmanship from both sides

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Yes it was, although I would love to know what was on Brett Lee's mind in his last 2/3 overs, he was bowling very fiercely, and I am not sure it was because he knew the game was lost.

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Which Australians? most of this side are very near to, or already past their best, young Clarke is a brilliant player but if Tait is the best new bowler then the Aussie attack will be worse than Bangladesh without Warne & McGrath.

Almost everyone ( except Graham ) and that includes all the Australian people that passed comment agreed that overall England were the better side, not by much, but enough. Before the start of play today the average score per wicket throughout the whole of the series was England 31.67 runs, Australia 31.58 runs. However The three highest scoring batsmen in the series are English, the English bowling attack is far better than the Australian one, our 4 pace bowlers shared the wickets whilst the Aussies had a two man attack. The Australians never posted a score over 400, this from a side in which the top six batsmen had a test average of 50 +, a tribute to Englands superior bowling. This England side needs a bit of tweaking in one or two positions but by and large they are still a young side that can only get better. A fantastic series and a worthy overall victory.:D :cool:

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Yeah that's what confuses me too Timewarrior I mean you would think it would be the ashes of someone important like the first Australian convict or a royal but no, they play for tow bits of charred wood.

I mean how do we know they are original ? They oculd be a replica to stop the original ashes from deterioating.

Weird game, nearly as weird as tossing the caber (sp?) but at least you get to see up some of the mens kilts :angel:

Sian

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Spot the people in this thread that don't understand the game. :erm:

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Apparently they are some ashes out of a fire place as the original bail ashes were scattered when a cleaner dropped and broke the pot that contained the ashes (she mended the pot but couldnt find the ashes).

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well i do know its 2 teams i just dont know where the goal is :confused:

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Tait's final over was appalling, six wides in any other game, even Gilchrist kept giving him the "look"

Yep, the Aussies came a very, very close second place on this tour, take Warne out of the equation and the Aussies will slip down the world rankings, I think that they are still No. 1 at the moment, even after this series.

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Well I watched it in work as best I could and had the BBC ball by ball page on screen.

One hell of a day and one hell of a match and one hell of a series.

To watch Warne and McGrath give it everything was marvellous what a couple of players.

Let's hope the ECB don't rest on their laurels and use the Murdoch money wisely.

We need more Flintoffs Jones vaughans et all for the future and most important find us a world class leg spinner pleaaaasssssssssssse.

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:cleader: Congratulations to all of the England Team !:cleader:

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I think Sky will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of showing test matches, and with the money they will no doubt attract and then pass on, will revolutionise world cricket as we know it, tbh I was quite embarrassed at the prize money handed out today to the likes of Warne and Flintoff etc.

If they get to show the coverage of test matches over quite a few years, i have a feeling some rules will get changed also, money talks.......

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Giles, did an awesome job, today http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley_Giles will get updated ;)

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Sorry? Exactly how do you come to the conclusion that I know nothing about cricket?

Simply because I'm not so blindly jingoistic that I can forgive the lamentable performances of certain English players?

eg Pieterson may have done well with the bat, but if he'd held a few more catches in earlier matches we could have had this properly sewn up already.

Ok, we might not have had some really close contests, but that was a side-effect, not an intended consequence.

And the "fair weather" supporters are all those ones who have suddenly started watching because England are actually winning something, but that ain't me!
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If I *really* wanted to antagonise people I would have been banned from these forums a *long* time ago!!

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Those of us that know better are well aware that you are an expert on the sound of willow against leather.;) :angel:

I can do no better than to quote Ricky Ponting, "It would be nice if we could find a Flintoff from somewhere. We have been beaten by a better team and we were below par, They deserve to win the Ashes. They deserve this result and they have been the better side".

It was very close, but then it would not have been the exciting spectacle it was had either side taken a hammering.

Jim ( cricket fan since 1958 ) ;)

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So are you saying that because by a stoke of luck England played better than Australia this series they will always be good?

I still stand by what I said, well dont to England for beating Australia, but Australia will destroy them next chance they get.

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I don't think so - England have got a young, settled, strong team that have been playing together well, and can only get better. Australia, whilst obviously world class, are older... the team may change in the next 16 months or so. It takes a while to get a good team gelled (sp?). England now have that and will be the stronger of the two teams next time they meet IMO.

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hehe, destroy them ? it took us 5 years to make this team, even Duncan Fletcher didn't expect it to happen so early. We'll be around for a while yet. Australia Ashes next Winter will be good. I might even fly over for a month to watch one or two games.

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Cannot see anywhere that I said England had a stroke of luck ??? As a famous golfer once said, "the more I practice, the luckier I get" ( Palmer or Nicklaus I think)
They prepared and built up to this series for several years, remember the nucleus of this team has in recent times beaten Sri Lanka, Pakistan, South Africa & the West Indies in their own backyards. This is a team that is going places, it still has one or two weak spots but it is definately on the up whilst the Aussies have only one way to go with this current side. I think they missed a trick by omitting Andrew Symonds from the test team, along with the likes of Brad Hodges he could have had a huge impact on the tests. One other thing to think about, Shaune Tait looked very raw and wild, yet he was the leading wicket taker in inter state cricket in Australia last year, doesn't say a lot for the rest of the Aussie batsmen does it. Take Warne out of this side (40) wickets and you have a side that is going to struggle for quite a while.

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lol how ****ed is Flintoff

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Yeh, you are like, so right, i think we should drop Pieterson for being England's highest scoring batsman. Dropping 6 catches pales into comparison when playing a final innings like he did. That's why you know nothing about cricket, because players themselves and people in the game who know far more than you don't voice the sam opinions as yours.

If certain players were lementable then what does that say about the Ausies, i'm an analyst and stats NEVER lie, we were the better team, fact.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cric...es/default.stm

This link supports my case. It doesn't say every player was brilliant, but it does tell you that you are wrong and the Australians didn't play better, fact.

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Personally I'd prefer the sound of leather against Willow, but alas Miss Hannigan is already spoken for :naughty:

And what about us finding a Shane Warne from somewhere? And if that was Australia "below par", it's a damn good job they weren't on top form!!

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I had to smile at this :D

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Oh gods, here we go...

Where did I say anything about "Dropping Pieterson"? Oh, I didn't.

Nonsense. If that's your argument we might as well go the way of American Football and have two entirely different teams, one to bat and one to field (although in some of the matches, I think we *did* have that, judging by how they played!)

<Sigh> Just because I don't agree with someone does *NOT* mean that I "know nothing" about a subject :rolleyes:

And if you'd been listening to TMS all the way through, you'd have noticed that there were *plenty* of different opinions being expressed by various commentators (Australian and English)!

:rofl: If you're an analyst, I'm astonished that you can make such a statement with (presumably) a straight face!!!

Stats don't lie, but there are Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics which can be made to prove anything you want!!

It doesn't tell me anything of the sort and any analyst worth their salt shouldn't need me to point that out!

What about catches dropped (either whilst fielding or them being dropped whilst batting)? Run outs missed? Number of times the ball beat the bat? Number of "near misses" where the batsman just escaped being out eg nearly playing on? What about dodgy runs or bad calls where they were almost run out? What about sheer grit and determination, eg the Aussies needing to survive some incredibly hostile bowling with one wicket left to win the match? What about them simply not crumbling under pressure?

All of these are just *some* of the factors that make up a cricket match that need to be considered to get a real picture of what happened, rather than just the "bare bones" of the batting and bowling averages!