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

Red · by Red on Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:16 am

horace wrote:cannot believe the pomgolian odds are not shorter...must be a lot of Billies backing Oz to win

Agree, in a two horse race which looks relatively even, they're too long atm.

skully · by skully on Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:27 am

My great fear is Cardiff produces a bunsen, Eng roll us with spin, then the curators produce 4 successive flat, slow blancmanges. Will make for a dreary series.

JGK · by JGK on Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:36 am

Red wrote:
horace wrote:cannot believe the pomgolian odds are not shorter...must be a lot of Billies backing Oz to win

Agree, in a two horse race which looks relatively even, they're too long atm.

It's a 3 horse race given draws.

Henry · by Henry on Fri Jul 03, 2009 5:51 am

Updated England XI-

Strauss(c)
Cook
Bopara
Pietersen
Collingwood
Prior+
Flintoff
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Panesar

skully · by skully on Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:03 am

Looks very well balanced, although the batting looks a little fragile.

skully · by skully on Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:05 am

JGK wrote:I've just made myself over a grand - $500 on England to win the series at 3.40.

Farkin overpaid banker. Cool

Henry · by Henry on Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:09 am

If Monty flops against Warwickshire today then i'd replace him with Sidebottom.

On the other hand, if Rashid takes some good wickets and bowls well against Aus today, i'd have him in there ahead of both of them.

Henry · by Henry on Fri Jul 03, 2009 7:37 am

I think Aus will play all 4 quicks and use North, Clarke, and Katich as the spinners regardless of the pitch.

JKLever · by JKLever on Fri Jul 03, 2009 10:43 am

skully wrote:Looks very well balanced, although the batting looks a little fragile.

Yeah, our bowling without doubt is our strongest of the two disciplines much like in 2005 - though I would say we genuinely bat all the way down to 9 (unlike 2005) - Swanny has a highest FC score of 184.

Brass Monkey · by Brass Monkey on Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:31 pm

Aye, Swanny's the best number 9 we've had in a week or three. Better than Gashley Piles at 8 IMO. Still, I was pushing Swann's place six years ago, so I'm hardly likely to have changed my opinion now.

JKLever · by JKLever on Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:36 pm

Brass Monkey wrote:Aye, Swanny's the best number 9 we've had in a week or three. Better than Gashley Piles at 8 IMO. Still, I was pushing Swann's place six years ago, so I'm hardly likely to have changed my opinion now.

You totally deserve to fart in the selectors general direction...

Brass Monkey · by Brass Monkey on Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:38 pm

JKLever wrote:
You totally deserve to fart in the selectors general direction...

I should throw shit at them, Monkey-style.

Henry · by Henry on Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:20 pm

So England opt for batting practice against Warks. Robbing Monty of a chance to prove himself. They'll play Swann and 4 seamers now. Almost without doubt, you would have thought.

JKLever · by JKLever on Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:23 pm

Well, hopefully.

3 tailend wickets against a 2nd rate Warwickshire side should warrant a recall

skully · by skully on Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:51 am

With the overnight outcomes, Aus XI will be:

Hughes
Katich
Ponting
Clarke
Hussey
North
Haddin
Johnson
Lee
Siddle
Clark

Hmm, very long battiing line-up with Bung having made several Test 50s.