So it's about to start soon....

Will McGrath play, that is the question!!

Anyways, Aussies to dominate

p.s. sux to be here in Ireland, where the game doesn't start until midnight.

go england, lets have a repeat of last year!

just worked out that it'll be 12:30am that the first ball is bowled :(

it'll be f***ing worse when it gets to perth, 3am :/ tho I'll be able to get up early and watch before going to work I

anyword on mcgrath yet, can't find anything on news.com.au or cricinfo or foxsports or anywhere to be honest

the tension simmers...

mcgrath is in

england to bat first but they aren't playing Panesar.

Should be a good match, England needed to win the toss to be competitive i think.

I reckon we'll have em all out today though.

Strauss goneeeeeeeeeeee

woooooot

clarky too (another New South Welshman!!!)

Not surprising given the pace attack is all from NSW.

don't give heardy anymore reason to gloat.


looks a supreme batting wicket, unfortunate to lose the toss :(

ffs england

give monty a go!!!!

my fantasy team is hurting

awww yerrr

cook gone again and it was clark :D

Warne to Bell... making him look like he's never used a cricket bat before.

2/58 at lunch, australia on top. England elected to bat and they are only scoring at 2 runs an over, only 2 boundaries!

Warnie has another bunny in Bell thats for sure

sleep time, hope we clean them up by the time I wake up :)

Warne is bowling beautifully.

i don't understand how you can like to watch england get out for 150 or whatever and then australia to completely dominate, it's just s*** and boring to watch

i want australia to win but s*** i want to watch a better game than that

loving the commentary on baggygreen.com.au

35.1 Lee to Bell, FOUR, messy start from Lee, firing it down the leg side and Bell tickles it fine for four. Wild and woolly... like a highland sheep on crack

lawl

i don't understand how you can like to watch england get out for 150 or whatever

I'd agree with you but.... 2005 ashes series.

40.1 Warne to Bell, no run
40.2 Warne to Bell, no run
40.3 Warne to Bell, no run
40.4 Warne to Bell, no run
40.5 Warne to Bell, no run
40.6 Warne to Bell, no run

Rumours that there's possibly rain on the way. Which is about a week too late for England

"It's Friday afternoon. It's Australia. Who the hell works on Friday afternoon in Australia? John Nesbitt is clearly a slave driver," fumes Stuart, in Australia.

England is trying to bore the Aussies to death.

it's a test, deal with it

Really it's a test, thanks for the info I had no idea. So Englands plan is to make 500 runs over 3 days and than bowl us out twice in 2 days?

well obviously not but whats thet point of going out there and trying to hit everything for 4 and getting out for 150?

I know where you are coming from, but for England to win they have to be aggressive to a certain point. Playing it safe till you get your eye won't do it against Australia. You have to be in their face and beat them at their own game. This test will most likely be a draw.

LOL at sightscreen operator being in one of the classic catches for the KFC thing

At this rate they'll be 220-230 at the end of the day which isn't anywhere near enough when they've got use of the pitch at it's best. They're 1 down in the series so they need to be aggressive to hold on to the Ashes and if they're relying on Pietersen and Flintoff to do that later it puts a lot of pressure on them to up the rate significantly.

yeah that was awesome mav, he did that pretty well

they basically admitted before the game even started that they were playing for a draw.

Seems england are going back to their old ways.

lol @ guys in the dresses in the crowd!
good times.

hurry up and get a wicket already, so bored of these two batsmen.

seems this game will end in a draw

I dunno Heardy, if england build a big enough innings (which they will, should be 600+ by stumps today) they have a good chance of winning, as long as their bowlers can get wickets.

I thought our bowling display has looked weak and thoughtless today...

i love when ponting's pissweak captaincy is exposed, like in icc when west indies decided to come out and smash the aussies, ponting just kinda had "conferences" with his bowler then they lucked out

hmmm we're gettin hammered here, bowl mcgrath.. oh dang... how about bing... damnit, come on warnie... oh dang. ususally a wicket falls before the oh dang cos of the bowlers mad skillz but ponting is a chump

i love it when a team does well d*******s automatically come out and blame ponting

its how someone skippers the side under pressure that defines them.

he went missing again with poor field settings and shocking bolwing changes.

and had nothing to do with maybe the batsmen were firing well on an awesome batting pitch?

Hayden gone

stupid f***er, just hung the bat out there...

We're obviously letting them win this one, just like we let them have a fifth day at brisbane....all about the $$ :p

that stroke from hayden was s***E. He just kinda flopped his bat out there without any real purpose.

Damien martyn goes

yep marto gone

lets hope hussey and punter can get a decent partnership going and double tons each :p

Seriously, Mark Taylor is the least interesting commentator ever. He just makes these spectacularly uninteresting and obvious claims - referring to Ponting almost getting run out he launched into this spiel about how he may have "misjudged the run". Everything he says is just so un-insightful it's just annoying.

at least you don't have a mainly pommie commentary team, sitting there gloating how well they are playing and how unlucky they were in the first test!

David Gower, Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, David Lloyd, Ian Bothan and Geroff Boycott, then they have 'guest' aussie commentators, Ian Healy, Michael Slater and Mark Taylor

yay for sky sports :/

Plus its 2:45am

Hhaha true. Channel 9 have Phil Tuftnell though, and him and Simon O'Donnell are cracking me up every time they come on the screen. For some reason my Dad can't stand Simon but I think he's hilarious!@#!@#

HeardY, what you need is for some enterprising Australian to go out and buy a TV card and hook you up with an Internets stream of the coverage. I'm thinking about doing it for some of my mates in London who don't have a TV but have broadband :)

and had nothing to do with maybe the batsmen were firing well on an awesome batting pitch?

of course it does. But that doesn't mean you take the slips out, put 4 men on the fence and no longer try and get blokes out.

f***it, punter gawn...

Lets see what Clarke can do

I just looked at the script and the test is supposed to go
Aus
Eng
Draw
Aus (by a wagging tail lead by a record score by gilly)

The script for the final match hasn't be written yet.

your script is wrong

cause this is liable to end in a draw

hussey gone :(

Pretty good day of cricket.

This is almost certainly going to be a draw now, the only way it wont be is if Australia bowls england out within the first half of the day or so OR England decides to set Australia a target [if they do, its not likely that Australia will be able to reach it in time or England will be able to bowl them out].

your script is wrong

cause this is liable to end in a draw

I must have had the old version. I still call Aus=3 England=1 and one draw.

Yeah today was good, really showed the guys in our team who can perform when the pressure is really on ... excellent to see Gilchrist in a little bit of form as well, hopefully he can carry that over into perth and rack up a big tonne.

Top fightback. Well done to Clarke - he has batted well in his two innings in this series so far. Wouldn't be surprised if he replaces Martyn if they decide to recall Watson for Perth and/or Sydney so they can bring in the Gorilla.

Couldn't see either team taking enough wickets to win tomorrow on this pitch from what I have read about it. Depends if Freddie decides to put on a sporting declaration tomorrow I guess, although he would be mad to. A drawn series is all they need to retain it.

game on, day 5

already told work I'll be worthless tomorrow :p

woot, warnie strikes.

Plus he didn't hit it, even better :p

hahah run out !!@#@#@

warney bowled pieterson!!!

haha this is gold

f***ing hell, around the legs and hits OFF STUMP....Warnie is on fire

yeah pretty crazy hey, he had no idea what the f***

flintoff gone

how awesome will it be for the aussies to chase 150 odd in a session (or less)

Just looked at the baggy green scorecard, 5 runs off 51 balls, must be a snoozefest to watch.

lunch time

poms 5 down

pitch breaking up and warney keen as to get amongst it

id hardly say its going to be a boring finish

Not to mention Lee and Warne are getting about 2-3 close chances an over.

6 down

7 down

i reckon the aussies will win this game

maybe. they really need to knock them over quick (which they are currently doing) then go out there and get their openers to cain like it is a 1dayer.

Australia needs to open with Gilly and Hussey. Play it one-day spec

wa wa wee wa!

you guyz should be the Australian coach ok.

awesome game to watch

this is what i was saying in the other thread, this is far better to watch than australia winning half way through day 4

8 down. getting there.

My knowledge of the game is limited, so how much more time until its over. If England gets out by 10 overs from now, what will the run rate need to be to beat them.

we just have to hit more runs than them

ie get england out in the next hour

then we have to bat and score more runs than them before we get all out, or the days play ends;

!!!!####9$$!!!!!!

Days are pretty long so is there a maximum amount of overs in a day?

I reckon this is going to go right down to the wire.

I don't think Australia would risk getting all out and losing if we were to bat. I doubt they'd make a serious go at trying to win. If we do get them all out, expect a draw.

I don't see why they wouldn't at least give it a shot with the top order, if it doesn't look good just stall it out for the draw.

they are 9 down and barely 150 in front with plenty of time

id be extremely suprised if the aussies dont go all out for it

hasnt been a draw at adelaide in 10 years

lbw?

yeah theres a minimum of 39 overs remaining minus 2 for the changeover

so 37ish overs remaining. usually it ends at 6pm, regardless of overs but if it looks like theres going to be a result, they will play out the full overs remaining


so 160ish to get in 30ish overs means that both sides have a chance if austraila decides to go for it, but as you said, if they lose too many wickets, australia will stall for a draw

let the run chase begin.

I LOVE CRICKET !

i havent been able to move for hours, so good.

aussies need 168 in a session

im off to the tab to put my house on them

m,y bad

that 2 overs would only be if it was after tea

because he got out before tea, its no overs lost

should be a good game, 5 runs an over required

a workmate put 100 bucks on australia when they were 15:1 odds... no wonder hes hyped up like crazy

its probably sitting on about 50 percent draw, 30 percent australia win, 20 percent england win at this stage

homo

sorry, i thought thats what you were going for



last edited by Spook at 16:31:12 05/Dec/06

Australia 1.63
Draw 2.50
England 31.00
thats it at the moment.

everyone who has a friend who says cricket is boring.
tie their arse to an armchair for the next 2 and a bit hours.

this will be a cracker.

(i had a crash yesterday and becuase i drive for my job i cant work today. every other time they have a finish like this im working. bad luck turning into good luck just overnight)

i reckon the game might have one more twist but i hope thats only a closer finish than is expected already.

im with spook, house is going down down downnnnnnnnnnnnn

to repossession town

O man this is awesome.

hahah first ball 4 lol.

i tip geoff marsh out cheaply, boonie and jonesy to make a hundred partnership with boonie to hit the winning runs.

ab and the rest of the aussies sitting on the balcony on their feet as boonie sweeps the winning runs.

or was that about 18 years ago.

I want Warne to bat #3 and just smash them!!!@#!@#

I need a tv stat!

i reckon ponting will come in #3, that shouldnt ever change.

gilly maybe number 4. i think hussey and clarke need to be the safety down the order if they end up putting up the defences later.


ps gawd i hate bill lawry.
ian chappell is not far behind.

definitely need to bring rabs in for this kinda action!

oh yer absolutely.


he would have a heart attack after 2 and a half hours of screaming.

What a game! Hope we win :D

langer out..

RELAX its all good its all good

Is it wrong to quote myself

I reckon this is going to go right down to the wire.

no of course it isnt just

RELAX its all good its all good

They way we are moving it this is going to be easy.

ohnos

hayden gawn

send gilly in!

One thing I find frustrating in test matches is when it gets down to the wire like this, the commentators don't switch as readily into One Day mode - at the end of each over I want to know how many runs were scored off the over, and when they come back from the ad break I want the runs required/balls left screen!@##!@

Trog, your wants are cricinfo's desire....
http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ausveng/engine/current/match/249223.html

fair call but do the math.
6 balls in an over.
you generally catch how many runs off the over. might be out by 1 or 2 but you get the idea if they have hit the required 4.5 in this situation.

all you need to know is if they arent talking about the required rate aussies are doing ok.
as soon as they fall under the required runs they start mentioning it.

just listen to abc radio commentary. they actually have a sense of humour. problem with that is the crowd noise is muffled.

in case you need to know about 60 runs off about 80 or 90 balls.


england are going to have a hard time taking the (fake) ashes home this time.

Trog, your wants are cricinfo's desire....

But then I won't be watching TV! You can see the bind I'm in.

double up here.

how good is it when the opposition score 550 in the first innings and take 2 days to do it. then lose the bloody game.

only england. or maybe nz in a rugby world cup campaign. ;)

But then I won't be watching TV! You can see the bind I'm in.

nice

someone needs to take a screengrab of Pieterson's Angry Face so I can spam it all over the internet when I'm MAD

http://aus.cricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/63800/63871.jpg

aahhaahah I laughed out loud

f*** i hate martyn. get off my team already.

edit: And he is out, goodbye.

last edited by ctd at 18:26:20 05/Dec/06

I was about to give you s*** because he hit a 4 off his 3rd ball, but in the time it took me to reload the thread he got out :(

if its your team, martyn has saved your arse a few times.
hes a champion. he's nearing the end of his career in aussie team but a lot goes unnoticed. next time he gets dropped he'll never be back. hopefully he finishes the series and makes a couple of hundreds but i imagine if theres a change it will be him :(

The only arse martyn is good at saving is the oppositions.

im not going to argue.
he averages 47 which until recent times has been an outstanding batting average.

as gilly said in an interview recently the aussies are victims of their own standards or success.

hahahah bill lawry's finest commentary ever.

"can you believe that, can you belive that..... unbelievable."
ha ha

omg ian chappel and bill lawry in the same box. its just too tempting drop a quiet handgrenade and close the door.

youd give ian healy the heads up first though.

zomg, get australia up here, i want to boof them

we winning

GO AUSSIE!

OMFG !!!!!!
WIN, Woo fukin Hoo

f*** yer.

negative on teh boofing but maybe a bit of a nibble on the ear lobe.

!

Nice one, was really worried the game was just going to peter out if england could stay in long enough.

Those poor poms, check this out. :)

Hopeless, absolute rubbish. This has to be regarded as one of the blackest days for English cricket. Strangled when they batted, unable to buy a run let alone occupy the crease for long enough to save the game, England were then out-thought, outgunned, outballsed by Australia in the fourth innings. After such a good first two days, nothing could be as painful as this defeat, not even watching the England rugby team.

From
Times Online weblog

What a win, what a day :D

this is how you do it, poms

gg australia gg

We rule 'n' stuff.

i hope someone slips giles a tenner for dropping punter.

how good was warnie today, that ball to pieterson wow. probably would have been alot different if he hadn't of got him out so early.

giles is totally s***

ffs give monty a bowl

we hear about him nonstop for months leading up to the ashes, then he doesnt even get a bowl and they play giles infront of him

is he banging the coaches daughter or what?!

how good was warnie today

Would you want to bat today?
no way, i just wanna stay here and eat a pie

haha, fat c*** warney

He isn't fat.

afaik he said he wants some toasted sandwiches and a coke.

Holy crap what a result.

The Pietersen ball must be in his top 5 surely, that was a stone cold stunner!

I copped an absolute bagging from my team mates over here on Saturday morning when the Poms were carving up. Every single one of them made sure to have a dig at me about it.

We have training tonight. As the token Aussie in the team I will be returning the favour :)

hahah, awesome zak.

I can't believe that actually happened. England have some talented players and when good players play as negatively as that, it is highly unlikely there will be a result unless the opposition get bored out of the game. It shows just how damn good Australia are that they managed to pull that one off. You could see in their celebrations just how good a win it was, especially given how important a game it was.

England didnot give themselves a chance from day one. Their batting was too slow for that pitch and they were playing for a draw. I didn't think that what happened yesterday could or would have happened. Go for the kill Ricky, the English need to be brought back to earth with a massive thump.

f***, what an awesome game.

I went to bed at lunch (2:30am here) and had phone calls all night, I didn't get much sleep, woke up at 7am and watched hussey hit the winning runs.

We deff have the mental edge over them now.

f*** I am tired tho, all this ashes watching, but it's worth it, we've got a few poms in the office, giving them a f***ing bagging. Plus the largest client I look after is based in the UK and they were all giving me s*** about the aussies before the series started, i've given them plenty since :D

Well looks like Martyn pre-empted his axing following this test (or maybe the selectors had a quiet word to him and gave him the chance to walk before getting booted).
Link

s***, gotta move fast on qgl

i was just going to post that chakas

Just stumbled accross it.... I thought Adelaide might have been his last test but he'd keep trying to get back in/at least play ODIs for a season or two. Interesting to see what the Aussie side will look like with no Martyn and Watson declaring himself out for Perth. Do they go for a batsman, all rounder or pick five front line bowlers?