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The Ashes | 4th Test | MCG | Day 2 | 27/12/10

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Sanchez said:
That was certainly a breach of player conduct. And Ponting has had too many of that. I just don't get how Punter always manages to escape punishments. He doesn't have any respect for umpires.
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Australian's have power we Asian nations don't get.
 
Want the Aussies to lose by an innings again. Would be a splendid way for England to ensure the Ashes are theres.
 
What happened guys?

Why did he argued with umpires?
 
hope Bell gets a century here. He's been easily the best English bat on this tour so far. Perfect opportunity for him now.
 
Should get banned. Fine will be too soft of a punishment.
 
Noork85 said:
Bell :)))
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oh no Belly :(

This was your perfect chance!! But he blew it.

Aussies are pulling back well here. I think the lead is too big, but if they can contain it to under 300, if they put a good batting performance in the second innings, they could get a lead and bat out a draw.
 
beautiful umpiring by Dar. Godda love him
I bet if Ponting hadn't argued with him, Dar might have let that one slide...
 
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saeed-sohail said:
That's why you aren't an elite umpire.
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I'm not advocating that an umpire should smile showing bias (or show bias in favour of England after Pointing's reaction). But pointing certainly got what he deserved.
 
ads101 said:
I'm not advocating that an umpire should smile showing bias (or show bias in favour of England after Pointing's reaction). But pointing certainly got what he deserved.
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I agree but Dar like Taufal has great temperament a quality that makes them special.
 
Personally, I think Australia are loosing the Ashes due to bad tactics as well as a lack of talent. Everyone knows that Smith is a poor excuse for a spinner, so why on earth take the step to play him in the position of specialist batsman when he can't bat too well either? Smith can't justify his position as part of one of the four bowlers, so they play him as a batsman. The only issue with that though is that it has been Australia's batting that has struggled even more than their bowling. Watson has a rubbish opening partner, the middle order is out of form and so that just leaves all the main batting down to Micheal Hussey. He may be an outstanding cricketer, but Hussey cannot score all the runs all the time. Australia should have brought in a specialist batsman at 6 - maybe Kuwaja, and used Clarke as the main spin bowler. He is 500 times better than any of Australia's specialist spin bowlers. It's what you call thinking out the box, like how Pakistan have accomodated Umer Akmal as keeper because the specialisy keepers are much worse. Also, I would have thought that the Aussies would have learnt by now that Phil Hughes has a terrible technique, and that he will forever get caught behind the wicket. I can't believe that in the absence of Katich, there isn't a single decent replacement in the whole of Australia.
 
Its a boring game. No competition at all.

But thanks to ponting theres been an ample amount of drama, not once but twice!
 
Whippy said:
Can we play you every week?
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Did you enjoy Ponting's whining? :P
He's absolutely lost it, poor Punter, now he understands how hard it is to be a captain of a losing team. It's all easy to be bullish & arrogant when your team is winning but, not so when you're losing.
 
Not one Australian applauses Priors half century... Not good to see.. (Michael Vaughan o Twitter)
 
Trott is an absolute beast. Would slide on his bum into any side in the world right now.
 
Prior is the most underrated player in world cricket. Not surprising at all.
 
He has a good game every now and then with the bat. He is a good wicketkeeper by all means
 
Whippy said:
Prior is the most underrated player in world cricket. Not surprising at all.
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Don't rate his batting as much as his keeping. His feet don't really move, which is ok in this situation given the quality of the bowling atm.
 
Guys, plz post the final score as soon as the days play ends.
 
Got himself a superb ton against Asif and Amir when it was swinging at Trent Bridge, and then got a lovely 80* on a tricky pitch at the Oval against the very same, both coming after top order collapses. Classy batsman, always ups the scoring rate, and pressure does not faze him.

Not a lot needs to be said about his keeping. Anyone who has watched England for the last 18 months will have seen that he is one of the best going.
 
England lead by 346 runs with 5 wickets remaining

Matt Prior 75*

Jonathan Trott 141*
 
Whippy said:
Got himself a superb ton against Asif and Amir when it was swinging at Trent Bridge, and then got a lovely 80* on a tricky pitch at the Oval against the very same, both coming after top order collapses. Classy batsman, always ups the scoring rate, and pressure does not faze him.

Not a lot needs to be said about his keeping. Anyone who has watched England for the last 18 months will have seen that he is one of the best going.
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best test wicketkeeper for me in cricket at the moment.

I'm happy how it's turned out, but I'm a bit sad that my favourite English test batsman Bell didn't grasp this moment to finally get his ashes hundred.

Trott's done very well yet again. He does bore me though, but still if he keeps winning England matches (except again Pakistan :)) ), I won't complain.
 
Bell is without a doubt the most talented batsman in the England side, one of the most talented players you'll see on any side. But the fact remains that the players who are chosen in the top four have proven conversion rates and levels of consistency that he just cannot seem to match. If he addresses these criticisms and establishes himself at no.5 at least, he is a strong captaincy candidate for the future, but he's still got a lot of work to do.
 
Well today was only marginally less ghastly than yesterday. The Ashes are staying in England unless we get 3 solid days of rain.

Of the bowlers RA says:

Hilfy - I like him but doesn't produce. The query over him in Aus was whether he could swing it (which he has) but all he has is an outswinger which swings early. Big disappointment.
Harris - Not bowling well this Test. Fair enough.
Siddle - Best of our bowlers in this innings by a long way. 2 very good catches too. And some quality sledging of Aleem Dar which should see him a bit poorer at the end of the game.
MJ - Back to bowling rubbish.
Smith - Has promise but is not a Test standard spinner yet.
Watson - As usual, pretty good. About the only bowler we have who has a brain.

Going to be a very heavy defeat.
 
anyway, there was a match going on today.

345 lead with 5 wickets left.

Another hundred runs would be lovely, and surely unassailable.
 
Trottski just marches on and on. He's our best #3 in at least 20 years. Glad to see Matt back in the runs - i hope he gets a ton tomorrow.

Dubya deserves a ban for that behaviour - which might actually strengthen the OZ team for Sydney. I think he has lost it - 35 years old, not scoring runs any more, about to lose the Ashes for the third time, and having a meltdown with arguably the world's best ump.

Emngland to bat to lunch tomorrow then have a long time to winkle the OZ out to retain the Ashes.
 
Whippy said:
Bell is without a doubt the most talented batsman in the England side, one of the most talented players you'll see on any side. But the fact remains that the players who are chosen in the top four have proven conversion rates and levels of consistency that he just cannot seem to match. If he addresses these criticisms and establishes himself at no.5 at least, he is a strong captaincy candidate for the future, but he's still got a lot of work to do.
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I don't want him to be captain, I don't think he could handle the pressure.

He has an excellent record at 5 and 6. I think he could hold down the no.4 spot now and maintain a 50 average around there now (I hope). The problem with Bell is of course he can't handle pressure. So many times he gone and thrown it away. Even at no.3 his worse position, he still had 10 half centuries there from 17 matches. If he had just been able to convert those starts into centuries, then he would have been fine there.

I don't like playing him at 6 really. He should be at least at no.5. In a test side, I always like the no.6 spot to be available to those new to the test side, or the youngsters. Bell's being playing to long there and with his incredible technique and timing of shots, should be batting higher.

I have faith in him though. I reckon he'll achieve a 50+ average at the end of his career and become the mainstay of the English batting. Perhaps a bit optimistic, but the guy's got buckets of talent. If the guy can sort out his mental issues under pressure (and seems to be getting better at this now, he especially showed that this Ashes and South Africa series), with his talent he should be easily averaging over 50.
 
I like Steven Smith but its too early to play him at 6 I feel, that too in test. Not quite a test no.6 atm and his bowling is worst then pup ... no kidding!

Needs to stay away from the test team imo
 
Bell's best record is at 5 I believe. Why they still haven't promoted him ahead of Collingwood is anyone's guess - probably just a display of team unity, which is fair enough, but they can't afford to be this nice for much longer. It is time for Collingwood, wonderful servant that he has been, to step aside after the Ashes. I would be happy for Collingwood to continue as the T20 captain and an ODI player because he has had a lot of success in these roles, but test cricket looks too much for him now. Bell must take the no.5 spot and start converting more, and we must start blooding Eoin Morgan at that crucial no.6 spot. England can then build a top six who are all capable of averaging 45-50 in test cricket (yes, Morgan too, IMO), and they will be well on their way to challenging for that top spot again. With the world class Anderson and Swann, and the useful battery of Broad, Finn, Tremlett and Bresnan, a very, very good side is emerging here.
 
farazaidi said:
^ how about dropping Colly for the Sydney test? they cant carry him on forever
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They should, but they will keep him in the side for sentimental reasons. He has been the model team man and a fan favourite for five years or so, and has given enough sweat and hard graft through the dark times of Flintoff's captaincy and Moores's regime to deserve to be a part of this huge success. I hope he will step aside for the young players after we retain the Ashes in Sydney, it would be the decent thing to do. But like I said, very happy for him to continue as one of our limited overs specialists.
 
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