Ashes

[1991_Vn2nV]

Barmy Army, Barmy Army.

The poms out played the aussies.
Ponting is shit, they should brought the spinner in (none of this part time bullshit, North, and Clarke)

oh and Hussey... to little to late. first time you scored 100+ in 28matches.

Its not Pontings fault, its the selectors. The selectors are a bunch of self righteous idiots.

[hsvpunk]

Ponting has a say in who he would like, and then its utpo the rest to say yay or nay.

[minux]

Its not Pontings fault, its the selectors. The selectors are a bunch of self righteous idiots.

Ponting also has a say on said selections...

Fact is, Hauritz is no better than any of the part time spinners, he would of made no difference. Had Australia made runs int he first innings, they would have probably drew the test.

[50LTRv8]

O.k. for all those people who think it isn't rickys fault, I pose this question, if Steve Waugh was captain do you think it would have been as one sided as this ashes has been. My answer is a big fat NO

The Poms have been far better than us through the whole series (bar the 4th test) and the reason is simple, we have lost that steel resolve and belief since Steve left and now Ricky is the only recent captain to loose the ashes TWICE.

Also we need to blood a full time attacking spinner.

[hsvpunk]

Poms have played very well.
Aussies need to bring Ronald McDonald in (Andrew McDonald, he played well in the lead up games... but didnt make the test sdie and he is from Vic aswell.

Hussey shouldnt have played at all in this series (he shitter form than Shane Watson), either should Haddin (cant keep for shit)

Shane Watson (i dont like him due to injuries all the time like Brett Lee) But Wato did bat very well. So i think he should focus more on abtting instead of the all round roll.
Siddle.... is great, leave him in for good.
Johnson... should say hi to his mum.

Thats all i got for now.

[minux]

O.k. for all those people who think it isn't rickys fault, I pose this question, if Steve Waugh was captain do you think it would have been as one sided as this ashes has been. My answer is a big fat NO

The Poms have been far better than us through the whole series (bar the 4th test) and the reason is simple, we have lost that steel resolve and belief since Steve left and now Ricky is the only recent captain to loose the ashes TWICE.

Also we need to blood a full time attacking spinner.

The teams steve waugh had against what ponting now has cannot even be compared. Its like comparing Shane Warne to Nathan Hauritz lol.

Poms have played very well.
Aussies need to bring Ronald McDonald in (Andrew McDonald, he played well in the lead up games... but didnt make the test sdie and he is from Vic aswell.

Hussey shouldnt have played at all in this series (he shitter form than Shane Watson), either should Haddin (cant keep for shit)

Shane Watson (i dont like him due to injuries all the time like Brett Lee) But Wato did bat very well. So i think he should focus more on abtting instead of the all round roll.
Siddle.... is great, leave him in for good.
Johnson... should say hi to his mum.

Thats all i got for now.

I still cannot believe they didnt take Hodge...to me that was a big arse crazy decision. I also think Johnson should of been dropped for Lee. it may of well been Lee's last test, so let him go out playing. Johnson is about as predictable as a rabid dog. 99% shit then the odd good ball. Even when you look at a lot of his wickets they generall come due to bowling such random rubbish lol.

[Wherry951]

Wooooooooooo!!!

WE WON THE ASHES CUN*S!!! (Im a pom)

Anywayz the good news is that i shut up all my mates who told me they suck and now im happy

[Calaber]

First of all, like it or not, the result in the Ashes is good for international cricket. Australia is no longer the dominant force it has been for so many years and that can only be good. Now we can expect to see more interesting test matches between nations without the "ho hum, Aussies on top as usual".

Ponting's captaincy has been shown up badly since many of the "old guard", such as Gilchrist, Hayden, Warne, McGrath etc, started retiring. When those blokes were in the team, Ricky didn't have to do much to ensure a win - the team was so strong that success was almost always guaranteed. Now, it's a whole new ball game and Ponting has to show leadership by other means than just batting well. And he's not doing it very well. I think he lacks "Killer instinct" and his tactics are lacking. I believe Michael Clarke has more ability as a leader than Ponting.

Another problem rests with the lack of planning for the day when the old guard started to retire, particularly in relation to our bowling attack. Warne was freakish and one in a million, that's true, but there doesn't appear to have been any long range planning by selectors for the day when Warne would retire. Hence, a spin "attack" that isn't any longer. And, as Warne has now been retired for a few years, the lack of foresight is even more lamentable - there has been time to develop some sort of regular spin element to our bowling, but it hasn't happened.

The Poms deserved to win. And good on them for doing so. (and no, I'm not a Pom - I'm a born and bred Aussie who likes a good competition.)

[minux]

I think Dean Jones' comments should be the way the ACB goes. Get Warne in as captain for 2 years (apparently Warne would return for this), groom clarke into having balls, put ponting in as a batsman only. As jones said, ponting lacks the balls, since Warne left, it really showed how much Warne took on captaincy even though he was never officially a captain.

I would love to see this plan come to life...I would buy tickets to every test match in Australia while he was captain.

[Calaber]

I think Dean Jones' comments should be the way the ACB goes. Get Warne in as captain for 2 years (apparently Warne would return for this), groom clarke into having balls, put ponting in as a batsman only. As jones said, ponting lacks the balls, since Warne left, it really showed how much Warne took on captaincy even though he was never officially a captain.

I would love to see this plan come to life...I would buy tickets to every test match in Australia while he was captain.

Minux

I hadn't seen or heard Jones' comments, but I'm intrigued by them. If Warne was to return and take on the captaincy, (although I think Clarke has the ability to do so now), he would also be able to fill in that vital gap in the bowling attack, even though he might not be as intimidating as he was in his prime. Ponting has already expressed some doubts
that he will be present for the next Ashes series, so removing the captaincy from him might simply precipitate his departure altogether. After all, he isn't likely to want to be pushed aside as captain, but still expected to play as a leading batsman.

Warne's return would give us the required two year development period to foster a spin element, with Warne's tutelage a certainty. That could only be a good thing.

I would just hope that Warnie could stay away from the mobile phones during that period.

[Vee-ard]

Wooooooooooo!!!

WE WON THE ASHES CUN*S!!! (Im a pom)

Anywayz the good news is that i shut up all my mates who told me they suck and now im happy

So you won the ashes, maybe that will make it easier to live with the fact that you're still a pom.

[50LTRv8]

The teams steve waugh had against what ponting now has cannot even be compared. Its like comparing Shane Warne to Nathan Hauritz lol.



I still cannot believe they didnt take Hodge...to me that was a big arse crazy decision. I also think Johnson should of been dropped for Lee. it may of well been Lee's last test, so let him go out playing. Johnson is about as predictable as a rabid dog. 99% shit then the odd good ball. Even when you look at a lot of his wickets they generall come due to bowling such random rubbish lol.

What Ponting has now as captain is an young side that needs a shove and to harden up, yes it is young, not as good as Steve's side, but for gods sake put a fight to the poms at least. It is the captains job to get the squad's head into the game and to not go running home to mummy crying. The simple fact is that we could not score enough runs which put pressure on the bowlers which then lost the games.

As for Hauritz, he is NOT the answer. Remember Warnies first game, he was smacked around the park like no tomorrow, but the team invested some time and patience with him and he became one of the best ever.

Why is it when we have history of great spin bowling in AUS that we can't come up with a good attacking spinner prospect to develop for the future.