The Ashes 2009

[TrippyLondoner]

Are we really missing Kp and freddie that much? fuckin hell england, show some fight.

 

[Doctor Carrot]

Well this is going well isn't it?

 

[mrsfran]

I think we have to just start laughing now.

 

[waterloowelshy]

I bet Prior is starting to shit himself now as well. He probably he thought he had a day to recover from his back spasms before he had to be called into action. But now all the muppets in front of him playing so badly will mean he is probably being dragged off the Physio table as we speak. B einteresting to see how he gets on if he is called upon shortly to bat.

 

[g force]

Not a word here I disagree with. I think I said in 2005 that he should be dropped, and I haven't seen anything since to make me revise my opinion.

I dunno...that was a great ball and would have got many a decent player out. I think Bell is a paradox a player who had undoubted technique but his head just isn't right....bit like Hick.

I think Trott might be a better option for England but with central contracts etc the chances of chopping and changing the team have diminished

 

[Nemo]

Prior looking none too secure here.

 

[belboid]

That's not the problem. The problem is South Africans with a British grandparent getting in on European employment law.

i thought it was nothing to do with (grand)parentage, it's even more base than that - it's whether a country has an 'associate trading relationship' - thats why kolpakers arent eligible to play for England

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Oh give over.

We've heard the same excuses in football and it doesn't cut it.

The england football team still has a very very strong selection despite the excuses, it's mostly bottle/injuries/poor managerial decisions etc which see to it...

Not the same. There are 18 professional teams in England and the Kolpak players cause a significant number of young players simply to give up cricket as a profession. It would be the same position if the Premier League were the only professional league in football, but it isn't – so, for instance, younger players at top teams go out on loan to get a game. There are nearly 100 fully professional teams, and that doesn't count opportunities to go abroad. It's really not the same at all.

 

[Nemo]

I dunno...that was a great ball and would have got many a decent player out. I think Bell is a paradox a player who had undoubted technique but his head just isn't right....bit like Hick.

I think Trott might be a better option for England but with central contracts etc the chances of chopping and changing the team have diminished

The thing is, it's not just that dismissal, it's the tendency he has to get in and get out. If it were just that he occasionally got out early in his innings to good deliveries, that's fine, but it isn't.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

omgz we reached 50!

 

[TrippyLondoner]

*stands up and applauds*

 

[El Sueno]

Way things are going, our bowlers had better be on tip-top form this afternoon.

 

[Santino]

Let's get 100 and put their batsmen under some pressure

 

[TrippyLondoner]

Be interesting to see how harmison does...

 

[Nemo]

Be interesting to see how harmison does...

Or, more pertinently, whether his first delivery goes to second or third slip.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

Every run we get is very very lucky atm.

 

[Nemo]

Every run we get is very very lucky atm.

Especially that four by Prior.

 

[Lord Camomile]

I can't believe I'm praising Cook for sticking in there and getting to 30.

This is really a bit shit.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

Cook highest scorer so far, amazing.

 

[Nemo]

I wish Prior would play the ball along the ground.

 

[waterloowelshy]

I am not able to watch this at the mo, so can someone tell me if its great bowling? is the ball doing much? - or is it just awful batting?

If its the former and not the latter, then why the hell did we decide to bat first?

 

[Corax]

What the hell is Cook playing at? Totally letting the side down. Can't he see that we're going for a low-scoring strategy?

 

[TrippyLondoner]

and another lucky four after that!

 

[Nemo]

The bowling's been good. A few loose shots, but mostly people have been got out.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I wish Prior would play the ball along the ground.

He's the one player in the top six who should play with freedom, I think. Go for it, I say. They could be 150-4 in no time if he gets in.

 

[HobgoblinMan]

Didn't Ramprakash get a big double ton last week???

Bring em in for the last test, he'll score a triple in both innings, a few handy wickets then he can retire finally having fulfilled he promise at international level. Surely it's no more a crazy idea than letting Poopara keep his place.

 

[mrsfran]

He's the one player in the top six who should play with freedom, I think. Go for it, I say. They could be 150-4 in no time if he gets in.

SSShhhhhhhh! Jesus Christ, don't say things like that!

I believe in fairies, I believe in fairies!

*pats head 7 times, turns around three times, rubs rabbit foot*

 

[Nemo]

Two men in bowler hats in the crowd.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

63-5, this makes me sick

 

[butchersapron]

Oh jesus.