England v Australia, 1st Test, Cardiff, July 8-12

Phurt - Hussey, Symonds, Johnson, Clark, and a fit Pidg weren't there.

skully wrote:Phurt - Hussey, Symonds, Johnson, Clark, and a fit Pidg weren't there.

And they strengthen the team?

Jebus, Bung and Dizzy were sh!t in 05, so Midg and Gump would certainly strengthen it. And our middle order was shakey. I concede that Hayden was rubbish opening.

No more biting from me.

In your own words "phurt"

Skulls in serious reverse woof/whinge mode ahead of T1.

well, I'm hoping Oz crumbles in opening session . . . see how many lads go walk-about . . .

McGrath's IPL side obviously thought he had deteriorated after watching him in the nets and never selecting him. He was injured in 2005 but was below his best and there's no reason to believe he'd be at least as good now. In the redemption series in 06/07, Clark clearly outbowled him regardless of stats. It's true we don't have a spinner but I doubt even Warne would weave the magic of yore. There's always a time to move on.

Looking forward to watching the bowl off on Fox tonight against the Lions. Will Lee's performance reflect that his words were a typical counterfeit of hope? Will Clark demonstrate enough penetration to suggest he'll be a threat?

McDonald, Hilfenhaus and Watson have obviously been ruled out but it's still a mystery why Hauritz gets an automatic start merely because he has the word 'spinner' after his name.

tac wrote:well, I'm hoping Oz crumbles in opening session . . . see how many lads go walk-about . . tissues Zim goes through.... .

Fixed.

Thommo predicts that Australia will win the Ashes despite Punter being captain.

And these comments stick out as the highlight of the article.

"I thought Ricky was crap when he was first captain in 2004 and nothing much has improved since then," said 58-year-old Thomson at a lunch to launch the Ashes.
"I'm not the only one who thinks that. I've always bagged him and everyone at home thinks he's shit at the captaincy.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Content/Cricket/245/122572c6f7e84c649a2bfbdf9fc3852e/01-07-2009%2008-07/Thomson_turns_on_Ponting

There's already a whole thread about Thommo's comments, Red. Funny to see them again, though.......

Henry wrote:There's already a whole thread about Thommo's comments, Red. Funny to see them again, though.......

Yes, I just noticed, I thought this sort of stuff went here but I guess he deserves his own thread with his special brand of Aussie humour and bluntness.

I'll also amused by him using the absolute term everyone, apropos the judgement on Punter as captain.

PearlJ wrote:Just bought some tickets for the 5th day of Cardiff. Hopefully it goes that far.

This might be the first time I'm in the same City as another forummer.

Enjoy your pearlj, Smerky.

DJ_Smerk wrote:

PearlJ wrote:Just bought some tickets for the 5th day of Cardiff. Hopefully it goes that far.

This might be the first time I'm in the same City as another forummer.

Wasn't there a JAMODI in Cardiff last year?

If you class one over and one wicket as a JAMODI then, yes.