**The Official England vs Australia Ashes Series Thread****

[MUFC]

This is just hilarious, Aussies are looking in shambles.

Pieterson will he be in the test team? I hope he gets in, he seems to offer more to the team.

[russe||]

no, unless thorpe looses his place and IMO that shouldn't happen.

[The Fratton Roar]

Originally Posted by russe||

no, unless thorpe looses his place and IMO that shouldn't happen.

Correct. If England are to win the Ashes, Graeme Thorpe MUST be in the team. Some would tell you we have a better chance with Pietersen instead of him, but that's not true - because without the best batsman in the world at aiding crisis recovery, we have NO chance. If he misses the whole series we won't win. We might be able to get by without him for one or two Tests, but there will be a time when we need his abilities desperately, and if we don't have him when that happens, it's a Test match down the drain.

[premfan]

WHOOO HOOOO!!! Headline in S.A: South Africa come to Englands rescue. They mean Pieterson of'course. What a player! Down with the Ausies.

[The Fratton Roar]

Originally Posted by premfan

Headline in S.A: South Africa come to Englands rescue.

The cheek of it! He's ours, I tell you, ours!

Interesting isn't it, how all this fuss is made about Pietersen, but barely anyone even knows that Andrew Symonds, the Australian all-rounder (who was dropped yesterday for turning up to the warm-up still drunk after a night out), was born and brought up in England, but now plays for Australia.

[premfan]

Originally Posted by The Fratton Roar

The cheek of it! He's ours, I tell you, ours!

Wont be the last good player S.A loose because of politics. Could have been their new Klusner.

[The Fratton Roar]

Originally Posted by premfan

Could have been their new Klusner.

Bloody hell Klusener was a good player. I think I'm right in saying that he was mostly a quick bowler, but developed this tendency to come in at no8 and smash fifties off 20-30 balls right when SA needed it. A valuable skill to have.

Pietersen's slightly different in that he is actually a batsman, and he's far more effective over 4 or 5 days than Klusener ever was - Klusener used to bat 8 or 9 in Tests but he was always more effective as a bowler in the longer format, rather than a batsman. In ODIs he could destroy you with bat or ball, though. Can't imagine KP's bowling ripping apart too many teams in the near future!

[premfan]

Good points Fratton. Klusener was a slogger batting with a heavy bat that Gibbs described as unplayable. But he could also be patient when needed, scoring 50's and 100's in both ODI's and tests. I don't know if you have been following S.A cricket after the England tour here, but they are almost back to their old best since the Cronje days. With the emergance of Graeme Smith, AB DeVilliars, Monde Zondeki, Charl Langeveldt and Andre Nel S.A future looks bright. Absolutely demolished West Indies. With Pietersen in that side S.A could have been unbeatable.

[The Fratton Roar]

Been following SA a bit, keeping up with scores and such. AB De Villiers certainly looks like a great prospect - opener, no6, wicketkeeper, bowler......the guy can do anything!

The fact that SA conceded 317 to Chris Gayle is a little embarrassing, although he is a very good player and the wicket was pretty much the flattest in Test history. Despite this, it does look like SA are well set for the future with Graeme Smith as captain - he has really impressed me with both his captaincy and his aggressive batting, and to cap it all off, I've met him twice and he's a very nice bloke to go with it.

Didn't Klusener's bat weigh something like 3lb 6oz or so? That's ridiculous considering most pros use something between 2lb 10oz and 3lb 2oz. No wonder he could hit the ball so damn far!

[MUFC]

Does Klusner still play for SA?

He was incredible in that world cup, it was also one of the worst ways for a team to go out in that semi final match against the aussies.

[The Fratton Roar]

Originally Posted by MUFC

Does Klusner still play for SA?

He was incredible in that world cup, it was also one of the worst ways for a team to go out in that semi final match against the aussies.

He still plays domestic cricket (I think), but he got involved in a contract wrangle with Cricket SA when they toured England in 2003 - he actually tried to sue them for dropping him! He argued that because they had given him a central contract for the summer of 2003, they had in doing that bound themselves to pick him for the tour. He lost, and never got back into the team IIRC. Either that, or he did and was crap, I can't remember.

Was awesome in WC '99, and that game against Australia was easily the best ODI ever - just a shame for SA that Donald had to go nuts and drop his ****ing bat.

[NJ10]

pietersen has to start.

the aussies will be terrified of him after that innings yesterday.

[hanuma]

pietersen is zulu 2....yay we have a klusener

i know this might sound ridiculous but why not have thorpe AND pietersen in the team?

tresco
strauss
vaughn
pietersen
flintoff
thorpe
jones
giles
harmison
gough
andersen/hoggard

thats a long batting order...but tbh our bowling attack is never going to be vastly improved by including an extra bowler....may aswell stock up on the batting....we might need it if mcgrath, warne and gillespie are in form.

[The Fratton Roar]

Test matches aren't about terrifying the opposition. That's why Shoaib Akhtar and Brett Lee don't have especially good Test records, and neither does Shahid Afridi. All these players can terrify opponents with quick bowling or hard hitting, but that's not what you need in a Test. In a Test you need to grind the opposition down, then put in the finishing blows. The best bowlers in the world are the ones that can match pace with accuracy (e.g. Harmison, Walsh/Ambrose/Donald in their prime), and the best batsmen ones that can time when to put the pressure on the bowlers and when to soak it up (e.g. Thorpe, Dravid, Steve Waugh). That's why Thorpe must play instead of Pietersen - for now.

Also, they're Australians - they may be going through a tough patch, but Australian cricketers still don't get terrified of someone who's only played against them twice. Botham after an entire summer maybe, Pietersen after a Twenty20 and one ODI, no. Renew your judgement at the end of the ODI series mate.

[hanuma]

what about vs south africa...i mean comeon dude...every time he has been challenged he has taken the challenge on and won.

you dont always get experienced ex pros comparing young players to great players....thats normally left to the journos.