The Ashes: 1st Test, Trent Bridge

First topic message reminder :

England:
Alastair Cook*, Joe Root, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonny Bairstow,
Matt Prior†, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Steven Finn, James Anderson

Australia:
Shane Watson, Chris Rogers, Ed Cowan, Michael Clarke*, Steve Smith, Phil Hughes,
Brad Haddin†, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson, Ashton Agar

trott,  root, agar..

and then broad.

that 3-1 Aus mate

That revolutions meter that Sky have show how Swann has improved today. He's regularly hitting the red zone now, as opposed to earlier in the afternoon when he wasn't getting close.

Quick check on the situation: 166/6, Australia need 145 runs to win, England need 4 wickets.

The Facts wrote:Everyone seems to forget the joke decision Rodgers got in the first innings. There is no denying 99% of the 50/50 calls have gone England's way

The one where the ball was clipping leg stump? Out.

Strange pitch this. At times it'll be a sedate slow pitch, then all of a sudden its a minefield.

Still four wickets to get. Batting looking difficult again now...but who knows what it will be like tomorrow morning ?

England really want one more tonight...

alfie wrote:Still four wickets to get.  Batting looking difficult again now...but who knows what it will be like tomorrow morning ?

England really want one more tonight...

Don't think of Edgbaston 2005! My heart couldn't take it, not again!

The weather never happened did it.  Perfect batting day,

Eng faltered badly.  Aussie still heading to the total.

Anyway, England need 4 more still, Agar's made 98 in this match and Haddin's been a fighter throughout his career. Not over yet.

Yeah the same one Anderson was kept in with when more of the ball was hitting the stump

Take your delusion somewhere else little boy

Botham sounds a little more smug in the commentary box now. His 10-0 is still on.

Agar looks a bit like kermit with that big grin.

No wonder he's feeling smug though. What a debut.

Duty281 wrote:Botham sounds a little more smug in the commentary box now. His 10-0 is still on.

Nope,Aussie in charge with agar out there.

trebellbobaggins wrote:

Duty281 wrote:Botham sounds a little more smug in the commentary box now. His 10-0 is still on.

Nope,Aussie in charge with agar out there.

Relax Trebbs, it's not the mid-nineties. England got this.

Ashton Bradman ready to destroy the weak English attack

"The Facts" looks like a good candidate for the "ignore" button...

alfie wrote:"The Facts" looks like a good candidate for the "ignore" button...

When the wums are out, it's a sign England are doing well.  

Duty281 wrote:

alfie wrote:"The Facts" looks like a good candidate for the "ignore" button...

When the wums are out, it's a sign England are doing well.  

His appearance did appear coincidentally with the clatter of wickets

Its done.... My moneys gone, raise the Union Jack, get St. George.... But its alright. I just made £90 betting on a UTD loss! 9/1 was criminal.

kingraf wrote:Its done.... My moneys gone, raise the Union Jack, get St. George.... But its alright. I just made £90 betting on a UTD loss! 9/1 was criminal.  

The two can easily get them there. It's a long way from done and 80-20 Aussie whilst agers is out there.

The Facts wrote:Everyone seems to forget the joke decision Rodgers got in the first innings. There is no denying 99% of the 50/50 calls have gone England's way

We're not allowed to feed the trolls around here. If you're hungry you'll have to look elsewhere. 

trebellbobaggins wrote:

kingraf wrote:Its done.... My moneys gone, raise the Union Jack, get St. George.... But its alright. I just made £90 betting on a UTD loss! 9/1 was criminal.  

The two can easily get them there.  It's a long way from done and 80-20 Aussie whilst agers is out there.

What happens when Agar goes Trebbs? Will you believe in England?

Agar is playing like an opener.  He's no 11.  He's no bowler in this match either but he has given em a huge edge.

I would duty if he hadn't put a ton on by then. But this is the legend. How do you get that out? Impossible.

Got to be more 1 twist in this test

dyrewolfe wrote:

The Facts wrote:Everyone seems to forget the joke decision Rodgers got in the first innings. There is no denying 99% of the 50/50 calls have gone England's way

We're not allowed to feed the trolls around here. If you're hungry you'll have to look elsewhere. 

   

Duty281 wrote:

trebellbobaggins wrote:

kingraf wrote:Its done.... My moneys gone, raise the Union Jack, get St. George.... But its alright. I just made £90 betting on a UTD loss! 9/1 was criminal.  

The two can easily get them there.  It's a long way from done and 80-20 Aussie whilst agers is out there.

What happens when Agar goes Trebbs? Will you believe in England?

Trebell will still be worrying even when and if England hold the little urn aloft.  

As for luck with DRS being available. Cook didn't burn his on speculative efforts and had it available when he had a really good case. Clarke burned his. No luck there.

And it seemed Clarke didn't learn from yesterday as he wasted a review on himself earlier.

Would they give England the extra half hour?

I'd suspect not with 4 wickets left

So still four to take tomorrow.

Logic says England should win from here (fresh bowlers , new ball in nine , fifth day strip)

But ...nasty feeling that this isn't over yet niggling away at me...I think there will be some chewed nails before this is done...

Another terrific day of Test Cricket  

And that's yer lot for today...and what a day its been.

See you good folks for what will surely be an epic conclusion tomorrow.

Stumps and it has been Aussies day. They should pretty easily get these runs tomorrow.

137 runs to win, 4 wickets needed for England. 1 final twist?

Our 7th wicket partnership was pretty good guys, add agar in to the mix this isnt over.


 Very pleased that we have ended the 4th day on a high.. It shows we are a real team when the team gets better throughout the day..

That's stumps.

174/6, England will need 4 wickets to go one nil up in the series, a huge step to retaining the urn as Australia will need to win 2 of the last 4, while Australia will require 137 runs with only Haddin, Agar and the tail.

In the space of 18 balls today, Australia lurched violently from 161/3 to 164/6. Maybe we'll look back on that as why England won the test.  

Just a shame England gave themselves the only bad conditions of the match.  Good toss to lose for Aussie.

If these two get it down to double digits...

Aus hovering at 5/1... Would be brave, though

I like Clarke. Proper Aus- really up beat. I think he is pretty happy that he has a shot tbh

--there is a rule when chasing 4th inning..play natural and positve cricket.

Aus made the cardinal sin of becoming over cautious and dug a hole for themselves and kept sinking more and more into it.

--Especially after that opening stand Aussies believed the positive part of the cricket was done and they can cautiously see-off the target.
and that's when they started sinking.

--Englnad was relentless in building pressure, ruthless and intense and pushed Aus down further and further...on a pitch without much help. But the game is now more on the  the mental plane....and less pitch dependent.

--it stands  80-20 in Eng's favour.

--aussies only thin chance is if they realize thy cannot safely get past the line.....but rather have to come play positive attacking cricket.......and their redemption is 5 batsmen still alive all with big 50s in intenrational cricket.

--the onfield umpires have been sub-standard...shut their brains and it seems don't feel responsible knowing there is a 2nd line called DRS to make the real decisions.. It's like with the advent of spell check, you don't bother to write the exactly correct spelling.
and DRS is a joke in it's current form.

--neverthles today neither umps nor DRS decisions  would have changed anything in the way game stands.....Eng was relentless and Aus cracked.

--Tommorow Aus have to realize they cannot gently and cautiously knock off the balance runs...they have to come hard, aggressive positive and go down fighting....and in doing so they may get close or even just nudge past the finish line.

DRS is fine.

Other than that, that's probably the most complimentary thing you've ever written about England.  

"Tommorow Aus have to realize they cannot gently and cautiously knock off the balance runs...they have to come hard, aggressive positive and go down fighting....and in doing so they may get close or even just nudge past the finish line."


Well Clarke has allready said if he gets there it will take almost the whole day. So I think we can take from that he is going for the slow and steady approach.

I think you are closer to the mark to be honest.. But we shall see

Does anyone else feel like they are in a sauna

I'm not sure the Aussies sat back as much as England recognised they werent going to blast them out and decided to build pressure. Scoring quickly is hard on this pitch.

Biltong wrote:TheFacts, can you stop your petty little comments please. The cricket forum is a pleasant place for cricket lovers, your unpleasantness is uncalled for.

Great to have you back Biltong.

mystiroakey wrote:"Tommorow Aus have to realize they cannot gently and cautiously knock off the balance runs...they have to come hard, aggressive positive and go down fighting....and in doing so they may get close or even just nudge past the finish line."


Well Clarke has allready said if he gets there it will take almost the whole day. So I think we can take from that he is going for the slow and steady approach.

I think you are closer to the mark to be honest.. But we shall see

It is a difficult pitch to score quickly on, but it's surely the only way Australia will do it. They can't scratch around at 2-2.5 an over because eventually one of the England attack will pick them off. They have to attack England right from the off, get them on the back foot, and hope the tail can step up. That approach almost paid off at Edgbaston in 2005 with Warne, Lee and Kasprowicz. Almost.

Australia needs this pair to put about 40 runs batting positively...and with requirement less than 100 Wng will feel pressure.

eng should give themselves 36 runs to go flat out atacking with Swann and anderson... and prise out two more wickets and they would have broken the Aussie chances.

It is a fantastic drama

GSC wrote:I'm not sure the Aussies sat back as much as England recognised they werent going to blast them out and decided to build pressure. Scoring quickly is hard on this pitch.

Exactly. As with England yesterday.

Easiest to score against a new ball - though that has risks too. Cook may well not take it straight away at 80 overs . Depending on how the first few overs go.

Broad and Swann to start off in the morning ?

There are easy boundaries here- but when you have to do it!! its a different matter entirely.

anyway so far this has been a brilliant test and if the Ozzies pull it off i will not be overly dissapointed.. I do however fully expect that we will win(by the one run off course )

Aye, its like that pitch India prepared for us over the winter for the 4th test. Slow, hard to score quickly but if you play with patience and get yourself in, its not that hard

As a general rule... I think that the two threads have gone splendid, there have been debates, but thats what v2 is about... Been great fun commenting this test.